Breeding sterlet at home: features, equipment, maintenance rules

Features of home breeding of sterlet

Sterlet belongs to the sturgeon family. This type of fish differs from its relatives by a number of factors, the main of which is size. The standard weight of sterlet varies from 500 grams to 2 kilograms, and length - from 30 to 65 centimeters. In good conditions, such fish can grow up to 90 centimeters and weigh 4 kilograms. Its life expectancy reaches more than 25 years.

Independent breeding of sterlet is recommended for people living in a private house with their own plot. An additional advantage is the presence of a reservoir on the site. If it is missing, its arrangement will be required. The size and depth of the pool depend on the capabilities or expected volume of bred sterlet. A swimming pool can be used as an analogue of a reservoir.

The plan for breeding and selling sterlet includes the following points:

arrangement of the reservoir (if you plan to regularly grow sturgeon, additional premises will be required);
purchasing suitable food;
after preparing the conditions for sterlet, fry are purchased (initially they are kept in a separate container);
raising fry to the size of adult fish;
development of a plan for the sale of sturgeon.

Successful breeding of sterlet at home requires a detailed study of the technology, the availability of equipment and a large amount of free time. Today, innovative inventions are commercially available that simplify the process of growing fish at home. But their use requires additional capital investment.

Growing sterlet as a business

You will surprise no one with such a business as growing aquarium fish, but few people realize that at home you can create a real mini-farm for growing sterlet. If you put effort into it, you can make very good money. Where to start building your successful business?

About the benefits of business

Sterlet belongs to the sturgeon family. It is quite simple and unpretentious in content, if you approach it wisely. You can organize your own mini farm even in apartment conditions. This is precisely the first advantage in growing sterlet. But there are the following advantages of this type of business:

healthy meat and caviar: these products are in great demand on the market and the demand for them is growing every day;
Sterlet is unpretentious in keeping and therefore even a beginner can understand the peculiarities of its cultivation; to grow this type of sturgeon at home you will not need to spend a lot of money.

Of all the advantages listed above, one thing can be said is that the sterlet breeding business is quite a profitable activity.

Advantages and disadvantages of sterlet breeding

Like any type of business related to fish breeding at home, growing sterlet has its advantages and disadvantages.

The list of advantages consists of:

little competition;
the ability to work from home;
high income indicator;
the same demand at any time of the year.

The list of cons includes:

sensitivity of young fish to the purity and temperature of the water in which they are located;
high risk of morbidity and death of fry;
the need to constantly monitor the conditions in which the fish are kept;
the difficulty of acquiring healthy fry for breeding sterlet;
long payback period for the business (sterlet grows to the size of an adult within 3 years).

Despite the many nuances and difficulties in growing sterlet, the number of advantages provides great benefits from this business. Sturgeon are expensive fish species, so they are in high demand even in the presence of competitors. The cost of sterlet is relatively high, so sales in small quantities can provide significant income. Problems with the sale of sturgeon rarely arise.

In addition to selling fish, sturgeon breeding allows you to organize an additional business selling skins, which are also highly valued on the market. If you organize good conditions, the fish will consistently produce eggs. Selling these products is another option for additional income. But collecting caviar requires special equipment, which increases the amount of start-up capital for starting a business.

Description of sterlet

The exterior of the fish is distinguished by a triangular body with a thin stalk and a sickle-shaped caudal fin with an elongated upper ray. Other features of the appearance of sterlet include:

small cone-shaped head;
elongated narrow nose;
small lower mouth with bifid lip;
small bulging eyes;
fringed antennae;
lack of scales;
5 longitudinal rows of bone scutes (bugs);
gray dorsal fin moved far back;
light yellowish-white abdomen;
ash brown or dark brown color of the ridge.

To distinguish a sterlet from a sturgeon or other members of the family, it is enough to pay attention to the number and arrangement of bony scutes. Acipenser ruthenus is characterized by their tight closure on the back (13-17 pieces). The abdominal 13-15 plates, on the contrary, leave clearly visible gaps between each other. In the lateral line there are many small diamond-shaped bugs adjacent to each other (60-70 pieces), which also make it easy to identify the species among its relatives.

