Turts, plecos, and a shubunkin?

[Archangel22]

Hey guys. I've had 2 baby yellow-bellied turtles for about 3 weeks. I had 2 common plecostomus in a half-full 55 gallon tank with 2 canister filers going. I feed regularly, sometimes 2-3 times a day. Admittedly a bad habit since I hear they are only supposed to eat once daily. Anyways, I have a shubunkin goldfish in there with them now because my girlfriend wanted something pretty in there -__- well his fins got nipped a bit but he's been getting along fine now. But my plecos just died and I think the alkalinity was high. I did a 25% change 3 days before the first one died so I don't understand what happened. What can I do about the alkalinity and how soon can I get more plecos?

 

[Cactuspixie]

Hey guys. I've had 2 baby yellow-bellied turtles for about 3 weeks. I had 2 common plecostomus in a half-full 55 gallon tank with 2 canister filers going. I feed regularly, sometimes 2-3 times a day. Admittedly a bad habit since I hear they are only supposed to eat once daily. Anyways, I have a shubunkin goldfish in there with them now because my girlfriend wanted something pretty in there -__- well his fins got nipped a bit but he's been getting along fine now. But my plecos just died and I think the alkalinity was high. I did a 25% change 3 days before the first one died so I don't understand what happened. What can I do about the alkalinity and how soon can I get more plecos?

I think the problem is more extensive than simply an alkalinity problem. If your tank is only half filled, then basically you had 2 turtles, 2 plecos and a goldfish in like 27 gallons of water. I don't know anything about turtles, but plecos and goldfish create a lot of waste, and I would have been doing large pwc every other day at least. Especially as you were over feeding.
What are your test results for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and ph?

You shouldn't get anymore fish until you work out your stocking and water quality issues.

 

[tarpon]

Is your tank setup properly for the turtles? With a basking lamp and dry land basking area? Was the tank cycled?
I think the only fish you might be able to get away with the turtles is a smaller Pleco like a rubberlip, the goldfish is obviously getting nipped by the turtles. My guess is that the ammonia is very high, bc all of those animals produce a lot of waste, and you're feeding them 3 times a day, which equals 3 times the waste

 

[Archangel22]

My tank is properly set up with a basking area, heat lamp, and UVB lamp. The ammonia and nitrates and nitrites were fine, but the ph and alkaline levels were a bit high. Ph isn't a surprise because of the turts, it was a 7.8 and the. The alkalinity was around 300! I agree that I shouldn't get anymore fish until my water chem levels reach acceptable level. Hopefully within a week or two. But I'm worried about getting a smaller pleco and it getting chased and being closer to bite sized for the turts.

 

[Cactuspixie]

My tank is properly set up with a basking area, heat lamp, and UVB lamp. The ammonia and nitrates and nitrites were fine, but the ph and alkaline levels were a bit high. Ph isn't a surprise because of the turts, it was a 7.8 and the. The alkalinity was around 300! I agree that I shouldn't get anymore fish until my water chem levels reach acceptable level. Hopefully within a week or two. But I'm worried about getting a smaller pleco and it getting chased and being closer to bite sized for the turts.

You don't have enough volume in your water column for any of the bigger plecos. A common pleco would need that tank filled right up, and low bio-load tank mates. The only time I have seen fish in a turtle tank is at feeding time :-(
I don't think your test kit is giving you accurate results. Unless you were doing large daily water changes, there had to be a build up of toxins. When you talk about alkalinity, are you referring to general hardness (GH)?

 

[Archangel22]

You don't have enough volume in your water column for any of the bigger plecos. A common pleco would need that tank filled right up, and low bio-load tank mates. The only time I have seen fish in a turtle tank is at feeding time :-(
I don't think your test kit is giving you accurate results. Unless you were doing large daily water changes, there had to be a build up of toxins. When you talk about alkalinity, are you referring to general hardness (GH)?

At about 2 weeks in I did a 25% water change. But soon after the smaller pleco died and 3-4 days later the bigger one died too. It wasn't my kit, I took a bottle of water to Petsmart and they tested it free.

 

[Cactuspixie]

Hey guys. I've had 2 baby yellow-bellied turtles for about 3 weeks. I had 2 common plecostomus in a half-full 55 gallon tank with 2 canister filers going

Was the tank cycled prior to putting the turtles and plecos in? How soon did you add the plecos after the turtles?

