Turtle/pleco?

[Conner]

I would advise to never keep plecos with Soft Shell species or inactive turtles like Gator Snappers, Mata Matas, etc...

I think a lot of people buy plecos for "Algae Eating" or to clean up the scraps left by a turtle. That can be ok I guess but most species barely touch algae or grow out of eating it once they reach larger sizes. They have to eat just like any other species so keeping them well fed with a varied diet particular to that species is a must. Also what goes in must come out and plecos are notorious for being poop machines. They also add a significant degree of bioload in the tank which means more water changes and better filtration. Just keep this stuff in mind if you think of adding one to a tank.

Yah, I don't buy plecos. I got this one from a friend who rescued it from a friend who was going to toss it in his yard .

But I've got this tank overfiltered, and if I see anything going on between the turtle and pleco, the pleco is going to the lfs. So far they seem to be getting along just fine, completely ignoring each other.

 

[-DC-]

MY bigger RES would destroy most fish, when i added a 7" common pleco they chased it around for a short time then lost interest, I created a few hideing spots for him to hide in and get away from them,

 

[jschall]

The tank was a fish tank before I put the turtle in (as in running with fish until about 30 minutes before the turtle was added). It's filtered by a Penguin 350 and a Cascade 700 (both more than large enough for a 55g).

There are already about 10 feeder comets in there the turtle wouldn't eat, plus about 8-10 small (baby) convicts, none bigger than an inch. So its definitely cycled.

The turtle checked out the pleco a couple of times, but never bit at it, and then when back to her normal swimming around looking for food, and going crazy whenever I walk up to the tank .

I can't believe how much her activity level has changed by moving her to the larger tank. She spends a LOT more time swimming around now than she used to.

Ditch the comets if you can. Goldfish and minnows contain thiaminase, which is an enzyme that destroys thiamine and persists inside the turtles for a very long period of time.

There is the occasional story of turtles choking on pieces of plecos' hard armor. There's also the occasional story of plecos actually chewing through turtle shells.

 

[Conner]

Ditch the comets if you can. Goldfish and minnows contain thiaminase, which is an enzyme that destroys thiamine and persists inside the turtles for a very long period of time.

There is the occasional story of turtles choking on pieces of plecos' hard armor. There's also the occasional story of plecos actually chewing through turtle shells.

I know all about thiaminase. The turtle doesn't eat the feeders (although that was the original purpose of putting them in her tank). These feeders have coexisted with her for 4 months now. My only options are to throw them in my gar tank and use them as feeders, throw them out in my pond where they'll probably die from the temperature shock, or leave them in the turtle tank until the pond warms up enough to transfer them. I don't want to toss them in the gar tank, as some of them have really nice markings, and I've kind of gotten attached to them since they've managed to survive so long.