Fish & Turtles

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HarleyK

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Aug 17, 2005
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Howdy,

Many of you keep turtles, and I was wondering who successfully keeps turtles together with fish (which species :turtle::tropicalf ?). I am more concerned about the fish, which is why I chose this forum and not the "other pets" section. Do even softshells need a place to rest outside the water? Anyone successful with live plants in :turtle::tropicalf tanks?

I am in the planning phase for a new set-up. You know: get ideas, dismiss ideas ...
I kinda like the :turtle::tropicalf idea :)

Thanks a bunch.
HarleyK
 
live plants will most likely be destroyed...turtles and (some fish) love to uproot and dig around.

what fish do you plan on housing with your turtle?

most turtles will go after fish so its always a risk! its basic animal insinct. the best turtle fish combos that i see are from turtles that are raised young with other fish and on non live food.

i also plan on doing a turtle fish combo this summer! my plan is to raise the baby turtle about 3 in. on non live food and with med. sized fish, but its ALWAYS a risk.

providing a basking area for a soft shell is always debated here, ive seen soft shells do fine without any land. thou i would provide some floating plants for it to rest on if needed. also if you dont give it any basking natural sunlight, you will want to take your turtle out and "dry it out" in the sun so that it receives the proper vits. from the sun.

good luck!
 
Most aquatic turtles, pretty much ALL aquatic turtles are piscivourus, which means you can't really keep them with fish with out having problems. If the fish is too big for them to eat, they can just take chuncks outa it. You def. wouldn't want to keep any of your ornamental/tropical fish with them.

FRT on the other hand are a little more laid back and more herbivourus. Some members say as they get larger they will more readily chase down and hunt fish. Hopefully this is only true in some cases. Only truly aquatic turtles I can think of are FRT, and possibly MataMata. Everything else will need a basking spot, where they can get out of the water and sun themselves. I'm not an expert on it, so don't take my advice completely to heart. Just statin from personal experience and observations.
 
peanut, speaking of FRT, were you able to keep yours in the move?
 
Howdy,

That's already great input, thanks, but maybe I get some more case-studies/experiences in this forum. I am thinking about providing driftwood which reaches above the water surface, i.e. lowering the water level in my 29'' high tank (220 gal). For fish, I was considering Red Hooks, they seem fast enough to outswim a turtle. However, I am afraid they are too fast and outcompete turtles for food.

Anyone with experience in successfully keeping :turtle: :tropicalf , please post
Thanks,
HarleyK
 
with red hooks or silver dollars you might have to tube feed your turtles, though the fish might be skiddish and afraid of your turtle if it seeks out food agressivly.
 
I have kept fish with turtles and sometimes it works out, but there are always a few fish losses. I have kept painted turtles with tetras and only had a few fish eaten. I have kept softshells with fish... that was a lost cuase for the fish I tried in that tank(convicts, firemouths, buenos aires tetras, pristella tetra, and a few other random oddballs). None of those fish lasted long at all, but there is one feeder goldfish that is a trooper who lives happily with them now. I think that is you put in baby turtles at the same time you place fish in the tank (and make sure the fish are the same size or bigger than the turtle) you'll be alright for a while.
And for feeding, it depends on how you feed the fish/turtles. Most of the foods my turtles eat these days are floating pellets, so if you fed your redhooks something that actually sinks in the water and feed your turtles floating pellets you'd be alright. Or feed the fish on one side of the tank and the turtles on the other (make separate feeding stations for them). And don't under estimate the speed of turtles. You'll see how fast they can be in a big tank. My big female softshell floats around like a lame blimp all day, but if any food hits the water on the other side of her pond she shoots over (goes 8' in about .25 second) there splashing water everywere and nabbs what ever it was. Sliders and other hard shelled turtles (excluding FRT, I've seen those suckers move out!) aren't quite as fast, but they can scoot. So I'm not sure about how fast redhooks are but the faster the better. I have actually been thinking about putting some Bala sharks in my turtle pond. I know they are pretty quick.
As for turtles in a planted tank... it can be done but only for a little while with baby turtles. Baby softshells are nice becuase they don't eat to much plant matter, but they like to dig them up. They bury themselfs in the substrate. If you did want to try softshells, everywere you have plants in the ground, cover around the bottom of the plants with big river rocks. That way they won't dig right under your plants every day. Once they get bigger they will dig under everything. I have a few rocks in my pond that are about 10-15lbs and they are in a different spot on a daily basis.
Well thats all I can think of right now. If you have any Q's fell free to PM me or post here again.
 
Na, none of your ornamentals. I'm sorry but the only fish ive had luck with surviving more than a week with a turtle are tiger barbs, and ive seen turtles take them down, and zebra danios. The tiger barbs look better in my opinion, and they can swim fast, but expect casualties. MY danios lasted longer, but they aren't as nice to look at. These fish were with a Red Eared Slider. If its a snapper or a matamata, you've got no chance, they're expert fish hunters. Also, if the turtle is semi-aquatic, and needs to bask, you can either take it out for a few hours a day in the sun, or you'll have to be prepared to use 2 lamps. One is the UV lamp, that needs to produce 5% or more UVB. These range from about $40 - $80, and need replacing every 6 months. You'll also need a lamp to provide heat, a normal household bulb will do. Go to:
http://www.turtletimes.com/Forums/
and ask there if your seriously considering a turtle. Its the best forum for turtles i've ever found.

Paul
 
yep almost all turtle will eat fish. i guess it depends on the turtle. i have seen alot of people keep frt with there fish
 
It ALL depends on the turtle. Some people will say that the fish wont live a second in their turtle tank and others say their turtles never touched fish. Personally from my experience I would at least try it. I had a snapping turtle in with a bunch of fish and he NEVER touched them. They were in there for at least 6 months or so. Go ahead and try it. Just make sure your trial fish arent the ones near and dear to your heart.

Chad
 
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