General Care Discussion :: Adding Fish

[JELslider]

My turtle Cortez is about 3 years old. He lives by himself in a 20 gallon tank, which will soon need to be upgraded to a much larger tank. But I am having problems keeping this tank clean. I bought a filter that was for a 40 gallon tank, but still it is not enough.

I have seen other turtles coexisting with fish in their tank, and they don't try to eat them. But Cortez has been known to take down a gold fish or two in his lifetime! Can I break him out of that habit?

I am wondering if I bought a bottom dwelling fish, would it help keep my turtle's tank clean? Even if it would, would Cortez try to eat him?

[missibsu]

Anything that you put in your tank is likely to become food. If you want to add some fish, I would recommend feeder guppies or rosies. If they get eaten it isn't a big deal, and they are more nutritious than goldfish.

A general rule of thumb is 10 gallons per inch of shell, so think about that plus anticipated growth when buying a new tank. Generally, a filter should be rated for three times the capacity of the tank, so that it can keep up with the turtle waste. They are messier than fish.

[JELslider]

10 gallons per inch! I think I should measure him as soon as I get home, because he is more than 2 inches! Thank you for your help.