What type of turtle is it? sliders or cooters will kill the plec in that, small enough for him to catch it no matter what size the plec. is, tank. a small map or painted turtle will do fine though. in order to keep turtles with fish you will need a lot( think at least 300 gal.) of space for the fish to be able to distance itself from the turles or else any omnivorous or carnivorous turtle will kill any fish even close enough in size, meaning less then 7 inches bigger then the turtles. I tried it before. unless you have slow turtles like mud or musk which will still kill a sleeping/resting or slow fish.
Ideas for a new cichlid...
- Thread starter paul112
- Start date
A chocolate cichlid gets to 10 - 12" & thick & pretty tall. 20 gal is too small.
Dwarf cichlids only: apistogramma, nannacara, or a couple more keyholes which would probably look & act better in a group anyway.
keyholes most definately will act and look better in a small group than by themselves. they are a schooling fish by nature and youll prolly notice some interesting behavior if you put some more in. or maybe a pair of bolivian rams?
Okay, here's an update, I researched and bought what was labelled as a Convict. Well, it wasn't. It was the African venustus cichlid. It's getting along fine with everybody which I find strange but nice.
Now, the Turtle thing. Yes, my turtle is a slider, yes I know they eat fish. And no, I might be new to the tropical fish hobby, but I'm not new to turtles. I've had my slider for 8 years, and have tested several fish in the tank. I'm not going to throw a 6" Gibby in there and hope for the best, I'll introduce them slowly, see how the turtle reacts. And this might not even happen, if the Turtle grows another inch quickly, She'll need a new tank and my 20gal ihabitants can live in her 55gal for a while. Turtles have different personalities, so your experience with them probably differs from mine. Many turtle keepers keep adults with large plecos with no problems.
And the Keyhole, thanks I didn't know they were schooling fish. Thats maybe why she's hanging around the Venustus all the time. I bought her from a tank of tiger barbs, there were no more. I've tried looking for more but no joy.
Cheers,
Paul.
Now, the Turtle thing. Yes, my turtle is a slider, yes I know they eat fish. And no, I might be new to the tropical fish hobby, but I'm not new to turtles. I've had my slider for 8 years, and have tested several fish in the tank. I'm not going to throw a 6" Gibby in there and hope for the best, I'll introduce them slowly, see how the turtle reacts. And this might not even happen, if the Turtle grows another inch quickly, She'll need a new tank and my 20gal ihabitants can live in her 55gal for a while. Turtles have different personalities, so your experience with them probably differs from mine. Many turtle keepers keep adults with large plecos with no problems.
And the Keyhole, thanks I didn't know they were schooling fish. Thats maybe why she's hanging around the Venustus all the time. I bought her from a tank of tiger barbs, there were no more. I've tried looking for more but no joy.
Cheers,
Paul.
The Nimbo. venustus itself will need a 55gl minimum. It will not get along with the keyhole long-term. Male or female it will grow too large and rambunctious to be kept with the keyhole.
A convict might have been a slightly better choice. If it was female it might not be too aggressive but cons have a habit of not fitting one's expectations if one plans on putting them in a community with more docile fish.
Now, the turtle thing. Your turtle is female, 8 years old and in a 55? Stunted maybe?
And years and years of eating this fish and not that fish or not hunting for fish at all... IMO it doesn't mean much. Sure, plenty of people do it, "successfully". Few people are aware of risk when they do it. They think "look there, see, they get along!" and 4 or 5 years down the road the fish mysteriously gets ripped to shreds.
I'm not against keeping fish with turtles at all. I don't condone it, however, especially when the person in the situation claims "fishkeeping" and puts them together. I'm not going to call myself a "mousekeeper" and decide to house my snake and mouse together.
IMO, if you don't give too much about losing the fish one day, by all means. It might work out. If you actually care about the fish, I'd rather not risk it.
And lastly, keyholes are not schooling fish. Gregarious, possibly - but not schooling. They might enjoy eachother's company while single (which to be honest, hasn't been my experience) but will quickly turn aggressive toward tankmates (including other keyholes) when paired and/or spawning.
A convict might have been a slightly better choice. If it was female it might not be too aggressive but cons have a habit of not fitting one's expectations if one plans on putting them in a community with more docile fish.
Now, the turtle thing. Your turtle is female, 8 years old and in a 55? Stunted maybe?
And years and years of eating this fish and not that fish or not hunting for fish at all... IMO it doesn't mean much. Sure, plenty of people do it, "successfully". Few people are aware of risk when they do it. They think "look there, see, they get along!" and 4 or 5 years down the road the fish mysteriously gets ripped to shreds.
I'm not against keeping fish with turtles at all. I don't condone it, however, especially when the person in the situation claims "fishkeeping" and puts them together. I'm not going to call myself a "mousekeeper" and decide to house my snake and mouse together.
IMO, if you don't give too much about losing the fish one day, by all means. It might work out. If you actually care about the fish, I'd rather not risk it.
And lastly, keyholes are not schooling fish. Gregarious, possibly - but not schooling. They might enjoy eachother's company while single (which to be honest, hasn't been my experience) but will quickly turn aggressive toward tankmates (including other keyholes) when paired and/or spawning.