There is a not entirely correct opinion that a sterlet can be distinguished by its elongated, pointed nose. This statement only works on wild and spawn-bearing fish. Cultivated and fattened barren (incapable of reproducing) specimens may also have a shorter snout, like a sturgeon.

Size and sexual maturity

Despite the high-profile title of the king fish, the sterlet is in fact the smallest representative of the family. The standard weight of adult individuals varies between 1-2 kg with a height of 50-60 cm. Much less often, trophy specimens weighing 4-8 kg are found. The largest weight of a sterlet is 15-16 kg with a body length of 120-125 cm. But there is information about particularly large one and a half meter individuals weighing 20 kilograms or more, caught in the Siberian wilderness on the banks of the Irtysh overgrown with taiga.

To learn more:

Description of the chub - a large fish of the carp family

The relatively small species size determines the accelerated biological cycle of the sterlet (up to 30 years), which becomes sexually mature already in the third to eighth year of life. At the same time, the larger sturgeon, which lives up to 60-70 years, acquires the ability to reproduce only at the age of 8-20 years.

Fish farming area

Arrangement of a reservoir for fish is the main condition for its breeding. Features of the implementation of this step depend on the period for which the fish is grown. Since sturgeon take 3 years to mature into adults, it is not possible to ensure breeding within one season. For this reason, the pond is arranged indoors, where the sterlet will feel comfortable during the cold season.

Pool, room

An indoor pond is created based on a swimming pool. To open it you will need a large room with an area of 30 square meters. If the pool is located in a separate building, it must be heated. To breed sterlet, a pool with the minimum dimensions is required:

depth - 100 centimeters;
length – 250 centimeters;
width – 150 centimeters.

A pool of this size can be maintained independently. The average volume of fish that can be grown in such conditions during the year is at least one ton. The pool is stocked at the rate of 60 kilograms of live fish per square meter area. meter.

You can learn more about how to equip a pool for breeding sterlet in an apartment by watching this video:

Pond

In order to grow sterlet outside, you will need to landscape your own pond. The requirements for its arrangement are more serious than for an indoor pool. If you do not follow the instructions, the fish will not take root in the pond.

Initially, it is necessary to treat the bottom of the pond - it should be as smooth as possible. To do this, you need to eliminate holes and low places. If this is not done, the water will gradually become swampy.

The next step is to clean the area around the pond. There should be no bushes, branches or trees on the shore. Vegetation is removed along with the roots. The presence of a root system will lead to overgrowth and acidification of the reservoir, making it very difficult to fish.

In order for the pond to be independently fed by natural waters, it is necessary to clean nearby reservoirs and outlets to groundwater.

Among the types of ponds for breeding sterlet, drainage is best suited. The advantages of this option are:

ease of fishing;
no difficulties when processing the bottom;
minimum level of oxidation and waterlogging.

If there are hollows or ravines in the local area, preference should be given to constructing a drainage pond. The water in such reservoirs is well heated by the sun's rays, and the bottom has abundant vegetation.

If you have a large amount of money and the desire to breed a large volume of fish of different species, you can improve the pond-reservoir. But its construction and maintenance, in addition to financial investments, will require a lot of effort.

Growing sterlet in a pond

Breeding sterlet in an apartment or house is quite simple, but still has its drawbacks. For example, these include a small area, maintaining the necessary microclimate, etc. It is much easier to raise fish in a pond.

It can be grown both in a ready-made and in a created reservoir. If the pond is old, then before launching the fry, it must be cleaned.

If you create a pond yourself, you must first lime it. To do this, you need to pour a small lime layer on the bottom, fill it with water and rinse thoroughly. This procedure is carried out a couple of weeks before the fish are released.

The bottom is best shaped like a bowl. Don’t forget about algae and various living creatures that the fish will consume. You can also have shellfish in the pond. The best time to start fry is early summer.

Equipment and containers for growing sterlet

At the initial stage, a small plastic pool will be sufficient for breeding sterlet. Its depth does not exceed 100 centimeters with a length of 250 centimeters. It can grow enough fish throughout the year to make a profit from the business. In the future, when the number of fish and sales increase, you can improve the pond or swimming pool indoors.

To create favorable conditions, you will need equipment that provides:

filtration;
aeration;
temperature regime.

