Sturgeon breeding business: experience of successful farms. "Royal" fish for sale - sturgeon breeding

Sturgeon farming is considered a worthy alternative to traditional livestock farming. There are few offers in this market, which means there is room for growth. Experts have long agreed that the most win-win type of business is the production or sale of food products. Even during a crisis, the demand for products remains, and therefore, with the right approach, you can build a stable project.

It is not difficult to create a business growing sturgeon. But as in the case with, a special approach is required here. To open your own business, you don’t need industrial workshops. After all, you can organize a business at home.

Is it profitable to breed sturgeon today?

Sturgeon has always been among the delicacies - black caviar is obtained from it. It is more expensive than other types of fish presented on the Russian market. The cost of 1 kg is 550 rubles. The cost of the same product is 250 rubles. It turns out that from 1 kg of sturgeon an entrepreneur has an income of 300 rubles.

If you organize a mini-farm and grow up to 5,000 kg of sturgeon per year, then the income for this period will be about 1,500,000 rubles. The profitability of a small fishery with well-functioning production is 40%. This is a high financial indicator, which allows beginners to think about the feasibility of the business. For comparison: profitability is 20%.

Among the advantages of Russian fish farming:

High demand for products. Due to the large number of restaurants, supermarkets and fish shops.
Relatively low competition, thanks to which goods can be offered at inflated prices, increasing sales profits. Many people are not even aware of the possibility of growing sturgeon at home, which means great prospects are open for businessmen.
Fish farming does not require experience or special knowledge. All information about this is presented on thematic sites and forums.
Sturgeon are not picky and are suitable for home cultivation; they rarely get sick. The main cause of health problems is low-quality food.
To run a successful business, it is enough to devote 4 hours a day to it. Fishing can be done in parallel with other activities.
High profitability. Payback period is 7-9 months.

Reference: The sturgeon family also includes sterlet, stellate sturgeon and beluga. All these types of fish take root well in any habitat, which is why sturgeon are successfully grown at home.

Key stages of business organization

In order for sturgeon breeding to bring a stable income, you need to overcome several stages:

prepare the site, equip it with communications;
select and buy containers;
obtain permission from the Sanitary and Epidemiological Station (SES);
purchase and launch fry;
grow fish to the desired size;
sell the goods (partial/full processing on the farm is possible).

Business registration

When opening any business, be it sturgeon breeding or sturgeon, you need to take care of its legality. Conducting business activities is possible in the form of an individual entrepreneur, LLC or peasant farm. When registering, you will need to enter the correct OKVED ID. Basic activity code for sturgeon breeding 03.2 – Fish farming.

Important: before starting fish farming, you need to contact the Sanitary and Epidemiological Station for permission to grow and breed sturgeon at home. Otherwise, you can lose all your profits and use them to pay off fines.

Preparing the premises

Having your own house outside the city, you can safely start breeding sturgeon. The habitat does not affect the taste and nutritional value of fish. In all cases they are excellent. All you need is a large area (at least 30 m²) and heating in the room during the cold season.

Regardless of the season, the water temperature is maintained at +18 - +20⁰С. In winter, heaters should be used, in summer, coolers with heat exchangers. You can also grow sturgeon in a polycarbonate greenhouse by placing a swimming pool with the necessary equipment in it.

Equipment purchase

To purchase equipment for breeding sturgeon at home, you need to establish contacts with suppliers. Prices for such products start at 600,000 rubles. Companies involved in the supply of equipment deliver and install it to any specified address.

You can raise fish in cages - in non-specialized pools that are easy to build at home. A plastic container with a depth of at least 1 meter and a diameter of more than 3 meters is quite suitable for this purpose. If you use such a pool for a year, you can grow up to 1 ton of produce.

Important: There should be no more than 60 kg of sturgeon per 1 m² of reservoir.

To make the fish feel comfortable, you will need the following equipment:

Air compressors.
Aeration devices.
Filters of special design.
Pumping equipment for pool cleaning.
Automatic feeder (since this pleasure is not cheap, many fish farmers feed manually).

The compressor and pump should not work to the limit. It is advisable to buy equipment with a power reserve. Then it will last quite a long time without breakdowns. Experts have calculated that building a pool with your own hands will be three times cheaper than buying it in a store. Typically, fish farmers start with one container, gradually increasing the scale of production.

