Freshwater fish guy
Aquarium Advice Activist
- Joined
- Oct 15, 2012
- Messages
- 110
can i have a red ear slider in my tank and will it eat my fish.please help i realy need to know
What about a musk turtle
Rivercats said: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.
Rivercats said: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.
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 !!!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.