Mixing Turtles with Fish. Turtles are Evil!!!!

HI Everyone!

I just joined this forum. About 4 Days ago I purchased a 10 gallon stater kit from walmart. At a great price! Ran home and set the tank up in my room away from direct sunlight. Installed the Filter, the Air pump, and the cover. Filled the tank with water. Left it Filter for a day. The next day I purchased two Red Eared Slider Turtles (babies about the size of a quater) and a floating log so the turtles can climb on and rest.

Left the Turtles in the tank. Watched them swim and what not. Everything is fine.

The next day I purchased

1 Male Betta
2 Pher-something (they are black and clean the tank by sucking the surface)
6 other small peaceful fish

It has been 4 days and I was worried that the Male betta might attack a fish or a turtle, but to my surprised it turned out to be the other way around. The red eared turtles killed 3 small fish and the Male Betta. I was told that the red eared turtles can be mixed with fish. Now I find out that turtles can only be mixed with some fish. I just don't know which ones. Does anyone know which ones?

Also I have lots of hidding places for the fish. I was particularly interested on these Puffer Fish, but did not purchase them as I was told they were extremely aggresive.

and that's my story

 

sounds like you were definitely misinformed.. and if you got 2 plecos - plecos get to be 18", 2' or more sometimes and need at least 55g.

it's recommended to have 30-50g for that type of turtle if you have 1 of them... well, check this article out: , it seems like a good one for your red sliders. it doesn't say anything about compatible fish and there may not be any pet store fish that are compatible in a closed environment like a tank.

 

HI edg020. Indeed, another example of petstores just trying to flog their merchandise.

Can't believe they told you it was OK to mix these fish with turtles?

Unfortunately, you will need to decide if you want to keep the turtles, the fish, or both. Either way, a floating unit in a deep tank (presuming it's deep. Could you confirm the height of the tank?) is a little unstable for the turtles to climb on. I think they would like something more stable. I used to have them as a kid. They don't need deep water, just deep enough to have a bit of a swim, but they definitely need to be able to easily climb on a platform. They sell these great turtle tanks at petshops. These have inclines to get in and out of the water.

A couple of questions:

How many turtles do you have?

What fish have you got left now? If the Ph something fish are plecos, indeed, you'll need to return them to the store. I've just had to return 3 as I too was mininformed and there's no way they would have fit in my 10G.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. Once again, fish store advice did a great job... Sorry you were so ill-advised.

 

Well we have one red eared slider that is about 14 to 16 years old. He is bigger than my 4 year old daughters head and destroys everything in the tank. First off a red eared slider is NOT compatible with ANY fish... Unless the fish is HUGE!! They will eat anything you put in there. Ours eats the substrate!!

So what I would suggest is that you return the turtles.. The 10 gallon tank is no where near adequate for their needs and it sounds like you are more interested in the fish. Plus red eared sliders are EXTREMELY messy..

The Plecos... Well they get huge as well and begin to act the same way red eared sliders do.. Those need a much larger tank or a return to the store as well.

So in short turtles are not evil.. You were just mis informed by someone wanting to sell stuff and not caring about you or what would happen to your purchases..

 

Bigger than your 4-year old's head? Like, your 4-year old human kid? That turtle sounds enooooormous.

 

Bigger than your 4-year old's head? Like, your 4-year old human kid? That turtle sounds enooooormous.

Yes... And he is very large... about 12 inches front to back and 9 across.. His thickness is around 5 to 6 inches.. He is big... But basically a baby.. He is very calm when one of us is holding him. Otherwise it's full out for this guy.. LOL!!

Of course her head as a whole is bigger.. I was talking more surface area of her face and what not... Oh I give... I'll post a picture.. ;D

Keep in mind she is being a goof ball in this pic... ;D

 

Your daughter is cuuuute! ;D

Yep, pictures speak louder than words. I thought you had the world's largest pet turtle there for a while.

Sorry for hogging your post, edg0020, but I have to know about Garboyle's turtle. Here's a million questions:

1/ What do you mean he's a baby. He's 14 years old and is expected to grow larger still? Wow, no wonder you're saying a 10G is not enough.

2/ Does he ever bite?

3/ How big is his tank and do you have a special turtle tank with integrated incline for him?

4/ Is he with other turtles?

5/ Are they easy to breed?

6/ How long do they live.

7/ Have you had him all that time? (14yrs)

Right, that's it for the questions... Sorry about their number, but you've really sparked my curiosity!

 

Again, like everyone said. Fish are turtle food, also especially when turles are small like you have they need a heat lamp to bask under to harden their shell. I had two slider babies In a twenty gallon tank which was half water half land and they would constantly chase after the goldfish I had In there. Even though the goldfish were twice there size. (It was cute though watching them chase these huge orange fish around) So don't blame the baby turtles, It was the person that sold them to you that misinformed you. I don't know much about tropical fish though, just about turtles, but I Imagine any kind of fish you put In the tank with a turtle will probable be eaten. Good luck!

