Sturgeon Growth rate?

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blurock

Fire Eel
MFK Member
Jan 27, 2008
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Washington
So I was looking at what I think was sterlet sturgeon at my lfs the other day. They were around probably 4-5" and I was wondering how fast they grow and how big do they actually get? I've heard that they are a smaller sturgeon but I'm rather new to keeping natives/cold waters as pets (I've fished my whole life so im only used to seeing them on the dinning room table)

Any help/info would be awesome!
 
blurock;2189341; said:
So I was looking at what I think was sterlet sturgeon at my lfs the other day. They were around probably 4-5" and I was wondering how fast they grow and how big do they actually get? I've heard that they are a smaller sturgeon but I'm rather new to keeping natives/cold waters as pets (I've fished my whole life so im only used to seeing them on the dinning room table)

Any help/info would be awesome!
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If it's a sterlet it's maximum size will be around 48" I don't subscribe to the idea that an aquarium fish must grow to it's maximum size if it's being well kept so I would think about 24" or a little more is a reasonable size to expect in captivity. They require well aerated water less than 76 and good bio-filtration. Growth rate depends on temperature, day/night cycle, and food.
 
synodontisjack;2190517; said:
i have 2 and they reached 3' from 6" in 18 months.
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Was that in an aquarium or pond? What species? I think we need to keep track of these details so we can provide some real husbandry records so others can judge their own success. Would you say this is a normals growth rate or is it faster or slower than the wild. From what I've sen fish in captivity can be dwarfed, or growth rates slowed significantly or in a lot of cases actually pumped up much faster and bigger than in nature.
 
Acipenser ruthenus, in a pond feeding on tetra pond sterlet sticks and shrimp they are housed with a pair of slightly larger acipenser baerii and mine are personaly the largest i have seen, but yes they supposedly able to reach 4' in the wild and i would think these have grown at a similar rate to their wild counterparts or slightly faster.
 
i know they are different fish, but you will have a hard time finding people who had a sturgeon

so for what its worth, my white went from 3.5" - 8" in about two months
 
Thanks for the info guys!
 
The real problem with sturgeon is getting a species that can live both in a confined space and warm water. Only two currently available species really qualify. The sterlet and the shovelnose. The shovelnose is the best choice but the most difficult to get of the two. The other commonly available sturgeon are really cold water huge sized fish that will not live long in a warm confined space.
 
How do you tell the difference between sterlet and shovelnose? Or I guess the better question would be how do you identify them?
 
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