This problem is solved using a compressor unit, pumps and filters. An automatic feeder additionally saves time and effort. But due to the high cost, it is not suitable for many beginning entrepreneurs.

When buying compressors and pumps, you need to focus on equipment that has a capability limit higher than required. This step will help extend the service life of the purchased devices. If a fish farm is organized in the future, there will be no need to purchase new equipment.

To maintain the necessary conditions in the reservoir, it is recommended to use a RAS (recirculating water supply installation). This device provides:

mechanical and biological treatment;
required temperature conditions;
supplying water with oxygen;
destruction of harmful microorganisms.

Several similar installations can be connected to the pool at once. The main condition is the presence of heating in the room where they will work. The equipment creates intensive water exchange, creating conditions for dense placement of fish.

The process of care and feeding is automated. The operation of the installation can be monitored visually. With the help of this equipment, feed and resources necessary for keeping sterlet are saved. The influence of weather conditions on fish, as well as the occurrence of various diseases, is minimized.

Necessary equipment

A complete set of special high-quality equipment can be purchased from companies that are engaged in this type of activity. The estimated cost in total will be around $10,000.

They will not only bring you everything you need, but will even carry out the correct installation, after which all you have to do is start a sterlet breeding business and make excellent profits from it.

In addition to the pool, you need to purchase special filtration, install a compressor, aeration and pump so that you can clean it from time to time. Usually you buy an automatic feeder, but at the initial stage you can do everything yourself.

Its cost, of course, is high, but the peculiarity is that you will have a little free time. Although feeding fish by hand is not a difficult task and is even interesting, in which all family members can take part.

When choosing equipment that needs to work constantly, note that it should not work at maximum. It’s better to buy something more expensive and better so that there is a power reserve, then it will last much longer.

You can choose a variety of building materials:

Plastic;
Metal;
Wood.

Most often, pools are built from concrete or purchased from a store ready-made containers.

The water in the pool must be filtered and purified. This will require a filter, compressor and pump. The choice of equipment should be based on its technical characteristics. The devices will be able to operate at their maximum capabilities for a long time, so they are always purchased with a certain power reserve.

On existing farms, automatic feeders are installed in the pools. They require additional material costs, but really save time on caring for fish. To begin with, to buy equipment for breeding sturgeon fish you will need about 3 thousand dollars.

In general, you can save a lot if you do everything yourself. To start such a business, this will be the right step.

How to choose food?

Sterlet feeding is done at the bottom of the reservoir. This condition corresponds to how fish of this species feed in nature. Ready-made food for sturgeon is available for sale. If necessary, you can prepare it yourself.

Food for sterlet should consist of:

protein;
fat;
lysine;
phosphorus.

Sturgeon fry are characterized by uneven development. A fifth of the total grows faster than others, as a result they become stronger and take most of the food for themselves.

The following are suitable for feeding young fish of this species:

Daphnia;
insect larvae;
small crustaceans;
fry of fresh fish species.

When they grow up, you can add shells to their diet. Crustaceans are the main food of adult sterlet. You should not give your fish too much food as this may harm them. It is easier to regulate the dose when purchasing special food. The packaging indicates how much food is needed for a certain number of fish, depending on their age.

If the fish are kept in a pond outside, and there are no plans to move them in winter, then feeding stops with the onset of frost, and the pond is limed. During the hibernation period, the weight of the fish does not change. In the spring, feeding resumes.

Lifestyle

Sterlet is a distinct river inhabitant, gravitating towards clean, deep, cool and fast water with plenty of oxygen. Even minor pollution of the environment with chemicals, household waste and elements of agricultural fertilizers can cause significant harm to livestock. Fish have a well-developed schooling instinct, so sterlets form small permanent groups of individuals of the same age, which regularly make short migrations over a distance of several kilometers in search of food. But in general, the sterlet leads a sedentary lifestyle and in nature never moves away from its place of birth. The only exceptions were a few semi-anadromous forms inhabiting the Caspian basin and the Kamchatka River. These fish spend a lot of time on the food-rich, desalinated sea shelf, and to procreate they make long journeys upstream.

