General Care Discussion :: Decorative Fish Q...

[tonyandlala]

Now that Rocky and Bullwinkle (@6 mo. old RES) have moved into their new luxurious 40 gal. condo, we were looking to add some decorative fish to the tank.
Now I understand that the turts may eat them, these guys eat just about anything (fruits, veggies, fish, meat, sticks it don't matter; esp. crazy over blueberries and strawberries).
What I was wondering is are there any types of fish that are recommended or any that should be avoided? Should I go larger in size? Any other advice?
Thanks

[Listen97]

I know some have had success with cyclids because they are a little more aggressive, along with the fact that you can get them larger sizes (big enough the turtle can't bite them in half).

[Linus]

I maintain my opinion that I don't recomend any fish with turtles unless they're food.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lo4KcsBN--A[/youtube]

[Listen97]

Nice video, I had the volume turned down at work so I don't know what the narrator said. But it looks as though it was a defense thing of a nest. If you notice as soon as the turtle swam away they swam back down toward the bottom.

[Hammerstix]

I started w/guppies & moved to african cichlids. My turtle loved to eat guppies, especially babies, but I had a juvenile jack dempsey in the mix hiding, and growing. Before the turtle knew it, the jd was comparable in size. My turtle won't mess w/any fish...I have a jack dempsey, blood parrot, two angels, a buenos aires tetra & a catfish. Everyone respects everyone. My turtle is 4 years old & this has been his life...he's happy as far as I can tell...check out my video...

[slider_keeper]

My turtle can't keep up with the growing numbers in the guppy population. If this keeps going then I'm gonna need another tank for the guppies, hmmmm I see a planted 55 gal in the near future;)

[Hammerstix]

Sliderkeeper, this is the perfect time to introduce an african cichlid to the mux. So many fish, let nature take it's course & the african can outwit the guppies...

[slider_keeper]

Haha, I already have a African Rift lake tank and thats all the cichlids I need. They reproduce about as fast as the guppies! I started with 4 and now have about 16 in there. And thats only because I don't separate the babies when they are born so cannibalism helps keep the population down. This also helps with the population growth not growing too fast.

[tonyandlala]

Thanks for all the advice, and the scare, think i'll try a few of the suggested fish and see what happens!
Appreciate it!

[Mom2RES]

If it were me I'd try something CHEAP! We tried gold fish. It didn't take Angelina two minutes to spot them and start eating them. They didn't stand a chance. She is between 3 and 4 inches long, so no fish for us in her tank unless it is for food.

[CactusJohn5]

well, we have a 300 gallon stock tank, and tossed in about 100 goldfish and 100 rosies, and here we are 3 months later and we have about 30-40 BIG goldfish( about 4 inches+) and a few rosies left. The turtles became so used to them, that they stopped eating them! So we added a 3'' Koi! A month later he is still alive also! So it is possible to have fish and turtles together, the rule is that the Fish has to be 2x the head of the turtle, and they will be okay (most of the time)

[slider_keeper]

I think another big aspect to being successful with fish and turtles is space and lots of it. Plus good hiding places that are very natural to the fish. I have good success with fish and my turtle and they are in a small 40 gal breeder tank. The key for my fish's survival is the hollow log, that is the basking zone as well.My fish are way smaller than my turtle, especially the guppy fry that are flourishing in the tank.