Purchasing fry

To start your own business, you need to purchase sturgeon fry. The purchase of “raw materials” should be approached with full responsibility. Poor quality fry grow slowly and often get sick. The price for planting material depends on the specific region and starts from 800 rubles/kg.

Don't agree to the first offer. It is better to spend a little time studying the market and reviews of each fish farm. You can also go the other way - buy adult sturgeon for breeding. This matter requires special knowledge that will allow you to determine how healthy the fish offered for sale is. Otherwise, it’s easy to run into a sick individual.

Recruiting staff

To maintain a mini-farm in proper condition, it is enough to devote 3-4 hours to it every day (during sorting - 12-15 hours). If we compare sturgeon farming with other business ideas, for example with, we can conclude that this is far from the most labor-intensive type of activity.

Some fish farmers hire staff to maintain their pools. But at first, while the scale of production is still small, you can cope with all the tasks yourself, without resorting to the help of strangers and without spending personal funds on it.

FAQ

Newcomers to this business often ask the same questions: how to care for sturgeons, what to feed them, etc. Despite the fact that these fish are unpretentious in food and maintenance, the preparation of their diet and living conditions must be taken responsibly. Therefore, such issues need to be considered in detail.

How to care for fish?

Sturgeon actively grow and reproduce even in artificially created conditions. Caring for fish involves:

Regular balanced meals.
Cleaning the reservoir.
Maintaining optimal conditions – temperature, lighting.
Sorting of grown individuals and fry.

If water from the city water supply is used to fill the pool, you should install a filter with a carbon cartridge, which will eliminate the flow of chlorine. The water needs to be changed every three days. But this should be no more than 10-15% of the liquid from the entire volume. You can’t change all the water! You should carefully monitor the condition of the filters, wash them when they become dirty, and add the necessary chemical and biological additives.

What to feed sturgeon?

The growth and health of fish depend on the quality of food. It is allowed to give live food (20-30% of the total amount of food):

bloodworm;
insect larvae;
aquatic worms and mollusks.

Special balanced feeds have been developed for sturgeon, produced in the form of granules. Adults whose weight exceeds 500 grams are fed 4 times a day, fry - 6 times. The feed must contain:

fats;
proteins;
cellulose;
lysine;
phosphorus.

Important: sturgeons eat at the same time every day, any changes in the schedule can cause stress for them.

The basic requirements for food indicate that the food should:

drown in water;
smell good;
be resistant to moisture;
swell in water.

When feeding, you need to take into account the size of the fish - fry should be given small-fraction food, adults - large granules. Sturgeons develop unevenly: the strong push the weak away from food, and therefore gain weight faster. Therefore, every month you need to transplant the grown individuals into a separate container.

Where to sell finished products?

There are quite a few ways to implement it:

sushi bars;
supermarkets;
fish shops;
markets and fairs;
restaurants.

It is convenient to sell your product through social networks or a website. Having decided to further develop in this direction, you can buy more containers and fry. Along with the scale, profits will also grow. You will also have to update your equipment to keep up with competitors.

Breeding sturgeon at home - video

Let's sum it up

When breeding sturgeon, it is important to remember 4 rules. Firstly, do not forget to feed the fish with high-quality food. Secondly, check the condition of the water, periodically adding new water. Third, clean the container (swimming pool) regularly. Fourth, check the serviceability of the equipment and promptly repair its breakdowns.

Growing sturgeon at home is as profitable as... You need to start this business from a mini-farm for 1,000 individuals. With the right approach, within 3-5 years it will be possible to organize a business with an annual turnover of several million rubles.

Recently, the most popular areas of business are breeding fish and animals in rural areas or at home.

There are entrepreneurs who develop a business for breeding quails, piglets and other animals. But their profitability is not as high as that of such an activity as sturgeon breeding at home.

Even in times of crisis, when some types of businesses suffer losses and enterprises are forced to cease operations, there is a demand for such a delicacy as sturgeon and their meat, and there may even be a shortage.

Pools for growing sturgeon can be purchased in different sizes, as far as your premises allow, and you can also supply several containers of different diameters up to 2.5 meters.

