General Care Discussion :: Turtles and fish

[Little Luey]

I have a couple of small turtles and the plan is to house them in a 55gal aquarium. Would they be ok if I also put a plecostomos in the tank to help clean the algie on the glass?

Their temporary house is a 10gal tank and I wonder how much water I should have in it.

Thanks for the help

[Nettle]

Anything you put in your tank is automatically food for them. A pleco would just become an expensive feeder fish.

Try to have as much water as possible for the turts in a 10 gal. Fill it up as much as you can without the chance of them escaping.

How many inches are they?

[BullDog]

The 10 gal you can fill up as high as possible without them being able to escape.

Putting a pleco in is fine, but realize that it may become a meal for your turts.

Also, if you can afford it, go bigger than 55 gal. The bigger the better, since they'll need up to 200gal when they're both full grown.

[Bascomb]

Yep -- Basic rule in marine life, '' turtles eat fish''. It may be all at once or bit by bit. It may take a while, but the pleco will go.

[Little Luey]

Thanks for the reply everyone.
The turtles are about 1.5" inches long. I am assuming they are just babies. I read that it is illegal to sell them that small and was wondering how the farmer got away with selling them to this people. There was two guys on the side of the road selling then and they had a ton of them.

Another question. My kids like to hold the turtles on their hands, I try not to let them do it for long and have my kids wash their hands before and after holding the turtles. I don't want either of them to get sick. Is this ok, or should they even be holding them at all?

[Nettle]

Ya, it's easy to sell them illegally. I see them in the k-mart parking lot.

I don't think it's a great idea to let your kids play with them. Not that I think your kids would be bad, but a lot of the time kids don't know how to handle small animals. The 4" law was actually created because kids kept getting salmonella from putting the turtles in their mouths. If they're just holding them and washing their hands REALLY well, then I guess it's ok.

And not too often, because turtles don't enjoy being handled (at least most don't).

[BullDog]

To add to what Nettle said, hatchlings are pretty fragile. Not in the way that your kids can hurt them, but in that they are susceptible to respiratory illness (RI) when they are exposed to the cooler air, especially when it happens frequently.
It's usually recommended that you don't take your turtles out of the tank until they're adults (4"+). Even then, make sure they seem comfortable being out of the tank. If the turtle hides in his shell the whole time, or makes a b-line for the nearest hiding spot, then he's probably not too comfortable outside his tank.

[Little Luey]

Thanks for the info. So far the turtles seem ok when they are out of the tank but I will be vigilant for signs of distress.

[Bumby's Mom]

If you provide enough hiding places for the pleco it *should* be fine as long as the turtles can't get to it. My pleco would hide behind the internal filter where they couldn't reach him. Most plecos come out at night so the turtles should be sleeping then anyway. I know as soon as I turn my lights off my babies find their spot and go right to sleep. And you want to make sure you get the right sized pleco as well. Some of them can get really huge. My babies don't like being out for long periods but they are usually ok with a few minutes.

[Little Luey]

Thanks for the advice.
Another question:

I am looking at light bulbs, since the final housing for the turtles is that 55gal tank, I plan on having a basking area outside the tank; what size bulbs would I need, I see some of you talk about 50w & 100w, which is best? do I just have to get a termometer and see how much heat they create to see how close to the surface they need to be? I guess the turtle will get to be a few inches tall and don't want to burn it with the bulb, what is a good starting distance? 5", 10" from the surface?

[SpotsMama]

On how far away to put a heat bulb, you'll just have to find the perfect distance by trial and error. I think most people have something like a 75 watt bulb around 12" from the basking platform, but it varies. Be sure that the bulb isn't so close that the turtle could conceivably touch it - you don't want him to be burned. Also, if the bulb is too close to the water, drops of cold water could splash on it, causing the bulb to explode rather dramatically. For that reason, I tend to favor a higher watt bulb that can be positioned further away and still provide the requisite amount of heat.

[Little Luey]

Thanks, that is a good starting point for me.

[Rottie_mom]

I actually have 2 plecos in my 55 gallon tank with my 2 RES. Since the plecos were soooo much bigger than the turtles, when they nipped at the plecos tails they got slapped pretty hard. That changed their minds about it and have been living happily together for 9 months now.

[1981camaroz28]

Not sure where you live but in Philadelphia where I live it was but they changed the law so everyone is selling them. They even had them at a carnival last week here. In a way I think its good since more turtle get a home. 2 more got a home from me because of it. And yes Turtles eat all fish even twice there size. My kids hold my turtles all the time just wash before and after. My turtles are walking around my house now.

Thanks for the reply everyone.
The turtles are about 1.5" inches long. I am assuming they are just babies. I read that it is illegal to sell them that small and was wondering how the farmer got away with selling them to this people. There was two guys on the side of the road selling then and they had a ton of them.

Another question. My kids like to hold the turtles on their hands, I try not to let them do it for long and have my kids wash their hands before and after holding the turtles. I don't want either of them to get sick. Is this ok, or should they even be holding them at all?

[steve]

Federal law overrules state/city and local laws. If you see real businesses like Petco or Petsmart selling them, get back to us.

http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/c ... FR=1240.62