General Care Discussion :: Tank Buddies

[redmeadow]

So Sway now has tank buddies. He now lives with an algae eater and 3 Tiger Barbs. We've named the algae eater 'Mr Mustache' and the 3 barbs are now 'The Barbie Crew'. We were wondering how is it that we feed The Barbie Crew without Sway hogging all the food?

[worldpeace]

First of all I want to caution you not to get attached to the fish because fish in turtle tank are more often than not "food" and not "buddies".

When I used to have fish with my turtles, I used to feed them at the same time but in different parts of the tank. For example, I would throw in the food for the turtle and keep him occupied while, further away, in the other part of the tank I would feed the fish.

[redmeadow]

Well so far they are fine. He doesn't chase them. They swim past his face and he doesn't even attempt to eat them. He's only about 2-3 inches. In fact he pulls his head in when they get to close to his face. They follow him around because they eat whatever drops from him.

[rsour24]

just dont get upset when they end up food

[marisa]

Take Sway out of the tank temporarily while the fish are being fed.

[mikee]

red-ow - Fact of life: turtles like to eat fish. They may not be able to chase them down and eat them but they will nip at the fins until they can't swim well and then eat them. It may take a while but the fish will get eaten. Good Luck!

[happycamper]

My turtle will only eat baby fish and fancy guppies. He has been living with the same fish for over a year now... Though when I do see him eat the fancy guppies it's pretty gruesome! He eats the tail off then plays with the poor little thing for a while before eating the body.