In order for water to flow from the well into the pool, you need a pump if you are doing business in the country. Or you can connect the pool to the water supply system if there is a central water supply.

An important element when growing sturgeon is the compressor.

It is necessary to saturate the water with oxygen, without which the fish cannot live.

It is advisable to have a spare compressor; if the first one breaks down, the second unit will take over.

Feeding fish takes quite a lot of time, so to save time, you can purchase an automatic feeder.

This is justified in cases where you do not have enough time or a large number of fish. You need to feed sturgeon fish about 6 times a day.

You need a generator so that in the event of an electrical accident, the process of growing sturgeon will not stop. It is desirable that the total power of the generator be equal to the sum of the power of all mechanisms used and a small reserve.

When organizing the process of growing and breeding sturgeon fish, you may also need pipes, taps, various fittings and fittings.

All the necessary equipment requires certain financial investments, but if everything is organized correctly, the process of breeding sturgeon fish can pay for itself within a year of work.

Water temperature and room for breeding sturgeon fish

But in winter you cannot do without heating the water, otherwise there may be unfavorable conditions for breeding fish, and they may often get sick.

In general, sturgeon can be raised in an apartment where there is running water and sewerage.

In a private house, you can breed sturgeon in any room where there is heating.

A small farm can also be equipped in a greenhouse by connecting the necessary lines for heating air and water.

When calculating the required area of the premises, you need to take into account how many pools there will be there, based on the fact that one pool requires an area of approximately 11 square meters.

As food for sturgeon fish, special compound feed for such fish species is used. How much feed you need per day depends on the age and weight of the fish; feeding occurs approximately 4-6 times a day.

With automatic feeding, food is supplied to the fish more often.

Payback of the sturgeon breeding business

A significant part of the costs is food. For 1000 fry, in order to raise them for sale, you need to purchase feed for 30,000 rubles. Electricity will cost approximately 20,000 rubles a year, this depends on the size of the sturgeon farm.

If you do not count the cost of equipment, then the costs for one period of growing fry will be; for the purchase of fry - 21,000 rubles, for food - 30,000 rubles, for electricity - 21,000 rubles. The total costs will be 72,000 rubles.

If you estimate the profit from selling 1,000 sturgeon weighing 500 grams at 600 rubles per kilogram, you will get a profit of about 300,000 rubles. We subtract expenses from profit, we get 228,000 rubles of net income.

The cost of equipment to start working on raising fry will be approximately 260,000 rubles. This means that in the first year of running a business, the invested costs will almost completely pay for themselves. And already from the second cycle of growing sturgeon fish, a profit of 200,000 rubles will arise from each batch of 1000 fry.

Large entrepreneurs achieve stable profits after two years of work. Also, at the 6th year of life, female sturgeon may develop caviar. Caviar can be sold for about $1,000.

If you are planning to open not a mini-farm for breeding sturgeon, but a large fish farm for the production of sturgeon, then you will also need a solid building, it must be built or rented. Also, with a large volume of production, it will be necessary to hire personnel who will be paid salaries.

Sales of sturgeon fish

Fresh sturgeon can be sold in markets, fish stores, or delivered to restaurants, which usually require about 65 kg of fish per month.

For restaurants to prepare dishes with sturgeon, the ideal option would be a sturgeon weighing 500 grams.

We can confidently say that the sturgeon breeding business is profitable, and in four years you can already organize a large farm with a large annual turnover.

You should start this type of business with a mini-farm of 1000 fry.

Today, no one is surprised by this type of business, such as breeding ornamental fish for aquariums. But many people don’t even realize that you can create a real fish farm at home. Don't be surprised, as this is quite feasible. The most ideal option is sturgeon breeding. In addition to delicious fish, there will also be high quality caviar on the table. In addition, it is she who is a real symbol of prosperity. So, where to start growing sturgeon?

Business benefits

Sturgeon include not only Siberian and Russian sturgeon, but also sterlet, beluga, and stellate sturgeon. If you decide to start your own business in this area, then don’t worry - it’s not as difficult as it might seem at first glance. You can implement your plans even in your own apartment. This is precisely the first advantage of this type of activity. Among the other advantages, it is worth highlighting the following:

Caviar and fish meat are very valuable food products on the market. The demand for such products is growing daily.
Sturgeon are a family whose representatives tolerate any temperature changes well and are not picky about living conditions.
In order for the fish to receive enough nutrition, special knowledge or large financial expenditures are not required.
To start a business, a small start-up capital is required.

