General Care Discussion :: livebreading guppies in turtle tank?

[scriabin]

I have a feeling I know what all of you are going to say, but I'll ask anyway.

Any thoughts on letting a healthy guppy population breed freely in a turtle tank? I'll have some larger fish in there too, so it wouldn't just be the turtles keeping the population down...

You're all going to tell me this is a terrible idea aren't you?

[megcornell]

Remind me of how large your turtles are and how big the tank is?

My immediate thought would be whether the water quality is good enough to support a guppy population. Guppies can be pretty frail if the ammonia or nitrate levels are high, and with two turtles you're likely to have high levels.

Beyond that, I'd say good luck. You'll need plenty of guppy hiding spots for the fry, but really I think most of them would be eaten. Not to mention the parents may well be eaten before they breed. At least where I am, all the guppies at petstores are slow swimmers making them easy prey for turtles.

[jenaero]

I have guppies breeding in my 125gal with my 2 RES. I'm sure a lot of them get eaten, but I haven't had to replenish the supply in quite some time. I don't even feed them. Same with the rosies.

[scriabin]

Meg - my turtles are 4" and I've got them in a 50 gallon aquarium - I know, I know, that's way too small, but it's ten times larger (literally!) than what they were living in three weeks ago when I adopted them. I actually just bought a 150 gallon aquarium tonight (!) but it won't fit in my tiny apartment and will have to go into storage for now - they'll get a bigger home when I do. As for the guppies, I was thinking of adding them when I get the 150g up and running.

Jenaero - good to know it isn't a totally crazy idea. Are you successfully keeping any other fish with your turtles? I've read on other forums that catfish, large plecos and chichlids can cohabitate with mild-tempered res.

[Fuzzy Hamster]

I currently have a medium pleco, a red zebra cichlid, and 6 feeder guppies/platties in a new tank that has pretty well finished cycling. Spike will be moving into his new home within days. His bags are packed, just waiting for me to finish the cover and make some lighting accomodations.

I expect that he will leave the pleco and cichlid alone since their size is comparable to his, but if he doesn't eat the feeders, then I am planning to let them breed. I suspect the fry will entice him, but they will have enough hiding places that I hope some of them will survive, similar to jenaero's tank.

[jada311]

I wasn't trying to breed them, but my guppies have had babies in the turtle tank, and they don't seem to mind one bit. I just check the filter regularly and use a few different things to keep the water clean (plus partial water changes pretty often).