Feeding and Nutrition :: Larger fish?

[Grasshopper]

First post here. Cool forum!

Got Cuff and Link, two 4" RES's for Christmas last year and we've enjoyed them.

About once a month we buy feeder fish for them as a treat and for entertainment for my daughters. The boys are great hunters. A dozen feeder fish MAY last 10 minutes. It's a sight to behold...

About 6 month ago, one of the feeder fish we got was slightly bigger and apparently slightly more agile than the others. He (named Lucky) survived several months and it seemed that Cuff and Link just ignored him.

One day, my wife called me at work and said that Lucky was gone and there were scales all over the tank. HA! Lucky wasn't anymore.

This leads me to a question. We'd like to have a fish or two in the tank with the turts. You don't have to feed them cuz they feed off the turtle's waste (or at least that's what I've been told) therefore keeping the tank cleaner longer.

How large would a fish have to be to be "safe" from two 5-6" RES's? Lucky became Un not too long ago and the tank has been needing more frequent maintenance. We also miss having a little variety in the tank with the boys.

Thanks!

Allen

[theartbook35]

It will never work.

Even if the fish is to big to eat in a few bites, your turtles will slowly injure it until it dies from all the wounds.

Turtles really can't live with other animals, besides turtles. And sometimes, living with other turtles doesn't even work out nicely.

[TheComputerGremlin]

Welcome to the board! There has been success with a few members, but no specific fish exactly. Basically, you can try different fish, and see what happens. Plecos sometimes last a good while, but they produce a good amount of waste. Larger fish will last for a longer period of time just because the turtles are usually good about only eating until they are full with fish. You want to look for lean fish (for example, goldfish are very fatty) that aren't spiky or dangerous for the turtle. And then just replenish them.

You also want to set up some safety locations for the fish to hide, like some plants or a tube that the turtle can't fit into. That will get them to last longer.

[jet654]

I have had success with a large pleco. It now lives with my two turtles. I have never fed it and i have had it for about a month now. However, my turtles are only hatchlings (2").

[untsmurf]

I've had my turt going on five years now and he's killed everything that I've put in with him: snails, goldfish (before I knew how bad they were), plecos (same as goldfish), rosies, fancy guppies, mollies, even another turtle.

Some owners luck out but in my experience, if you wait long enough the turtle always wins. The longest a single fish has lived with Mikey was about a year, then he 'mysteriously' died.

[turtledlucas]

i have two little feeder fish that my turtle just wont eat. it looks like he is gunna eat them then just kinda gives up

[Diamondbacks4Life]

Anything from the wild. Turtles never get them. They already know what danger is so they keep well away.

[tammi]

I usually put 2 dozen minnows in with my larger Slider and he eats them fairly fast but almost always leaves 1 until I add more.
My hatchling has breeding guppies in with him and he's not even interested in them. But I'm sure that will change.
The snails seem to last the longest. And they do a little house keeping while the are around.

[theartbook35]

Anything from the wild. Turtles never get them. They already know what danger is so they keep well away.

That's a good point.

I'd love now, to catch a wild guppy, just to see if my girls could catch it or not.

[Diamondbacks4Life]

So far with wild minnows my turtles catch 1 or 2 out of 20 if lucky.

Heres how it plays out.

Pet store tuffies- I dump them in and they swim all around even right up to the turtles face or let turtle get right up on them.

Wild Minnows- I dump in. They school together and automatically swim as far away from the turtles as possible right away. There not dumb lol.

Only way the wild minnows die in my tanks is when cleaning time comes. I just throw them in the water right away and they die of shock even then they still make it alot. Then turtles eat the dead if some die.

Blacknose Dase