As you can see, breeding sturgeon at home as a business has many advantages.

Where is the best place to raise fish?

You can breed sturgeon both in a city apartment and in a country house. This will not in any way affect the quality of the final product, of course, if you do everything correctly. To breed sturgeon at home without problems, you should prepare a room with an area of 30 m². It should be spacious and free.

The room where you will grow fish should be well heated. This is especially true in winter. At this time of year, sturgeon need to create normal conditions for normal growth. The water temperature should not fall below 17°C, and in warm weather this figure should be 20-24°C. If you don’t have such a room, then don’t rush to get upset. To grow sturgeon, you can use polycarbonate greenhouses. They can accommodate a swimming pool and heating equipment.

Where will the fry live?

You can purchase all the necessary equipment from the manufacturer. However, keep in mind that this may cost you quite a bit of money. But the equipment will be completely ready for use. In addition, it will be installed by specialists. If breeding sturgeon at home is unique, then you can go a slightly different route.

You can make equipment for growing fish yourself. After all, sturgeons can reproduce well and live in non-specialized containers. To make the equipment, you will need a small plastic pool with a depth of no more than one meter and a diameter of 2 to 3 meters. If the area of the room allows, then you can use a larger container. In such a pool you can grow about a ton of fish per year. In this case, you will do everything yourself. This will save on hiring employees and additional costs.

How to equip a pool

Growing sturgeon at home is not such a difficult matter. If you approach the arrangement of a swimming pool correctly, such a business will generate decent income. Aeration, special filters and compressors must be installed in the pool. You will also need a pump. After all, the pool will need to be cleaned. For sturgeon breeding to be successful, it is necessary to install an automatic feeder. Of course, you can do without this. However, the main advantage of such equipment is that you can free yourself a little time. If you decide to save money, then you will have to feed the fish manually.

The pump and compressor must be selected carefully. Please pay special attention to the fact that such equipment should not produce its full maximum during operation. Before purchasing, calculate how much power you will need. Based on this, choose your equipment. Otherwise, all equipment will become unusable very quickly, and it will have to be replaced with a new one.

We buy fry

Sturgeon breeding begins with the acquisition of fry. Recently, a lot of fish farms have appeared that are engaged in growing various types of fish. You can buy fry there. However, you should not buy the first ones you see. The sturgeon family is quite large. This allows you to purchase a type of fish that will be easy to care for.

The opinion of experts would also be useful. They will tell you how to distinguish low-quality fry. The purchase of young animals should be approached with all responsibility. After all, the success of your enterprise depends on it. Remember that poor quality fry will grow slowly. It is possible that they will get sick often.

Choosing the right food

Breeding sturgeon at home is a simple process if you follow all the rules. The choice of food requires special attention. There are several features in this issue. Remember that sturgeon representatives feed exclusively from the bottom. Therefore, buy only food that sinks in water and does not float on the surface. It is also worth considering the fact that sturgeon have a well-developed sense of smell. It is this feeling that guides them when choosing food. Therefore, the product you are going to feed the fish must have a pleasant aroma for them.

Feed should not be destroyed by water. This is another rule that must be observed, since sturgeons do not swallow food whole, but absorb it gradually. The food must withstand exposure to moisture for at least 30 minutes. Breeding sturgeon at home may seem quite difficult for many. But actually it is not. The food for this type of fish should be soft, so the sturgeon will eat it faster. If you want the fry to quickly turn into big fish, then their food should not only be tasty, but also high in calories. When choosing food, consider the size of the sturgeon. If the fish are small, then the pieces of food should be small.

Composition of feed for sturgeon

The food for these fish can be completely different. But experts recommend using products that contain phosphorus, lysine, fats, protein, and fiber. This is the most useful food for sturgeon.

