General Care Discussion :: Fish in Turtle Tank

[blueeyes082]

I was looking around at some of the forms and saw a few photos of ppls tanks. Some have fih in them. I am thinking of doing this. Would my turtle eat the fish? and what kind can I get?

[Lilsaint]

Turtle will eat any fish.

[Diamondbacks4Life]

With any fish you put in always expect your turtle to get it one day. Some fish make it only second or mins in a tank with a turtle. but some make it years with out being eaten and then just like that the turtle gets them. Its all luck on whether or not the fish will make it.

[vear]

I have quite a few fish with my turtle. They've been in there a couple of months. So far, he's only eaten one... that's because the fish decided to swim right by Tomi's mouth. Dumb fish. I stocked the tank with fish that get along with one another and can live around the same temperature as the turtle (so no goldfish!) He really shows no interest in them, but it really depends on the turtle. I also made sure I bought cheap fish because they'll probably get eaten one day... lol.

[jay2487]

I keep over 30 fish with 5 turtles and lose them very rarely, mostly when they get sick or stressed the turtles instinctually eat them. In my experience the best defense for small fish is numbers. It seems if you drop a single feeder in it will get eaten in seconds but if you drop 20 feeders in the turtles get distracted from chasing one by another and so on until they give up. When I was adding a feeder every two days the turtles would have it eaten in 30 seconds, now that I add 20 at a time they might eat one every 3 or 4 days. Vear can back me up on this strategy working as they do the same thing. You don't have to buy plain rosy reds either, there are many different feeders in abundance that look a lot better than rosy reds. I have also had luck keeping several keeper fish without the turtles getting them. Size doesn't matter but speed does, if you have a 75gal or above tank try some 3 or 4 bala sharks. Pictus catfish seem to survive well as I've had a pair for a year in with my turtles and no problems. Plecos are supposedly dangerous to turtles but my turtle has bitten them right on the face and they swim away like it was nothing. Senegal Bichirs are also very good hiders and if you give them hiding spots they will survive. Plus my turtle has bitten them right in the middle and they just shake free and never have any wounds. A 8 inch turtle would probably kill one but a 3 or 4 inch just doesn't have the jaws for it. I have 2 african cichlids and a bluegill which are just to fast in a big tank for the turtles. They will start circling the turtles when they are being chased, swimming circles around them until they pinwheel theirselves dizzy and give up. You can do it but the top comment is very true, don't put a fish in there that cost you $20 because there is a great chance it will get eat. Don't add just one fish to a fishless tank as the turtles will probably eat it. If any fish gets sick or injured the turtle will get it. Depending on how big your tank is I would try 10 fancy guppies or swordtails mostly females all at once. If you don't lose them all in a few days then try some bigger and better stuff.

[gwennie]

I've got about two dozen guppies in my 50gal at the moment with my turtle - he's never eaten one.

You should never put any fish in a turtle tank that you want to keep as actual pets, though. Any fish has the potential to be eaten once you put them in.