General Care Discussion :: toxic plants?

[scriabin]

I did a forum search for this but didn't see it raised -

I plan to add some water plants next month and I want to make sure there's nothing toxic or bad for turtles on the market - Anything I should avoid? (floating pond plants in particular?)

Also, I'm in the process of cleaning out a fishpond at my parents house and it is totally overrun with water lilies - I'll be removing at least half - good idea or bad to transplant a little in the turtle tank?

And other than amazon sword, any recs for plants the turtles won't eat?

Thanks!

Jonathan

[johnQguy]

My turtles destroy any and all plants they have access to. That is why I have 2 separate tanks (common water) for my plants. Not sure if there are any plants that they leave alone completely. I'd like to know if something exists, myself!

[TheComputerGremlin]

Plastic plants, the ones that are obviously plastic, not the realistic wispy ones.

[SpotsMama]

For my turtle's outside pond I like duck weed. Spot eats it but it grows much faster than he can eat so it covers the surface of the pond unless I scoop it out every day. It's pretty though and keeps the water clean and provides shade during the heat of the summer. A lot of people don't like it because it will absolutely take over unless you scoop it out frequently. In some states it's illegal as an invasive.

I tried a water lilly in Spot's pond but he mowed it down within a couple of days. I'm pretty sure a water lily wouldn't grow in an indoor tank. Most of them require a lot of sun.

Generally speaking, if a plant is safe for fish it's safe for turtles. Don't assume, however, just because a plant is recommended for an aquarium that it's safe for fish - be sure it's specified as safe.

A lot of us like anacharis - it's cheap and easy to grow and turtles love to eat it. It's a good source of vegetable matter for a turtle. However, in the process of eating it turtles tend to rip it to pieces and it can make a mess in the tank.

Most people like the plastic variety of aquatic plant. Safe, pretty, turtle proof.

[marisa]

The aquatic plants sold for ponds are OK for turtles, so the lilies should be fine. If they're dirty or have algae among them, it would be good to clean it off.

My turtles never really cared that much for hornwort. How long it lasts depends on the turtle.

[scriabin]

Well, I'll be pulling out about a hundred pounds worth of water lily, so I might as well give it a try in their tank, since otherwise it's just going to compost...

[scriabin]

How about water hyacinths? I haven't seen them mentioned in any forums, but they seem to be on sale everywhere I go...

[Fuzzy Hamster]

Water hyacinth is listed on the main site as 'highly recommended', along with water lily.

Take a look here under Aquatic Plants; http://www.redearslider.com/plants.html

[scriabin]

Oh thanks! I looked in the "habitat" section, it didn't occur to me to look under "nutrition"...

This is a long shot question but I don't suppose anybody knows if these surface plants like hyacinth and lilies oxygenate the water the way submerged plants do? (me and my fish questions...)

Jonathan

PS - funny amazon sword is listed under nutrition, I'd read elsewhere is was too bitter for most turtles...

[Fuzzy Hamster]

Actually, as I understand it, they do just the opposite - they deplete the oxygen in the water, especially if there are too many of them.

Btw, are you planning to add ghost shrimp to your turtles' tank?

[marisa]

I have water hyacinth in my turts stock tanks. And surprisingly to me, today (10/1) one of them is starting to bloom, even though the weather has been cool. They can help filter the water, and as cover they help to keep the water cooler when it's hot.

[scriabin]

Well, I think the reason they have a rep for depleting oxygen is because they quickly choke waterways, constricting current and blocking out sunlight for other aquatic plants - but thats more of a clogging issue than the plant itself actually leeching oxygen ... I'm just curious, since the leaves are out in the air, if their photosynthesis releases oxygen into the water as well (I'm guessing no).

I'll definitely put some hyacinth in with the turtles - recommended food plus super-fast growing plant sounds like a good combo.

As for the shrimp question - probably I'll try it at some point - I'm going to keep ghosts in my fish tank, and I have a separate, bottom-lit quartz-substrate 1g shrimp tank I'm cycling - why do you ask?

[Fuzzy Hamster]

We were thinking of getting a handful of ghost shrimp for Spike's new tank since they are cheap and they are also supposed to help clean the bottom of the tank, so I was just curious....

I figured as long as they are cheap it wouldn't matter if Spike thought they were delicacies...

[scriabin]

I think shrimp is a good idea - I did find this thing about posing a danger for turtles with known shell rot problems -I'm not worried about it though:


Ghost Shrimp – Transparent freshwater shrimp about 2 inches long. Cheap (about 5 for a dollar) & sold as feeders. Omnivores & clean up bits of crud in the tank; eat just a little algae. Lack the dangerous pinchers of crawdads. After you dump a bunch in the tank, turtles massacre many but several may survive for weeks in a big tank. The turtles will love these & they give hungry turtles the stimulation of hunting. Also, if you know food’s available if they work for it, you can better ignore begging turtles when it’s not a feed day.

Phil. from Louisville recently posted that he heard shrimp can carry a form of bacteria known as Beneckia chitinovora that’ve been linked to a form of shell rot. Tom noted: “Agreed. Frye (1991) mentioned that they can harbor a variety of pathogens that can cause various problems, one of which is bacterial shell rot. Source for this being Reptile Medicine and Surgery by Dr. Mader.” Personally, I think if you look hard enough there’s something wrong with almost anything, and many people keep these without apparent ill effects, but I concur it’s worth mentioning and knowing about. If you have turtles with frequent or severe shell rot problems, ghost shrimp & crawdads may not be a good choice.