How to breed fish in a pond

Growing sturgeon in a private house or apartment has some disadvantages. For example, limited area, maintaining a certain temperature regime, etc. It is much easier to grow fish in you can use ready-made ones. If there is no such thing, then you will have to create it. The old pond must be cleaned before the fry are released. If you create a reservoir yourself, then you should carry out liming. To do this, place a small layer of lime on the bottom, and then pour in enough water and rinse. A similar procedure should be carried out approximately a few weeks before the fry are released.

It is better to make the bottom of the pond in the shape of a bowl. Of course, we should not forget about the corresponding fauna and flora. The pond should contain worms, various green fertilizers, reeds, and algae. If you wish, you can place shellfish in the pond. Ordinary insects, which will serve as additional food, will also be useful. It is better to release fry into the pond in the summer.

Finally

As you can see, breeding sturgeon in a pond is a profitable business. You do not need to occupy a separate room or buy expensive equipment. The only thing required is to choose the right food. In general, sturgeon farming brings good income.

For many, it is common to have aquarium fish at home. Bright, nimble creatures swimming among plants and decorations evoke admiration and allow you to watch them for hours. An aquarium at home is normal.

Then why is breeding commercial fish in an apartment or private house abnormal? Just because such species are large in size? In fact, there is no difference between keeping aquarium fish and commercial fish. But breeding sturgeon at home will become a stable profitable business for you, the demand for a product that will always exist.

Breeding and growing sturgeon at home: business advantages

Representatives of sturgeon are valued not only for their black caviar, but also for their tasty, healthy meat.

Both of these products are always in high demand.

That is why building your business by breeding sturgeon at home is a great idea.

At the same time, the costs of this process are minimal. The sturgeon itself does not require special conditions of detention. Therefore, to get a good result, you just need to not be lazy and perform a number of simple manipulations.

Standard sturgeon include Russian and Siberian sturgeon, stellate sturgeon, beluga, and sterlet. The main advantages of breeding this family of fish are:

the presence of constant demand due to the value of meat and black caviar;
unpretentiousness in maintenance and temperature conditions;
When it comes to nutrition, fish are not very picky;
sturgeon is not susceptible to various diseases;
little time spent on care and feeding, except for sorting days;
business payback within 9 months;
To start such a project, a small amount of money is enough.

If you are planning to open your own business, but you do not have much money for this, you should turn your attention to sturgeon breeding.

Room

If the decision is finally made and your future wealth must be ensured by fish, then the first thing you need to think about is a suitable premises.

Let us immediately note that you can keep fish both in a private house and in an apartment.

There is no need to worry that this type of activity will cause irreparable harm to your environment.

If everything is done correctly, adhering to certain requirements, then both the grown fish and the interior will be excellent.

When selecting premises for breeding, it is necessary to choose a free area of 30 sq. m. m. It must be heated, especially during low temperatures. For active development and growth of sturgeon, in the winter season the water should be 17 degrees. If this is a warm season, then the temperature must be kept at 20-24 0 C.

A permanent barn, a polycarbonate greenhouse, an indoor pool, a garage, etc. are perfect for a sturgeon nursery. The premises you choose must have water supply, electricity, ventilation, and sewerage.

There is one more point that needs to be paid attention to. The fact is that sturgeon is not highly resistant to stress. You should not choose a fish breeding facility near a stadium, market, highway, railway line or other noisy places.

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Equipment for sturgeon breeding

Special equipment for growing sturgeon at home can be purchased from branded suppliers.

Its average cost starts from 10 thousand dollars. Specialists will deliver to the address, install and connect the equipment to work.

All you have to do is launch the fry.

However, you don’t always have such an amount on hand. Therefore, many recommend choosing a slightly different path. For the fish themselves, it makes no difference where they will live and reproduce: in a special pool or not.

The main thing for them is clean water, food and oxygen in sufficient quantities. All this can be provided by a plastic pool with a depth of up to 1 meter and a diameter of up to 3 m. In it, you can easily grow up to 1 ton of sturgeon per year without additional help. This approach will provide an opportunity to save on employee salaries.

To set up a swimming pool you will definitely need:

compressor;
special filters;
pump;
aeration.

There is no need to skimp on the equipment listed. Otherwise, it will quickly fail and you will have to buy a new one. Installing a pump is necessary for periodically cleaning the pool from mule fish and sturgeon waste products.

