The MFKers Guide to Keeping Turtles and Fish Together
- Thread starter snakeguy101
- Start date
a local shop i go to has a massive jardini, jungle perch, water dragon and both short/longneck and saw shell and kreffs...and they all live in harmony..i'll try n get pics
No, almost all softshells are extremely aggressive towards other fish and turtles. It might work if you have a large pond but in an aquarium setting, I do not think so.
You just need to lower your expectations a bit. I keep a Molly, several Platies, a couple of crayfish, a Rubber-Lipped Pleco, and have had several Fancy Guppies in my 55GAL tank with my 3 male Map Turtles. The key is to go with cheaper fish that you like and to not put anything in the tank that you don't want killed and eaten. With that being said, I've had really good luck keeping the Fancy Guppies and Platies with them. The Molly has been in the tank for 4+ months. The turtles will occaisionally chase them, but quickly learn that they can't catch them. I may lose one fish a month, if that. The Platies really bring a lot of color to the tank with their reds, oranges, yellows, and blacks. What I have noticed, however, is when I buy feeder guppies, which are much smaller than the fancy guppies and platies, the turtles are really good at hunting them down and eating them. What dooms the feeder guppies is both their size and their tendency to hide in the nooks and crannys between the large polished river rocks that I use for gravel in my tank. When the turtles prowl around on the bottom and poke around in the rocks, they trap the feeders and get an easy meal. I haven't seen the two crayfish molt yet, but I have a cave for them to do it in. I did lose a small freshwater mussel to something, not sure what.
So, I would either put much larger fish than the turtles in the tank, or go with $2 or less fish, so if you lose one, you're not out much. They provide a lot of stimulation for the turtles and and to your enjoyment of the tank with their bright colors. I'm currently trying to breed platies in my map turtle tank. I have 6 females and 2 males. When the babies are popped out, they hide in my gravel and give the turtles something to eat and chase. I saw my first platy baby getting chased around in the gravel by one of my Mississippi Maps this past week. It was fun to watch.
So, I would either put much larger fish than the turtles in the tank, or go with $2 or less fish, so if you lose one, you're not out much. They provide a lot of stimulation for the turtles and and to your enjoyment of the tank with their bright colors. I'm currently trying to breed platies in my map turtle tank. I have 6 females and 2 males. When the babies are popped out, they hide in my gravel and give the turtles something to eat and chase. I saw my first platy baby getting chased around in the gravel by one of my Mississippi Maps this past week. It was fun to watch.
Would a mata mata bother a giant school of tetras? Like a 250+ school of neons or cardinal and a 50-100 school of Serpeas or phantoms? I am putting the giant schools in my 125 with some angelfish, and a mata mata would look way cool and fit in the Amazonian biotope setting... I have a fx5 so filtration shouldn't be an issue and the tank will have live plants to help filter it as well as a cleanup crew of around 20-30 Cory cats. Thnx
First off, that is way to many fish for that size tank, even without a turtle the size of a mata mata, and second, tetras are a major portion of mata mata diets in the wild... Mata matas would most likely also try to eat the corydoras.
Ok thanks. No mata matador with tetras. The numbers are just approximate. I prob will only get a portion of them. I have seen a 125 with 300 zebra danios and a few other fish in it and they seemed fine do I don't see why neons and angels wouldn't