Throughout the daylight hours, the sterlet stays at a depth near the bottom and only at dusk moves to shallow water to feed. Food activity persists throughout the warm season and until mid-autumn. In October, sturgeon begin to gather in large schools and migrate to deep sections of the river where wintering pits are located. Thanks to the state of suspended animation, which slows down life processes in the body, fish are able to wait until spring without food and significant weight loss.

What does a sterlet eat?

Small sturgeons are typical benthophages that feed on living organisms living on the bottom of the reservoir. The basis of the sterlet's diet is:

small crustaceans - daphnia, brine shrimp, amphipods, cyclops, shieldfish;
larvae - mosquito (bloodworm), dragonfly (naiad), hoverfly, horsefly, soldier fly, honeydew, caddisfly;
small mollusks – balls, mussels, shutters, coils, lithoglyphs, zebra mussels;
worms, tubifex, beetles, leeches, water scorpions, bedbugs, paddlefish, smoothies, etc.

To learn more:

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During the season of mass emergence of insects, the fish changes its habits, rises to the very surface, turns over on its back and greedily collects droplets, midges, and butterflies that have fallen into the water.

Where is sterlet found in Russia

The original habitat of the species is the regions of the Russian Federation belonging to Eastern Europe and Western Siberia, including the Yenisei waters. But thanks to increased acclimatization by humans, the sterlet fish now inhabits many rivers in the basins of the Azov, Caspian, Black, Kara, Baltic, Barents and White seas. It is found in the Urals, Ob, Irtysh, Volga, Don, Klyazma, Kama, Vyatka, Dnieper, Dniester, Northern Dvina, Kamchatka, Angara.

Attempts are regularly made to introduce the taxon into Lakes Ladoga and Onega, Amur, Pechora, Neman and other “free rivers”. But due to the climate and food supply, sterlet does not take root there well and often cannot reproduce on its own.

Temperature

In order for the sterlet to feel comfortable, the temperature in the water must be maintained at a level of +18 to +20 degrees Celsius. The permissible limit is +24 degrees Celsius. Higher temperatures will cause discomfort to the fish.

Temperature fluctuations should also be taken into account. In summer, the water temperature should not drop below +20 degrees Celsius. At other times of the year, you need to maintain a temperature of at least +17 degrees Celsius.

Where to breed sterlet?

A closed water supply installation is a fairly large structure weighing several tens of tons. Contrary to popular belief, it simply will not fit in an apartment, and therefore it is better for a beginner to study the prospects of breeding sterlet on a personal plot: for these purposes, you can adapt a garage, barn, basement or heated polycarbonate greenhouse. If we are talking about industrial-scale production, it is necessary to rent a separate spacious room - for example, to grow two tons of fish per cycle, an area of 250 m² is needed. Things to consider:

To set up a farm you need a heated capital room. Otherwise, you will have to spend a lot of energy heating water in winter;
There must be access to running water or a well on the property. In swimming pools, approximately 5% of the water will have to be replaced every day;
You will need an electrical connection. Equipment for artificial breeding of sterlet consumes about 5 kW, water heaters - up to 20 kW;
It is necessary to be able to daily drain several cubic meters of contaminated water from the pools into the sewerage system or sedimentation pond;
Exhaust ventilation is required in the room. A large area of the water surface contributes to increased humidity and the appearance of mold;
Keeping and breeding sterlet requires silence. The farm must not be located next to a railway, highway, industrial zone or other source of noise.

Buying fry

If you plan to independently breed sterlet at home, it is recommended to buy mature fry. Purchases are made from late spring to early autumn. You can purchase fry from special farms that breed fish. Such fry receive proper nutrition from birth and get used to humans. Therefore, with intervention in their lifestyle, they will experience less stress.

Specialized stores also sell fry. But they usually receive goods from fish farms, setting a markup. Therefore, this method is less profitable.

The average cost of sterlet fry depends on the size and is about 20 rubles. If you have no experience in this area, you should hire a specialist. After purchasing, the fry must be transported at low temperatures. Therefore, if the weather is hot outside, it is better to postpone their transportation until the evening.

When raising fry yourself, additional costs are required. You can resort to this method when you have a sufficient number of adult sterlet specimens at your disposal.

Purchasing fry

Before choosing equipment, you need to decide where to buy sterlet fry for breeding. This is an important point and you should not skimp on the fry, because the success of the entire enterprise largely depends on them.