Pool with sturgeon

Before purchasing a compressor for yourself, test it well, squeezing the maximum out of it. Carefully calculate the power you need. Buy a compressor based on the calculation made, adding the required reserve. Thus, you will prevent rapid wear and tear of equipment and protect yourself from unnecessary expenses.

Some breeders purchase automatic feeders. This equipment perfectly allows you to save time and accurately use feed. But most prefer to save.

Some novice breeders save their money by equipping the pool with their own hands. If you are one of these lucky people, then you have a unique opportunity to save yourself a significant amount of money. A pool built independently costs its owner 2-3 times less than a purchased one.

Purchasing fry

After equipping the premises and the pool, it is time to purchase fry. There are definitely fish farms in your city where various types of industrial fish are bred. Choose one for yourself and purchase a trial batch from them. Before purchasing, be sure to:

consult an expert;
read the literature on how to correctly distinguish between high-quality and low-quality fry;
view reviews about the work of the selected fish farm;
compare offers from different suppliers.

Sturgeon fry

When purchasing fry, you should not rush, purchasing the first ones you come across. The fish may turn out to be sick or of poor quality. As a result, they will develop slowly and get sick. You don't need such things.

How to choose food?

The fry have been launched into the pool, now the babies need to be fed so that they develop well and gain body weight. To do this, you definitely need high-quality food. How to choose it correctly?

In this case, it is worth relying on a number of points:

Sturgeon eat food from the bottom, so the food must sink in the water. There is no need to choose the type that will float on the surface.
The fish selects food based on its sense of smell. Therefore, food must smell pleasant.
The feed should not disintegrate when exposed to moisture. This is due to the fact that the food will not be completely eaten by the fish. Part of it will remain at the bottom, so it should still remain “quality” for half an hour.
The food must be able to swell in water. This way it will be softer and the fish will eat it faster.
Food must be high in calories. This will allow the sturgeon to grow faster, and you will receive the desired income.

The feeds offered on the market today have different compositions. Experts recommend choosing one that contains lysine, phosphorus, fiber, protein and fats.

Breeding sturgeon in a pond

It is not always possible to install a swimming pool. In this case, the option of breeding sturgeon in a pond is suitable for you.

If you have a dug pond, then it is enough to bring it to the conditions necessary for fish.

If not, then dig it up with a bowl-shaped bottom and taking into account the specifics of breeding.

Before releasing the fry, the reservoir used must be cleaned. To do this, all the water is pumped out of it. A layer of lime is placed at the bottom, onto which a significant amount of liquid is then poured. After a couple of hours, this mixture is pumped out. This action must be done half a month before the fry are placed in this pond.

It is imperative that various algae, reeds, aquatic plants, etc. grow in the pond. Additionally, you can place mollusks, worms, plankton, snails, etc. there. If you have river insects in your pond, this will only benefit the sturgeon and provide additional food.

Equipment for fish farming - pond and cages

It is best to release babies into the pond at night in the summer. Once they have reached a certain size, the sturgeon move to the spawning pond. There the fish lay eggs and hatch fry. When the babies appear, they are returned to the first pond and the process of growth of individuals is repeated.

Business payback and sturgeon sales

The full growth cycle of sturgeon from fry to a marketable product is 9 months. During this time, up to a weight of 500 g. (the most popular and purchased) all taken babies grow up. Therefore, the payback period for money invested in such a business project is 9 months.

The main buyers of sturgeon are restaurants, shops and supermarkets, wholesale representatives and fish outlets. Where you will deliver your products is up to you. Some sell not only adult sturgeon, but also fry that they bred at home.

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Sturgeon farming business plan

The average cost of one sturgeon in retail is $15 per 1 kg, and the cost is $7-8. Simple mathematical calculations show that this business provides good income. With the right competent approach, breeding sturgeon at home can bring in from 8 thousand dollars a month. The main condition is a competent approach and compliance with the basic conditions of the technology.

Business calculation:

The price of fish food is 1.2 dollars. per kg. To gain 1 kg of weight you need up to 1.5 kg.
The cost of fry starts from 0.2 dollars.
Equipment. If you want to start your business on a grand scale, then prepare $20 thousand. If you decide to do everything step by step, then the required amount will be less.

