Habitat - Indoor :: Keeping my new red eared slider with fish and plants

[cymbri]

My red eared slider is a timid, peaceful fellow a little less than 4" wide. i got him about a month and a half ago from my parents whom had inherited him from someone who found him in a yard. He was in a 10 gal tank with no light, no filtration , just a little water, and a little space for him to get out of the water.

I have not kept a red eared slider, or any fish besides goldfish since i was very young, so I have have done a good amount of research to make sure this guy gets the proper care.

When i brought him home, I promptly got him a 40 gallon tank, a fluval filter rated for 70 gallons, a heat lamp, a uva/uvb light (goes on and off around the same time as there is light in the day), a good basking space, and river rocks to line the bottom of the aquarium. I have not yet bought a water heater because it's summer time and the temp here doesn't go below 75. I'll get a heater in the next month or two. At that time I also bought 10 feeder goldfish, some turtle pellets, and some greens for him to eat (collard, and romain lettuce).

There are least 4 feeder goldfish left from that time, and while the turtle tears up his pellets and greens, he doesn't seem at all interested in goldfish. With the goldfishies, filter and water refreshing/replacing every week or so, i started to get some brown algae buildup on the side of the tank and the rocks at the bottom.

I don't care to scrub all the rocks, the wall of the tank, or add chemicals to the water, so I was looking into some natural alternatives.

So two days ago I added two chinese algae eaters. Turtle was not interested in them, so yesterday I added two green catfish, some apple snails and a common pleco (to eat the algae and turtle leftovers). I also added a moss ball, some money wort, and anacharis (to help filter the water and use up the nutrients that the algae needs to live). As well as a place for the fish to hide if they want.

Turtle shows no interest in any of them, but he's a bit peeved that i rearranged his tank.

I'll be buying some food for the fish (fish flakes, sinking carnivore pellets, algae bits for when the algae is gone, and blood worms as treats), to supplement their turtle leftovers. I'll also be buying some ghost shrimp when i can find them, and some driftwood for the pleco/algae eaters.

Does anyone else keep fish or plants with their red eared sliders? If so what breeds have you been successful with? I'm looking to add more fish because i like watching them swim around, and they help keep the water clean.

I'm also wondering if I am doing everything I need to for the proper care of my turtle, I want to make sure he is happy and healthy.

[Kansasslider]

Chinese sucker fish are great with young sliders. Watch the snails I have wild caught snails in my fx5 but they don't hurt anything and give my turns a nice little treat every time I clean the filter.I also have Rosy reds that my turts don't mess with too much every once in a while one comes up missing!!!

[steve]

Looks good but take out any rocks smaller than this head. My RES are particularly destructive so their tanks are pretty bare.

[amwassil]

I think a number of members have experiences keeping fish with their RES. Some good, some bad and some ugly.

I've been conducting an experiment in cohabitation for about 9 months now. I currently have 2 ancistrus, 3 golden algae eaters and 9 corys sharing a tank with 3 juvenile RES; one is about 1 1/2 years old and the other two about a year old. They all get along very well. The turtles for the most part ignore the fish, even when they are swimming around them. The goldens are very cautious and almost never go near the turtles. The corys often swim around the turtles. The turtles almost never show any inclination to chase a fish even when someone swims right in front of them.

Recently, however, I bought three otocinclus, two of which ended up as turtle food very quickly. The third I managed to get out of the tank alive and back to the pet store. I think the problem here was the otos were just a little too small and looked a little too much like baby guppies. Also, they couldn't swim fast enough to stay out of harm's way.

I have my tank set up with a couple of stainless wire shelves on the bottom to give the fish an inch and a half of relatively safe space. I also have a number of tank ornaments that give the fish lots of hiding places. So even if a turtle decides "these other guys" look like food, they've got places to go where the turtles can't.

The fish help keep the tank clean. They are also a delight in their own right, especially the corys.

[cymbri]

Looks good but take out any rocks smaller than this head.

I went through the rocks when i put them in initially, and only put the bigger rocks in . My RES hasn't been destructive at all, except to his pellets and greens. Oh and also to the turtle water conditioning block I had. He started eating that so i took it out.

Thank for your experience, amwassil! The corys are a delight to watch, since I only have 2 I'll need to get some more so they can be happy. The two i have act like best pals. I'll also be getting rid of the goldfish, because of their bio-load and getting rid of the CAEs because when they get big they like to kill stuff...

I only have a 40 gallon tank right now, so i don't want to load it to the point that the fish are uncomfortable with all the waste... But it just seems to me that there's plenty of room, and my 70 gallon filter is doing a great job. I also feel that even though the fish create waste, that they're still beneficial because I won't have all that leftover rotting food from when the RES eats.

I figured that he might look at little fish as food, so I tried to get the corys and pleco at least as big as his head. Since I have a "common" pleco, I'm told that they grow like weeds so I will need a larger tank soon even though he is small now. I'll need a larger tank for my RES anyway so we'll see what happens with that.

[Kado]

The brown algae looks like diatoms. Pretty common in new tank set ups, should just clear up in a few months.

I've had swordtails in my tank since my turtle was about an inch now he has grown to about 4". So far he has only been able to catch the fry. The big ones are to fast for him, but he still tries nip at them every once in a while. As for plants..nothing stands a chance with him.

[amwassil]

cymbri: I agree, corys are very fun and interesting fish. They'll become even more active and entertaining if you increase the number to 5 or more. Also, the more water you have for them the better. Before I moved everyone to a new 80 gallon tank they were sharing two 25 gallon sterilite tubs connected via two water syphons and a basking bridge for the turtles. The fish were active, but I didn't realize it until the move that with so little water column the presence of the turtles really inhibited the fish. Now in the bigger tank the fish are much more active, especially the corys. I think with so much more water in a single tank, the turtles don't seem so intimidating to the fish any more.

Regarding your CAE, see this thread: viewtopic.php?f=9&t=34514 . slider_keeper reports that he has no trouble with his CAEs that are several years old already. He has a big tank which may help to keep them contented.

Yes, your "common pleco" will grow quite large. A smaller alternative is ancistrus ("bushy nosed" or "bristle nosed" plecos). They look similar to common plecos when very young but are a different species and max out at 5-6 inches. They're great algae eaters.

[Starscream]

I have hatchlings so I have very little exp with this all 3 are less that 2". I have them in the tank with minnows, the cheapest I could find, and gold fish, small, and 4 medium ones. I recently, like 2 days ago, added some ghost shrimp to help kleen up the mess at the bottom of the tank. Every now and again the turtles have taken a minnow and the shrimp were gone of mostly gone after the first day.