can i have a turtle in my tank ?

[Freshwater fish guy]

can i have a red ear slider in my tank and will it eat my fish.please help i realy need to know

 

[Bettababe1011]

A turtle is going to eat most fish, or at least injure ones that are too big for it to eat. I own a turtle, and it's amazing to see how skilled it is at hunting. So I would most definitely NOT put a turtle in with your fish.

 

[Nu-Nu the eel]

Andrew mcfadden has a turtle in his 180 cichlid tank and it works great for him, hopefully he chimes in

 

[Bettababe1011]

It would definitely be interesting to hear how that worked. My turtle kills anything that goes in her tank. My Mother's boyfriend put some guppies left over from fishing in the turtle's tank, and in a couple days, about thirty guppies were all eaten.

 

[Galligak]

Honestly, it would depend on the turtle and the fish. Personally I wouldn't do it if the turtle hasn't grown up with the fish, and even then it doesn't work. My YBS grew up with 2 goldfish (a comet and fancy-they came with the tank) and 2 years later, well I don't have any more goldfish... If you do put them with some fish I'd do some mean cichlids, and big ones at that, but I still wouldn't recommend it though.

 

[Andrew McFadden]

I don't know much about and haven't kept a red ear to really comment. Sorry guys/gals

The only thing I can say is be cautious because there is a big chance it can happen. If it was me I wouldn't do it at less you buy fish that you don't care will get killed. Keeping the water quality in your size tank with a red ear and fish is not going to be easy also.

Everyone warned me when I was thinking about it well really said don't do it. I even joined a turtle forum to ask there and they said the same. I didn't know much of anything about turtles at the time. So I did massive amounts of research and figured the aggression of my african Cichlids and a stinkpot was about the same. Well its been over a year and not once has he tryed to eat a fish nor even look at them. It actually runs and hides and takes a quite a bit abuse, to the point I've thought about rehoming it.

So with that said I think it depends on the fish if you'll get away with it or not.

 

[Rivercats]

My daughter keeps various types of water turtles and all will eat fish if they can catch them. Sliders are some of the best fish catchers around. Stinkpots (musk turtles) tend to be alittle slower moving and prefer shallower water. Turtles also need a place to come out of the water and bask, either a land area or a piece of DW large enough to crawl on and bask. Without a place to dry and bask they can have trouble sloughing off old shell and can also get fungal root. They also need to have UVB light in their basking area. If you really want a water turtle then it's best to give them their own tank/habitat.

 

[Freshwater fish guy]

What about a musk turtle

 

[Bettababe1011]

In my opinion, if you really want a turtle, you should invest in a turtle only habitat. Depending on the tank size and breed of turtle, you could have more than one, and you can decorate the habitat with plants to add beauty to the enclosure. A turtle only tank can be a very rewarding and fun new facet of the aquarium hobby to explore.

 

[Rivercats]

What about a musk turtle

No,it is not advisable... it can and will eat fish if it catches them, it needs a place to get out of the water to bask, and it needs a special UVB basking light to remain healthy. If you want a turtle get it a tank of it's own or get rid of the fish in the tank you have. You just can't keep any type of water turtle properly in a fish tank without doing some serious renovations on the tank and you still risk losing your fish to predation.

 

[My toddlers tank]

Lol had to say my mothers turtle, now moved to my brothers house ate anything in the tank with her fish and frogs, and beat the living snot out of the baby turtle, so if you want to keep your turtle he will be a solo occupant. We used feeder goldfish as treats for Christmas and soo forth it was a great way for our parents to teach us about the circle of life.

 

[Andrew McFadden]

No,it is not advisable... it can and will eat fish if it catches them, it needs a place to get out of the water to bask, and it needs a special UVB basking light to remain healthy. If you want a turtle get it a tank of it's own or get rid of the fish in the tank you have. You just can't keep any type of water turtle properly in a fish tank without doing some serious renovations on the tank and you still risk losing your fish to predation.

Not entirely true it still depends on the fish

 

[Andrew McFadden]

 

[Rivercats]

You might have a musk turtle in your tank but do you have a basking area for proper shell drying and UVB so they can produce Vit D3 and to help them use Calcium and other nutrients. Without UVB they can expierence shell problems and metabolic bone disease problems over time. I'm not saying it can't be done, but that it really shouldn't be done. If you want to keep water turtles then they should have a proper habitat. The reason I know this is my one daughter has a Fish and Wildlife Breeding/rehab permit for turtles for the past 5 years and we have alot of turtles inside and out. Not trying to be contrary here but am trying to be an avodcate for the turtles well being.

 

[Andrew McFadden]

You might have a musk turtle in your tank but do you have a basking area for proper shell drying and UVB so they can produce Vit D3 and to help them use Calcium and other nutrients. Without UVB they can expierence shell problems and metabolic bone disease problems over time. I'm not saying it can't be done, but that it really shouldn't be done. If you want to keep water turtles then they should have a proper habitat. The reason I know this is my one daughter has a Fish and Wildlife Breeding/rehab permit for turtles for the past 5 years and we have alot of turtles inside and out. Not trying to be contrary here but am trying to be an avodcate for the turtles well being.

Musk turtles don't normally bask on a regular basis. I know several people here that theirs never get fully out of the water. I have only seen mine bask fully out of the water a couple of times in over a year. They live most of their lives in the water an rarely get out they can live in different depths. The young prefer shallow water and adults like to bury themselves in sand/mud at the bottom of a river,creek or lake. I've even read articles about this subject from studys that have been done.
http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1868570/musk_turtles_breathe_underwater_through_their_tongues/

I'm not trying to argue here at all just saying what I've learned.

To the op with the size tank you have I wouldn't do it. If anything do a turtle only tank.

 

[tropicalfishlady]

Musk turtles don't normally bask on a regular basis. I know several people here that theirs never get fully out of the water. I have only seen mine bask fully out of the water a couple of times in over a year. They live most of their lives in the water an rarely get out they can live in different depths. The young prefer shallow water and adults like to bury themselves in sand/mud at the bottom of a river,creek or lake. I've even read articles about this subject from studys that have been done.
Musk Turtles Breathe Underwater Through Their Tongues - Science News - redOrbit

I'm not trying to argue here at all just saying what I've learned.

To the op with the size tank you have I wouldn't do it. If anything do a turtle only tank.

My daughter has a musk turtle and he is a very hungry little fellow, i think he would eat anything alive if he had chance,thats why thy have to be fed properly because as we learnt when we researched, they can get too fat if you feed too much !!!
He does like to bask, cos he has a basking area and a uvb turtle light,and shallow water, well enough for him to swim about in, we did lower it a bit because his swimming went a bit erractic and we were advised to lower water slightly as they not the strongest of swimmers and he has been much better since, but like Andrew said he does spend a lot of his time in the water, but he does sleep on his basking area at night,in his shell when light goes out at night,but sumtimes he even swims in water as it remains a constant temperature, we were advised to set up the tank especially for him and we certainly would not chance any small fish in there as he would probably eat them,you should see what he is like with his fresh live worms goes in he goe mad for them !!!! if he was in with very large fish like Andrews he would not be able to eat them as the musk turtle is one of the smallest turtles, but ive seen fully grown red ears and they are big !!!! i think a trutle only tank is best way to go, hope this helps