Sturgeon in ponds

[aquitori]

Quote: Originally Posted by Tom C Now you did it, you made me cry. All I wanted is a new friend in the pond.

Damn where did u get a pic of my Uncle Johnny? HAHAHAHAHAA That pic was taken after he got kicked out of KoiPhen, only tears of joy. HAHAHAHAHA!!!

[saratogatan]

one of our neighbour has a huge pond, more like a lake, designed for bass, steelhead, and stg. He met a lady later, and under her inflenece, koi were introduced into the lake. The lake was on local newspaper 3 years ago when I started rebuilding my pond, things seemed to fall in place nicely for them.

stan

[aquitori]

Quote: Originally Posted by saratogatan one of our neighbour has a huge pond, more like a lake, designed for bass, steelhead, and stg. He met a lady later, and under her inflenece, koi were introduced into the lake. The lake was on local newspaper 3 years ago when I started rebuilding my pond, things seemed to fall in place nicely for them. stan

I remember you telling me and Joe about this person...Must be nice to have something so big...Must be an ego thing a guy with a big pond to make up for a small...well you know the rest.....Like Uncle Johnny says, "U likey Red and White fish"..TGIF!!!! I hate work!!!! I love Bito!!!!

[Tom C]

Quote: Damn where did u get a pic of my Uncle Johnny? HAHAHAHAHAA That pic was taken after he got kicked out of KoiPhen, only tears of joy. HAHAHAHAHA!!!

I was at his house that day tony. He told me, once your band life is over. I went over with some cookies the next day and this is what I saw. I don't know if it was his birthday or what, but it was a big party and uncle Johnny was getting a lap dance.

[aquitori]

Quote: Originally Posted by Tom C I was at his house that day tony. He told me, once your band life is over. I went over with some cookies the next day and this is what I saw. I don't know if it was his birthday or what, but it was a big party and uncle Johnny was getting a lap dance.

Damn I missed that one...I sure wish I was there....

[aquitori]

Last year party got out of hand when Uncle Johnny started a riot at one of the koi-shows...


Luckily the "Unit" got out of there with no skratches.

[dick benbow]

Koi Dealer in Roy washington used to raise them. he could give you his experiences.

gill gillman at peaceful ponds, you should be able to find on the web!

[Tom C]

Thanks Dick, I just called them and they said they can be a lot of work to keep alive. They like to eat live food. Well maybe it will just be koi for me.

[Arthur]

Sturgeons in a koi pond can be very useful, much fun, and then costly.

They also have a few things in common with koi: they like oxygen saturated water and some water current in the pond, as well as a calm spot to rest at times.

They are useful in the sense that they are bottom feeders (mouth way under the head) and will constantly raise/move debris around the pond bottom (hopefully until they find they way to the bottom drain :-).

Here in the Northwest, we have the Columbia river where White Sturgeons are very common. Oregon and Washington states have very strong laws about sturgeon fishing: 42-60" only as keepers and they must be dead before you leave your fishing spot.

The only legal way to get sturgeon is to buy them from a hatchery which produces them under permit.

Young sturgeons are very fragile. I would not buy one under 12" (or about 1½ year old). Sturgeons grow relatively slowly considering the filnal size they can reach: a 4 year-old would be 2½-3', while a 6 year-old could be 4-5½'.

Small sturgeons will live off the pellets that the koi leave uneaten (don't we all overfeed!), they do not eat the shit off the pond bottom as some people will make you believe. They will however eat small koi and dead koi of a pretty good size (about 1/3 of their length).

Sturgeons will need much higher protein feed than the koi. Also keep in mind that they do not slow in winter like koi do, they stay very active at low temperature. To grow sturgeons to their potential and keep them in optimal health, you need to feed them fish or comparable food (in the wild they eat chad, smelt, crawfish, eel, shrimp, etc.). With a sturgeon 3-4' in length be prepared to feed 1/2 pound of smelt daily, 5-6' in length, about a pound of smelt daily, for optimum health.

Now, if you do want a White Sturgeon, we can provide.

[woodyaht]

Tom, here's a few pics of this guy. He's grown, I'd say 2" since I've got him......... So far so good.