Established tank adding a turtle?

[expkeeper19]

I've got a 120 G tank that I've had running for a few years with
3/ 12" Florida spotted gar
1/ 8" delhezi bichir
1/ 12" ornate bichir
1/ 10" nicuaguensis cichlid
Filtration is a Rena Xp4
could I keep a 2" baby red ear or Mississippi map turtle ?


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[syddakyd]

i would do a musk before anything. def not the slider they will tear everything up

 

[Miguel]

no turtle at all in that size tank.
Toil to the water quality is enormous.

 

[koltsixx]

i would do a musk before anything. def not the slider they will tear everything up

Sorry to disagree especially since Muskies are one of my faves, but if I'd go with a Map Turtle. Muskies aren't good swimmers and in a 120 are going to struggle more than most turtles to reach the surface for air plus they tend to be snappy and would be a danger to the fish. Map's on the other hand are on the small side and more suited to a essentially full aquatic life than Muskies. Cagle's Map Turtle get around 3-4 inches for males and a max 6 inches for females. Though I will agree with Miguel turtles are horribly messy and you'd need to increase maintenance and filtration to a serious degree to handle the bio load.

 

[TheProfessor]

Sorry but much of that is wrong!
Maps aren't all aquatic...they need a basking area above the tank without a lid on the tank (all turtles require a tank without a lid, humidity builds up and causes respiratory infections). They require a basking area, with heat lamps 10degrees above the water temp, and a UV bulb.
Musks are more mostly aquatic but still require a basking area in cause they use it!
Also the turtles will eventually try and eat fish...some mix, some don't...it's just personal experience and the individual turtle.
Musks will struggle when they are young, but providing stop and resting places in the tank on the way up would help.

Turtles are very messy creatures and filtration would need to increase two fold, as well as maintenance being increased.
Also that size tank would be more than large enough for 3 Musks (however they do much better solitary, so would recommend one, unless breeding in which cases its one make to every two females)

A red eared slider however maybe ok depending on whether it was male or female!
Full sized female of 12+ inches wouldn't be ok
Male who would reach between 8-10 inches, should be ok.
However most people believe they require indoor ponds when fully sized


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[koltsixx]

Sorry but much of that is wrong!
Maps aren't all aquatic...they need a basking area above the tank without a lid on the tank (all turtles require a tank without a lid, humidity builds up and causes respiratory infections). They require a basking area, with heat lamps 10degrees above the water temp, and a UV bulb.
Musks are more mostly aquatic but still require a basking area in cause they use it!
Also the turtles will eventually try and eat fish...some mix, some don't...it's just personal experience and the individual turtle.
Musks will struggle when they are young, but providing stop and resting places in the tank on the way up would help.

Turtles are very messy creatures and filtration would need to increase two fold, as well as maintenance being increased.
Also that size tank would be more than large enough for 3 Musks (however they do much better solitary, so would recommend one, unless breeding in which cases its one make to every two females)

A red eared slider however maybe ok depending on whether it was male or female!
Full sized female of 12+ inches wouldn't be ok
Male who would reach between 8-10 inches, should be ok.
However most people believe they require indoor ponds when fully sized


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Sorry but no it isn't!

I will say I guess I've given people more credit than they're due. I assumed it was common knowledge that turtles need basking areas so didn't think I needed to reiterate a point I thought was common knowledge. I also didn't realize that someone like you would assume that when I said more suited to an aquatic lifestyle that you would interpret that as the animal is fully aquatic. Again I assumed that since they breathe air no one would think turtles are fully aquatic, guess I'll add next time that Maps are more suited to an aquatic lifestyles but still aren't fish so no one will get confused. That seems to be your only gripe with my statement despite you saying much of what I said is wrong.

Now lets get to how wrong your statement is!

Your stating Muskies need areas on the way up which is correct, it's because compared to Sliders and Maps they're piss poor swimmers. How ever that statement alone counters their suitability to a large deep tank with fish doesn't it? That means that the tank will need to be compromised for the Musk more than the other two turtles and lessen swimming room for fish. Another important factor is that Musk turtles are primarily piscivores while the other two feed primarily on crustaceans. Now this isn't to say that a Slider or Map won't take a bite out of a fish but a Musk is twice as likely too. You can easily tell by the differences in jaw structure between them whose more dangerous to fish tankmates. Also Musk turtles are more aggressive than the other 2 alternatives again going to suitability.

Map turtles are smaller, less heavy bodied, swim better and feed mainly on crustaceans making them more suitable tankmates. They'll need less compromises in the tank to make it suitable to house them. Turtle islands will be easily reached rather than having to add several space consuming steps for a Musk. Being smaller they also produce less waste than a Musk. Logically that being said they're more suited to a tank set up that includes fish.

Sliders are too big they're messier because of their size produce more waste and are more likely to attack a fish than a Map.

 

[F1 VET]

Sorry but much of that is wrong!
Maps aren't all aquatic...they need a basking area above the tank without a lid on the tank (all turtles require a tank without a lid, humidity builds up and causes respiratory infections). They require a basking area, with heat lamps 10degrees above the water temp, and a UV bulb.
Musks are more mostly aquatic but still require a basking area in cause they use it!
Also the turtles will eventually try and eat fish...some mix, some don't...it's just personal experience and the individual turtle.
Musks will struggle when they are young, but providing stop and resting places in the tank on the way up would help.

Turtles are very messy creatures and filtration would need to increase two fold, as well as maintenance being increased.
Also that size tank would be more than large enough for 3 Musks (however they do much better solitary, so would recommend one, unless breeding in which cases its one make to every two females)

A red eared slider however maybe ok depending on whether it was male or female!
Full sized female of 12+ inches wouldn't be ok
Male who would reach between 8-10 inches, should be ok.
However most people believe they require indoor ponds when fully sized


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+1



Not to mention with the current bio load you have Imo your tank is already more then full and with a single xp4 your just asking for problems plus with the basking area the gars can jump, I say upgrade your current stock to a 180 or bigger and make the 120 a turtle tank and go wild with it!

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