As you can see from the figures given, to start breeding sturgeon you will need 30-50 thousand dollars. If you wish, the amount may be even less. Carefully monitor your sturgeons, feed them on time, change the water, then the income will be in your pocket!

Breeding aquarium fish at home comes as no surprise to anyone, but what about breeding large commercial fish? Moreover, in an apartment or private house. This is quite real! Just imagine that you yourself will be able to contribute to the fact that high-quality, tasty black caviar will appear on people’s tables, which is very highly valued in any society and has long been considered a symbol of prosperity.

Fish of the sturgeon family provide valuable caviar and equally valuable meat. And some sources claim that it is very useful. Both are constantly in high demand, so sturgeon farming can be a very good business idea. In addition, for many people, growing sturgeon at home is a rather interesting process that does not require large financial outlays. Sturgeon is quite picky in its diet, and creating suitable conditions for its reproduction and cultivation does not require any complex scientific knowledge.

Sturgeon at home: business advantages

The sturgeon family includes not only the sturgeon itself (Russian and Siberian), but also such species of fish as stellate sturgeon, beluga, and sterlet. Breeding sturgeon is not at all difficult, and this process is possible even in an apartment, which undoubtedly attracts entrepreneurs. The advantages of business are:

Sturgeon meat and caviar are an expensive and valuable product on the market. Demand will be ensured.
Sturgeon is not picky about breeding conditions and easily tolerates changes in temperature.
In order to provide the sturgeon with proper nutrition, neither large amounts of money nor special skills are required.
To start this business, you will need very little starting capital.

Sturgeon breeding room

You can start breeding sturgeon both in an apartment and in a country house. The quality of the final product will not suffer in any way if everything is done correctly. You will need a fairly spacious free area - approximately 30 square meters.

The room must be heated, especially in winter. In winter, for the sturgeon to grow, it needs an aquatic environment with a temperature of about 17 degrees Celsius, in the warm season - from 20 to 24 degrees. If you have not found another suitable room, then a polycarbonate greenhouse in which an equipped swimming pool will be placed is also quite suitable.

Equipment for sturgeon breeding

Specialized equipment can be purchased from supplier companies, and it will cost you from 10 thousand dollars. They will deliver you fully ready-to-use equipment and install it right in your apartment or house.

However, you can go the other way. In fact, the sturgeon will live and reproduce just fine in a non-specialized container, which you can make with your own hands if you wish. A small plastic pool with a depth of about 1 meter and a diameter of about 2-3 meters will do. Of course, you can use larger pools if the space allows. In a small pool you can grow about one ton of sturgeon per year, and you can do everything yourself, without hiring employees or spending additional money on their wages.

The pool must have compressors, special filters and aeration. You will also need a pump, as the pool will need to be cleaned periodically. An automatic feeder can be a useful piece of equipment, but you can do without it. Its advantages are that using it you will free up a lot of extra time, but it doesn’t cost a penny. Many entrepreneurs feed fish by hand.

When choosing a compressor and pump, pay attention to the fact that this equipment should not squeeze out its full maximum during operation. Calculate how much equipment power you need, and take equipment so that it works with a small margin. Otherwise, the equipment will wear out very quickly and you will need to replace it.

If you have sufficient knowledge, hands from the “right place” and free time, you can make a pool yourself. This way you will save quite a lot of money (the cost of producing a pool yourself is 2-3 times less than the cost of the same pool from a store). To begin with, one small pool will be sufficient, over time it will be possible to expand it or make several more of the same kind.

Purchasing fry

To start breeding sturgeon, of course, you will need fry of this fish. There are fish farms that breed different types of fish. You need to find one that breeds sturgeon specifically, and purchase a batch of fry from them. We recommend that you do not buy the first ones you come across, but consider different options.

Ask experts how to choose the right fry for breeding, and how you can distinguish high-quality fish from low-quality fish. It is better to approach the purchase of fry with all responsibility. Poor quality fry will grow very slowly and possibly get sick, and you don’t want that at all.

How to choose food

You also need to choose food for sturgeon carefully. There are a number of features in this issue. Firstly, the sturgeon feeds from the bottom, so it needs food that will sink in the water. Sturgeons have a developed sense of smell, and this is what they use when looking for food. The food should have an attractive smell to the fish.

