OK to keep with my turtle?

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B

b3n129

Feeder Fish
Jan 2, 2007
1
0
0
California
hey, i'm beginning to have a large interest in fishes and was wondering if i was able to keep: an oscar, arowana, or peacock bass with a turtle? the turtle is a red-eared slider and is currently around 4-5 inches and will grow 12+ inches. im intersted in buying an oscar, arowana, and peacock bass to add to my tank but was wondering if it'll be compatiable throughout its whole life. (i will be having the appropriate tank for them)

i dont plan on getting them all on the same time but was wondering if any of these would have a problem with my turtle. i know i will get them similar in size so they cant eat eachother but i have read that the fishes will grow way bigger than my turtle later on.

also if i do get one of these fishes, can anyone give me an estimated amount of time when they will reach 12 inches?
 
the best way to put it is... only one way to find out. every fish is different, but when smaller the turtle may harm the those fish.. when larger...it may flip flop. The next and biggest/most important question is what size tank are you thinking of putting all these into? A res will be fine in a 20l or 29 or larger... but those fish you mentioned espeically if in an addition to, will have much much larger tank requirements.
 
RES's should have a basking light from what I've heard, and need a land platform. So seeing how the arow and bass need 300g at least it would be a difficult tank to setup. Also some of those fish may try and eat your turtle as all will be 12"+ or more in a year. Just a bad idea in my opinion.

If you like turtles and fish then get what's called a FRT, which can be housed with fish of the nature you're thinking of.
 
Welcome to MFK!!!

The RES will require a basking ramp with a basking reptile lamp. The tank's filtration will have to be sizeable to manage the wastes of not only the large fish you're intending to keep, but the large amount of wastes the turtle will place into the system.
And no matter what type of fish you place with a turtle, just make sure it isn't a prized show fish. Turtles eat fish. There's no way around that fact. Trying to keep the turtle fed to where it won't bother the fish is an exercise in futility since, at some point, something is going to cause a missed feeding or two. And, the turtle will not wait for the excuse. He'll just draw up his own menu with what's readily available to him.
 
if you are going to put a turtle and a fish together make a pond. make a trop pond in you garage or basement if you have mild winters put it outside. if you have to put the fish and the turtle together at all that is the way to go.
 
what if the turtle is much smaller than the aro or cichlids? will it only take swipes at fish it can fit in it's mouth or will it try to take chunks out of the fish?
 
While every animal has it's own personality and hunting technique, all of the terrapins I've kept didn't care what size the fish was. They bit chunks out of what was available.
 
i've kept res with my monsters, everything went fine for a very very long time. but 1 thing i did notice, he did like to "nip" my silver aro and take a ride around the tank as my silver took off panicking. turtles poop, so do fish. good filtration is recommended. and i never had any certain lights for heat or anything. no ramps for it to come out, jus stuff to hang onto so it can chill out for a minute like floating plants or even fake plants. he'll even hang on to your hater if anything.
 
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