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cautionary tale
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Posted by awblessmesturgeon wirral uk (My Page) on Sat, Dec 18, 04 at 18:48
| upon passing the pond today on route to the shed for tools as a tap in the house had packed up i spotted something amiss. on closer inspection i still wasnt sure so the nets came off and sure enough i saw what appeared to be a dead 14" sturgeon at about 2'6" depth. d:( went and got the net from the shed to release the corpse and it moved! took about 10 minutes to free the captive from a watery grave of string algea. dropped him in a tank of pond water and he flipped, flopped and hung upside down. so i dropped a bubbler in and held him over the bubbles, wooshed him back and forth in the tank - he swam then floated upside down again!!!! this continued for 1/2 hour or so when he seemed to come round. left him to swim about the tank for an hour or so until dark then re introduced him to the pond and all seems to be well. my cautionary point is this - be very careful or what you "cant" see through the net. i would have sworn blind there was no significant string algea in the pond at the moment! especially check bubbler streams its so hard to see and deadly if you have smallish sturgeon! i was lucky - tomorrow would have been too late! jo o/ |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: cautionary tale
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| Is string algae another name for blanketweed? I've kept mine at bay by changing every couple of months, (leaving the old ones in for another month while the new stuff kick-starts.) It certainly seems to help against blanket weed. I even changed it in November to see me over the winter, even though I know the sun helps cause it! My 9ft x 8ft pond has no pump or filter and I manage to keep the dreaded blanketweed in check. |
RE: cautionary tale
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Sturgeon are a fish that can't swim backwards and therefore get 'stuck' quite easily. However Koi, Shubunkins etc. don't have this problem.
Also I've been told that Sturgeon need to be fed their high protien 'bottom' food in Winter as they tolerate much colder water than Carp. |
string algae :-P
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| jo, lucky escape, well spotted! I don't know what it is this year, but string algae is absolutely rampant in my pond. I usually use barley straw to keep it in check in the warmer months (works well for me), but I've never needed to use it at this time of the year before. I figured it was just because I rebuilt my pond and it hasn't settled into some sort of balance yet, but maybe it is another sign of climate change. Or both. Big Kid, yes string algae makes blanket weed. And what is it that you change every couple of months? |
RE: cautionary tale
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| Oh, just realised something went missing when I typed it out-didn't check properly when I previewed! Barley straw was missing!! I have plants still in flower in my garden that shouldn't be out at this time of year. I also have a Firecrest Waterlily flower which is half open and it's been like that for a couple of weeks now. I have a pond plant (water buttercup-type plant) which has died back for winter, but new shoots and leaves are now appearing and I'm sure it thinks it's spring! |
RE: cautionary tale
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| thanks all - but as i said a cautionary tale! fish has recovered d:) sue is very right in all she said also hi o2, but its very difficult to feed em. im summer we help them out by hand but in winter its more difficult. i feed at night in the hope that the sturgeons feelers are more efficient than the kois night sight? but havent had the growth rates that some people have? they are facinating fish but! more trouble than koi, goldoes , shubs, orf, tench - which we have also! my point was watch your bubblers for weed and be aware of how much the net hides ! jo xxxx o/ |
RE: cautionary tale
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| I've found that the other fish don't bother with the sinking food when the water gets colder. I just chuck the sturgeons food in a regular place and he's there like a shot. Are you still using the high protein sinking food? I know our local aquatic centre wrongly advised me to feed wheatgerm low protein in the winter, and I starved our first fish. I got some really good advice from Graham at the link below. |
Here is a link that might be useful: sturgeon web
RE: cautionary tale
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| thanks linda-clive yes the sturgeonweb site is great i've used it for a year or two now but! the other fish still "nick" the sinkers d:( i still feed them at night so hopefully it goes to the right place? these warmer spells dont help i think? our pond temp has been up to 10c today but should be dropping again now. yes still use high protien high oil food for the sturgeon. thinking of trying some of grahams own this year? have you tryed it? jo o/ |
RE: cautionary tale
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Yes it's all we use for our sturgeon now. It's actually very good value for money. I've been feeding it for a year now. At this time of year the other fish do sometimes have a nibble, however I have not had any ill affects regarding that even with all of the odd temperature fluctuations we experience. I've a mixture of Orfe, Comets, Shubs, Goldfish, Ghost Koi, and Sturgeon in the pond. Our Sturgeon has put on tremendous growth this year, which I am convinced is down to such good quality food. I regularly feed a handful of the food to the Koi in the seperate Koi pond, they love it.
Linda |
RE: cautionary tale
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| thx linda - think i'll give it a go and order some. i'd quite like to visit grahams place but its not an area of the country we tend to frequent. it looks like quite a set up he has there. thanks again jo |
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