Turtles living in harmony with fish...?

[candyraver]

I've been hearing a lot about turtles living with goldfish,I even came across a video awhile back that showed a full grown turtle living with a goldfish...& today I was sent this link: http://turtles.meetup.com/44/boards/...thread=2382208

Have any of you tried to accomplish this? I never fed my turtles fish beore,& as far as I know,they were never fed fish [except from a can].
I know that means nothing,they devour worms & bugs
But I want feedback on this as I'm very interested! At some point this year I want to make a huge custom aquarium,or indoor pond & i'd like to give this a try!

[Ravnos]

I wouldn't hold my breath on it. Simple fact is, fish are a part of a normal diet for almost all aquatic turtles. That particular story doesn't even bother to mention what species of turtles they're talking about, but I venture to guess they are generic sliders.

Juvenile turtles are easily startled, and often won't actively hunt fish they see as being too big to easily eat. Adult sliders will have no problem chasing down a decent sized goldfish, as well as devouring all the edible plants in the tank, not to mention ripping anything decorative up. I've kept guppies, large minnows and goldfish in with sliders, cooters, mud and musk turtles. Sometimes the fish live just fine for months, I even had a couple goldfish in my musk turtle tank for over a year - but eventually, it is into the turtle pie hole.

Not to mention, turtles are quite capable of simply poisoning the fish with their waste. Turtles are ammonia and nitrate factories - two things you don't want in your fish tank. Goldfish are pretty tolerant of that sort of thing, but it's still not ideal. Overcompensating your filtration will help, but it is still difficult to keep the chemistry of the water ideal for both in such a small setting.

[Carissa]

once in while it might happen...but not likly and also...goldfish arnt good for turtles...there fatty. but most turtles will devourer anything that moves...or attemps to eat it! but it dosnt happen often.

[candyraver]

Awws
Thanks for replying.
I got my hopes up that I could accomplish that.
I know fish CAN be good for turtles& I feel awful that I havent fed any to my turtles.
(I heard goldfish were fatty also,heh who would have thunk it?)
I know it shouldnt be THAT hard to do.But I have such a for aquatic creatures.
Also I saw some gorgeous fish being sold that was larger than any goldfish I ever had before.
I would get a great filter [I have two turtles so I know how important filtration is they can get quite messy!] I clean their aquarium religiously ^_^ So I would go all out with filtration.

I guess I could "attempt" it,but I shouldn't be too surprised if I don't get promising results

[Carissa]

lol once I put fish in my take and there was 10 of them...rosy reds...and they were gone in less than 3 min.! lol

[christine]

My future brother in law had fish that lived with turtles but usually I wouldn't do it

[Vanilla_Rat]

As already mentioned,the fish would most likely be eaten.Even if they lived for a few months,one day the turtles may just hunt down the fish and eat them.

I feed Tanjobi live,fresh and canned fish and he is my glutton,so I would never think of getting a larger fish to live with him,as I KNOW he would do anything to make sure he could get a snack out of it!He eats everything I will give him,I never found a food he dislikes.

All in all...I wouldn't try it,unless you want to find the fish gone one day or at least will be expecting it.

[candyraver]

[Vanilla_Rat]

Sorry

[Mygala]

Won't work unless you have really big fish, and really small turtles.

bob

[Padfoot]

Quote: Originally Posted by Vanilla_Rat He eats everything I will give him,I never found a food he dislikes.

Funiculi is like that, eats everything and anything. When she had been about a month with me, I bought her 5 goldfish (feeder, bought @ 5 x $1). There was a grey one, 2 golden ones and 2 white ones with red spots on their heads. Those goldfish were honestly bigger than her at the time. Within 5 days the 2 golden ones and the grey one were gone. Funiculi is now way bigger than the 2 white ones with red spots, but they are still there. About 2 weeks ago I bought 5 rosey reds for him/her and they just dissapeared within a couple of minutes... but the 2 goldfish are still there... lol. I'm not counting them as pets... still considered food... but it is sure nice to have the 2 fish in the tank with Funiculi. hehehe

[leansnslobbers]

In the past, my turtles have always waged war on the feeder fish when they were added, but any that survived the initial massacre were safe from there on out.

I had a couple guppies that lived in with my turtles for a long time, even had some babies.

You also have to look at the species of turtles.

My muddies and stinkpots prefer dead prey, as they are not agile swimmers and give up pretty quickly, so they are pretty fish safe, providing you give the fish small nooks and crannies to hide in.

I probably wouldn't do a goldfish with turtles, but some of the smaller, agile fish like neon tetras may be fine.

Also, goldfish and turtles have different temperature requirements.

[candyraver]

Thank you =D I have 2 red ear slider turtles.Both who are extremely fast swimmers!
I could try I guess,but I shouldn't get my hopes up.

P.S. Yeah I never thought of that! Goldfish ARE coldwater.Hmm.
But in a video I saw it was definately a comet.& In ponds koi & comets =/

[Vanilla_Rat]

Well goldfish CAN live in warm water,but they don't always do well.They are coldwater fish afterall.

I spawed a pair of goldfish in warm temperatures though and they spawed well and they did really well with warm temps.However goldfish don't thrive in warm waters.

[mulder]

my bf used to have turles and fish, and the turtles ALWAYS ate the fish, and the turtles just grew and grew. personally i dont' reccommend it