When choosing a supplier, you need to pay attention to the company's reputation. In addition, fry are often needed from afar, so the supplier must ensure proper transport conditions. The fry are usually sold by large companies that deal with the full cycle of sterlet production.

The price for one fry ranges from fifteen to thirty rubles. The required number of purchased fry is calculated based on the area of the tank and the size of the starting capital.

It must be taken into account that the fish is bottom-dwelling. If the diameter of the pool is at least two and a half meters, then about three hundred fry are released per square meter.

The temperature in the pools before planting the fry is adjusted to the water temperature of the containers with the fry. In this case, the transfer will be most comfortable. In the future, it is possible to breed sterlet in a pond at the dacha only on the condition that even in the cold season it is possible to provide the fish with a suitable temperature regime.

Investments and cost return

The amount of investment depends on the planned quantity of fish to be grown. In order to raise 1 thousand fry, you will need equipment worth 300 thousand rubles. Additional costs go to:

purchase of fry - 25 thousand rubles;
purchase of food – 35 thousand rubles;
payment for electricity – 25 thousand rubles.

From the beginning of spring to the end of autumn, an ordinary fry grows up to 500 grams. When a fish of a given species reaches the specified weight, it can be sold. The average price for one fish is 300 rubles. The payback period is at least a year.

Features of feeding

When choosing food for sturgeon, consider the age and size of the fish. Thus, it will be more convenient for fry weighing about eighty grams to eat small grain granules, not exceeding 3 millimeters in diameter. And a grown sturgeon weighing 1.5 kg is able to swallow a pellet 9 millimeters thick. Daily nutritional intake for fry: a portion of food weighing 4–7% of the fish’s body weight. When she reaches a weight of 2 kilograms, the norm drops to 1.5% of body weight.

Another important factor when choosing and purchasing sturgeon food is water temperature. If it is within 20–24 degrees, the fish eat a lot and actively. Therefore, feed consumption increases. In cold water (12–17 degrees), sturgeon’s appetite is not too strong.

Recommendations for selling farmed sterlet

The simplest and most profitable implementation option is to open your own store. But to maintain it and attract customers, it will be necessary to breed other types of fish. You can also supply products to already operating stores. In this case, the main task is to offer a more favorable pricing policy to customers than that of competitors. When opening your own fish farm, you can in the future sell fry to people who are just starting their own business.

Breeding sterlet at home is a profitable business idea for people who are willing to devote the bulk of their time to it. But in order to achieve success in this area, you will need special equipment and knowledge of the sturgeon farming system. Otherwise, the business will not pay off.

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Feeding the fish

Breeding sterlet at home for beginners involves purchasing high-quality feed. It is alive and artificial. The latter species in the fry's diet should make up 70–80% of the total.

Each growth phase of fish requires a certain amount of feed. Most often, sturgeon fry grow unevenly, so experts advise dividing individuals into three categories every 10 days: small, medium and large. So in certain areas they can be provided with adequate nutrition.

Sterlet usually finds food by smell, so the food should smell good and sink in the water. At the same time, it is important to monitor the cleanliness of the tank and promptly clear it of food residues.

As mentioned earlier, sterlet is not picky about food, but this does not mean that it can be fed with anything and low-quality food. The rate of its growth, as well as the percentage of morbidity, will depend on how high-quality food the fish is fed.

Food intended for large fish should not be fed to small fish.

In order for food to be as nutritious, healthy as possible and to provide quick results, it must include the following ingredients in certain proportions:

40–50% of the composition is crude protein;
20% -25% for crude fat;
fiber should make up 3% of the total weight;
the rest is phosphorus, lysine and other components in small percentages.

It is better, of course, if possible, to buy special food for this fish, but if you could not find it and decided to prepare it yourself, then it is important to remember one thing: the food must be heavy enough to sink in the water. If food floats on the surface of the water, the fish simply do not feel it.

In addition, the food should not fall apart in the water for more than 30 minutes, since the sturgeon likes to enjoy it for a long time, and not to gorge itself as quickly as possible.

In order for this type of activity to always bring you excellent income, you must take care of the fish. She needs to be constantly fed, looked after and the pool cleaned. Water purity also affects the growth rate of sturgeon fish.