 

[Cactuspixie]

At about 2 weeks in I did a 25% water change. But soon after the smaller pleco died and 3-4 days later the bigger one died too. It wasn't my kit, I took a bottle of water to Petsmart and they tested it free.

You really need your own test kit. If the tank has only been set up for a few weeks you ought to be testing at least every other day.
What symptoms did the plecos display before they died?

 

[bshenanagins]

To be honest, a half full 55 with plecos, a Goldie, AND two turtles is a recipe for complete disaster. In order to house all of those successfully with acceptable maintenance, 100+ gallons. Plecos alone produce a ton of waste, adding two turtles is granting the plecos a death sentence. Not trying to bash, I have a 7 inch RES so I've made mistake and learned. Definitely get an API kit if you don't have one.

 

[Archangel22]

I think I'm just gonna ride it out for as long as the goldfish lives, hopefully he doesn't get eaten. As much as I would love to have at least one pleco, I probably won't because of all the negative opinions towards that, not in a bad way. As for symptoms, the first one I found was already dead. But the bigger one kept going up to the top for air or to eat an air bubble. Then when I found him he was barely responsive. I tried to put him in clean water but it was too late. What is an API kit? And I've cut the turtle feedings down to once a day since I started this thread. The goldie still gets 3-5 feedings a day. I have added about 5-7 more gallons to the tank but that's it for now.

 

[Chest Rockwell]

You feed too much. I have 13 corydoras n 2 bn plecos with two map Turtles. I feed them all only once a day. They all share a 55 gal. I only keep hatchling to juvenile Turtles in there. I filter it with a fluval 305 and an internal power filter with spray bar. I do a 20% and 35% water changes weekly. I also have my tank medium planted. With this setup i have no issues. It is better to give the fish plenty of hiding places just incase a turtle decides to chase, but most fish are too fast.

 

[Archangel22]

I looked online that the goldfish that I have eats 3-5 times a day. It's normally 3 days but yea. You can look at my tank on my profile in my pics. Is your tank full or half filled? Mine is half full with 2 canister filters in there, one on each side. I really like plecos and want at least 1 or 2 but after what happened I'm not sure what to do. The turts left them alone in the beginning so I'm not worried about them doing anything to plecos. I don't have about 2 hiding places for fish so I should get another one.

 

[Chest Rockwell]

I have it an inch or so above halfway. If your gonna get plecos then get bristlenose/bushynose pleco or clown pleco, something that won't grow bigger than 6" adult. Get rid of the goldfish it requires cooler water temperatures. The Turtles and plecos warmer water temps. For hiding get driftwood and java or xmas moss and broken clay pots.

 

[herpman705]

I don't have any experience with fish but I do with turtles. I have two western painted turtles one that I have had for a year and is about 3 inches and the other I have had for about a month and is about the size of a quarter. In the larger turtles tank which is a 40 gallon breeder and is only about half full I have two minnows that I got from a local lake about a year ago and a plecostomus for about a month and a half. The minnows started out as feeders the he never caught and I have put probably about 15 or 20 other minnows that he has eaten. I was really worried about the plecostomus being eaten but it hide in a coral cave that the turtle can't get in for the first few weeks but has been coming out a lot lately. All three of them have never had any nipped fins. So I would say it is possible to keep fish with turtles but they have to be hardy especially to ammonia they have to be a little jumpy to keep out of reach of the turtle and a place for them to hide from the turtle is necessary. I haven't put fish in with my baby yet but judging by how clumsy she is your choices are much greater then with a larger turtle. So once you get the chemical situation figured out try something hardy and active.

 

[Archangel22]

I just put a big driftwood decoration in so my 2 baby bristlenose plecos can hide and they are quite at home right now. My boy turt has tried to chase them but they are wayyy too fast for him so I feel safe as long as I keep an eye on the chem levels regularly.

 

[Chest Rockwell]

Here is a setup from a few months ago and still all is well. Map turtles and corydoras - YouTube

 

[Archangel22]

That's an awesome setup man! I just added a nice sized piece of driftwood added to the tank for hiding spaces and part of the diet for my 3 new bristlenose plecos, a moss ball and a piece of cuttlebone. So it's nice and busy in there for them, I'm keeping the feedings short and regular and the chemistry in the tank is balancing out as this bacterial bloom is clearing up.