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Greetings turtle people,

My turtles have settled into their new life rather well. I am glad I found this sight as it helped me learn a lot about turtles in a short amount of time. I have had my turtles since early November. I have affectionately named them Foster (aka the glutton) and Sheldon (aka failure to thrive). Sheldon is growing out of his name a bit, I called him that because he would not eat with Foster in the tank, so I had to always take Foster out and give him "alone time" so that he would eat. He now eats with Foster in the tank, but he is not growing as fast as Foster.

Anyway, here are my questions...

1. The tutles have a turtle dock, but I notice that they like to hang onto plant life (before they eat it), or the side of the turtle dock and just chill. I want to buy them a fake plant for the tank so they can hang out on it, but I am fearful they will try to eat it. Can they have a fake plant in their tank?

2. I tried to have a sucker fish (pleco) in the tank to clean the sides, he lasted all of one day. I made sure to get one that was as big as the turtles, and I am not blaming the turtles, since I have no proof. Then I got a snail, who lasted a few days, but, well, is dead. I get a stronger filter which is definately helping (I no longer have to daily scoop out the tank of left over collard greens and turtle poop). So, my question is: Is there a type of tank cleaners that live in harmony with the turtles, or any idea why my tank cleaners are dying?

Welcome to the forum!

1. yes just monitor it, NO SILK PLANTS!

2. no tank mates (except rosies)

i think i saw that plecos don't eat algae
but maybe i was drunk ?

Snails may not be the best to stick in your tank, they can breed by themselves, and can breed masses very quickly, not to mention they are somewhat hardy. It can become a tricky parasite to get rid of once they've started to mark their area. They can suck up the oxygen in the water fairly quickly too.

One upside to Snails, is that turtles can eat them, and the snails can become free food, but you may soon notice that there are too many for your turtles to handle.

I cannot seem to keep anything in my tank that Leo won't eat- fish or snail-wise. Every few months or so I buy a new golden snail hoping Leo will let it live but it never even lasts a day, usually he "kicks" it around like a soccer ball haha.

I believe that fake plants are fine, just not silk ones, but any fish tank plants at petsmart or where-ever will be just great for the turtles to hide under/rest on.

Ok, I am going to ask the question: why no silk plants?

Just curious! Thanks!

Why no silk plants? People do use them and they can look nice. I think it's a matter of preference---I prefer plastic ones, just because they seem more sturdy and are easier to clean.

Silk plants are fine, like Marisa said it's just preference. I assume (not from experience) that plastic plants would be easier to clean than silk plants.

Pleco's do eat algae (hence the common name algae eater) and the fact that they have a "sucker" instead of a mouth. Although they do produce a lot of fecal matter which out weighs the amount of algae they eat.

Turtledudee, some of the members are very young and have no interest on your blood alcohol level when you read information on plecos....

so then what is the best remedy for alge? i find myself changing the water every week and the alge comes back stronger. i think its mainly from the lighting. Is it ok to use fish tank algecide in the turt water?

i got two alge eaters, one survived. You need to give them a small place to hide and when the turtles sleep, they will clean.

There's a difference in the silk plants you use from an aquarium store and the ones you make flower arrangements with, I think there is some kind of preservative in the flowers to keep dust off or something like that I can't remember. Its been a long time since I went to school for it.

So, back to my original question, what happens if I put a plastic plant (aquarium safe) in my tank and the turtles try to eat it... can't that be harmful?

For the time being, I have the turtle dock (zoomed), a fake log that has lots of good hiding spots and is currently 95% submerged (give or take), a water heater and the filter, which creates a small waterfall

Dont get a plastic plant with small leaves or pieces (if they fell off they'd be small enough to accidently be ingested). Your turtle might try to bite them a few times or nibble on them at first, but he'll quickly learn that they're not edible. Since they have no scent, he might not be interested in them at all for eating.