jkdubs2 said:
Well thanks nomad sorry took so long on the reply but ya I'll prolly do the plant bulb with the UVB bulb as well. Are razorbacks any better with plants or is it just a turtle thing to rip out plants lol. And I was curious as to what kind of fish could be kept with them that they won't eat bc the fish would be to big for them to consider. I was thinking gouramis but I don't wanna risk the turtle eating them. Any suggestions?
I think it's more of an individual turtle thing, as he doesn't do it to every plant. He has left my java fern alone so far.
Fish wise, I should say first of all, turtles and fish are normally a no-no, however; if your turtle is brought up, meaning has lived with fish from a hatchling into adult hood, with the fish, they are LESS LIKELY to attack the fish.
As most people will tell you, if you keep fish in with a turtle be aware you may find them missing one morning. If your fine with this, then you can do it, although its frowned upon. The main thing to consider is that if a fish becomes un-reasonably stressed or starts to die then that fish will be a prime target for the turtle.
Also to consider is filtration, a turtle is very, very messy, I cannot stress this enough. If you have an idea on what I mean, times it by 10! They are mess machines. They leave poo, food and other things that are un-identifiable all over the tank. The build up of crap within a week is almost un-believable. So a really decent filter is required however just to confuse you, musk turtles are rubbish swimmers, so they need lots of ways to get to the surface and a low water level, 6" as a hatchling and 12" as an adult roughly.
Bearing this in mind your filter will need to work properly with low water levels and also be strong to pick up mess, with a SLOW current, as their swimming is, as said, rubbish, so strong currents will knock them around the tank. A decent internal filter is probably the best bet, one designed to turn over the entire volume of the tank 11-12 times and hour.
Add to this the mess of fish too, you will need a really decent filter.
I have thought about all of this, and have a filter designed for 6x the size of my tank, and have the spray bar pushing water out of the surface to create some ripples but nothing too strong. I have one dwarf gourami in with him, and she is there purely because she is so hardy she bullies anything else she is in with, and so the turtle makes a perfect mate as she takes no crap from him. I would say they make the perfect couple, although it maybe the individual fish.
I personally think if your prepared to loose some then any fish would be good, aslong as the tank size is appropriate for it. Any fish that is described as hardy are your best bet, fish people use for fish in cycling and such would be the best place to start, as turtle poo will build up the ammonia and nitrite quickly. Another piece of advice would be to use fish bigger than the turtle as the turtle will be intimidated.
Hope this helps; conclusion is that any fish if your prepared to loose them MAYBE eventually.