Yodi

 

Your daughter is cuuuute! ;D

Thanks.. ;D

1/ What do you mean he's a baby. He's 14 years old and is expected to grow larger still? Wow, no wonder you're saying a 10G is not enough.

I am sure he has the ability to grow more.. He sheds his shell completely about once every 3 to 4 weeks right now.

2/ Does he ever bite?

Yes he will bite but we know that and keep our hands and fingers away from his mouth when he is hungry which is 90% of the time.. LOL!! We have not had a "bite" since he was 4 years old and honestly we are not sure if he will actually do it anymore but due to his strength and size we are afraid to test him.. ;D

3/ How big is his tank and do you have a special turtle tank with integrated incline for him?

Currently it is a 40 gallon breeder which is still to small for him. He has a special UV light and basking lamp (ceramic no light just heat) for him but he really needs a tank 3 to 4 times this size. We are thinking of building a pond in the back yard for him to play in.. ;D

4/ Is he with other turtles?

No it is just him. Anything else is considered food.

5/ Are they easy to breed?

No idea.. Never tried.

6/ How long do they live.

Approximately 30 to 40 years but I think they could live longer in good conditions with good care.

7/ Have you had him all that time? (14yrs)

I have not but my wife has had him since he was 4 inches in diameter. They are not allowed to sell them this small anymore for some reason but she bought him when he was less than 1 year old or so..

 

Wow, he sounds like a great pet (except for the biting!). Thanks for all the info, Gargoyle. I love the idea that it lives so long.

 

Here is more good info -->

 

Really interesting, thanks for that.

Oh, and am glad am not a female terrapin: 'The male swims toward the female and begins to flutter or vibrate his long claws on and around her face and head.'

Ooooh, and that's also interesting: 'RES need to be in water to swallow since they do not produce saliva.'

And this, but I guess you knew that, having had it in the family for soooo long. 'Furthermore, feeding a RES in a separate container will create a cleaner tank that will require less frequent cleaning and water changes'

I loooove Wikipedia.

 

broken link removed <---- more good stuff.. ;D

 

Looks like you're covered if you ever need any info, hey!

 

Moronic fish store employees need to be shot. "Sure, you can put a pleco in a 10 gallon tank." "Sure, you can put multiple male bettas in the same tank" "Bettas just love those little bowls/rings/vases/whatever else the pet store happens to sell" "Yep, Mondo Grass is fully aquatic" "Yep, lucky bamboo is fully aquatic" and now "Turtles do fine with fish."
I've seen an average size painted turtle take the fins off of a northern pike so it could feast at its leisure. The only way an aquarium fish could survive is by swimming faster than the turtle.

 

Well three of the same fish species are still alive and they travel in schools. The turtles mostly just stay on the floating log and the pyclos are hidding inside the castle or inside the sunken ship ornaments. So I guess what I'll do is keep the schooling fish and give the 2 turtles to my boyfriend and the pyclos I'll keep them for a year or so. I had pyclos when I was a teenager and they took a very long time to reach 6 inches and later on I'll just buy catfish to clean the gravel and I don't know what other kind of community fish to get.

 

that tank is still overstocked in it's current state and more fish will only increase the waste production and toxins in the water. do you have a liquid testing kit (preferrably the API master freshwater kit) and Prime to treat the tap water with?

 

I'm surprised that after reading all of these posts about compatability, that nobody mentioned anything about cycling the tank first, the reality is, you are overstocked for a 10G, and most likely 4 out the 6 fish will die from ammonia poisoning. now, you can change these odds by doing a minimum of 50% daily water changes until your tank is cycled, which will take probably at least a month on the low end since you have fish in the tank already.

but when buying fish, you should always buy from a reputable fish store or breeder, that way, they will know the full adult size of the fish, and you can make a more informed decision, and not have the dissapointment of returning fish

 

I'd recommend returning the plecos.. they have such a high waste output that i'd give 3 gallons of water per inch of pleco. i'm not sure what those 3 small fish are, but even if they are only 2.5" each, you're looking at a bioload of 36 gallons for the plecos and 7.5 gallons for the small fish. if you replaced the 2 plecos with 2 oto cats, you'd be at most looking at 11.5 gallons, which is a lot less overstocked than 43.5 gallons.. the otos put out less waste than plecos and are hard workers on clearing any algae. They'd allow the tank to cycle faster.

Using prime to treat your water will help keep the fish safer during the cycling process. I'd base the daily water changes on the testing results that you get with the apI kit.. if the levels are really off, then go as much as 50%, but most days 25% will probably be enough and the main focus is to keep the fish healthy and when the cycle is done, it's done.