Also, the food must be waterproof and not be destroyed by water. This rule must be observed because the sturgeon will not immediately absorb all the food, but will, so to speak, “stretch out the pleasure.” The food must remain waterproof for at least 30 minutes after being immersed in water. The consistency of the food should also be special: the food should swell a little in the water and become softer - this way the fish will eat it faster. And so that the sturgeon grow faster, and you can quickly sell them and make your profit, choose high-calorie food.

The composition of sturgeon feed varies. But experts recommend using food with approximately the following composition: fiber, protein, fats, lysine and phosphorus. Do not forget to take into account the size of the fish: small fish need small food, large fish need larger food. Everything must match the size of the fish.

Breeding sturgeon in a pond

If the option with a pool is not suitable for you, you can breed sturgeon in a pond. And if you already have a pond, then the task becomes much easier for you. You just need to bring the pond into the required condition, or find a suitable one. Before you place the fry in the pond, you need to prepare it for new inhabitants. The pond needs to be cleaned. If it is of artificial origin, then carry out the liming procedure: place a layer of lime on the bottom of the pond, pour a sufficient amount of water on top, and then rinse. It is advisable to carry out this procedure approximately half a month before placing the fry in the pond.

The bottom of the pond should be in the shape of a bowl. Also provide certain flora and fauna in the pond, which will contribute to the healthy development and reproduction of sturgeon. There must be algae, reeds, various green fertilizers, worms, and you can put shellfish. If insects get in, it will only be beneficial (additional food for the sturgeon). All this will create the necessary “atmosphere” in the pond in which the sturgeon will feel great.

It is recommended to place fry in the pond in the summer, and preferably at night. When some of the fish grow to larger than average sizes, they will need to be moved to another spawning pond. It is also created artificially. After a while, the eggs or the fry that have already been born can be returned back to the original pond. Be attentive to fish, especially males - they can become carriers of unwanted infections and infect a whole family of fry.

Business payback and product sales

To clearly show what the return on investment for a given business can be, let’s give an example. Let's say you took 5 g of fry. After about six months, some of them will weigh 500 g. Please note that only a part, since sturgeon fry will grow unevenly, that is, some faster, some slower. This is their peculiarity.

It is sturgeon weighing 500 g that are the best-selling. When some of the individuals reach this weight, you sell them and begin to wait for the rest to grow up. After 1-1.5 months, medium-sized sturgeon will grow to a large size, and after 2-3 - the smallest ones. After about 9 months from the start, the production cycle can be repeated.

You can sell your products anywhere: in restaurants, markets, shops, supermarkets, specialized fish stores, and wholesale organizations. You can also make some profit by selling the fry that you yourself have produced on your fish farm to other private producers and organizations.

Sturgeon breeding business plan

As already mentioned, sturgeon is a fairly expensive fish, and its cost starts from $15 per kilogram. And this is at a production cost of 7-8 dollars per kilogram. Already based on these figures, it can be understood that sturgeon breeding will bring good profits. A sturgeon breeding business can bring you about 8 thousand dollars every month. Of course, if the breeding is on a fairly large scale, and you do everything correctly.

The approximate cost of fish feed offered by specialized companies is $1.2 per kilogram. For 1 kg of sturgeon growth, about 1-1.5 kg of feed will be required. The price of the fry is quite pleasing - fry weighing 1 g will cost 0.2 dollars.

The cost of the equipment will depend on your “appetites” in this business. If you immediately want to equip yourself to the maximum and purchase equipment for growing sturgeon with a volume of 5 tons per year, then prepare an amount of 15-20 thousand dollars. If you are going to start small, then, accordingly, the costs will be much less.

In conclusion, let’s summarize what you need to remember about breeding sturgeon at home. Firstly, do not forget to feed the fish with high-quality food. Secondly, clean the pool regularly. Thirdly, from time to time check the functionality of the equipment (in particular, filters) and, if necessary, repair breakdowns. And fourthly, check the condition of the water often and add new water from time to time. Successful business to you!

A similar business with sturgeon breeding is. Find out how to do it at home and make a profit!