Other Turtle Discussion :: need some advice

[KatieSmeltzer]

so, filbert has been living with his plecco (superman) for a really long time now. they lived together just fine (filbert would chase superman, but superman always got away.) however, yesterday i just happened to walk in the room to see filbert attack superman. he took a pretty good chunk out of superman's tail fin. i took superman out and put him in a small fish bowl i happened to have. superman made it through the night. i decided to try to put superman back in filbert's aquarium. as soon as he hit the water, filbert had him again. this time by the back. i managed to pry superman from filbert, thank goodness filbert just had him by the fin (the fin is pretty much gone). i put superman back into the fish bowl, and so far he's still alive.

my dilemma is: i don't want to see superman get eaten, but filbert is attacking him every chance that he gets. i know, i'm a softie. so should i just give superman a burial at sea (aka-flush him), because it's not fair to keep him in the fish bowl by himself. i have a light and a filter for the fish bowl, but the air pump for the filter is currently being used in filbert's aquarium.

[sflemin2]

I am a big softie too...I would go on Craiglist and get a small cheap setup (if money is an issue) and maybe buy another plecco. How about getting a 10 gallon for the pleccos and growing some turtle food in it? Thats what I did.. I have a 10 gallon full of anacharis ($4 and it was way too much for the 10 gallon!) and I am growing a lily too ($8 at lowes). A filter for the tank would only be $10-$20. You dont even need gravel to grow those plants. Anarcharis floats and the lily comes a little cylinder thingy full of dirt (doesnt get your water dirty). I think most people just grow the anacharis. The fish will fertilize the plants

[vear]

Yeahhh - the dreaded moment when they become food. How big is superman? Is he a common pleco? I wouldn't flush him! Flushing is no way to kill a fish - but that's just my opinion. Try finding him a home (craigslist). A common will last a looong time and get really huge. Keeping him in a small tank (i.e. 10 gal) would only be a temporary solution. If you can't keep him and nobody will take him there are other ways by which people euthanize their fish.

[sflemin2]

Yeah I should have mentioned that I don't know ANYTHING about fish lol. I just have a betta in my 10 gal

[SINI5T3R]

A real easy way to stop your turtle from attacking the pleco is to put hiding spots like some rocks stacked with cracks that the pleco can get in but the turtle can't and the pleco will find them himself fast. Take the turtle out for about a hour and let the pleco go around the tank to see what's new. Id put like four or five hides for him depending on the size of your tank. If he is a common pleco they can get as big. As a adult person...not kidding..there is a common at a aquarium that is bigger then me and im 5'9. They live a longggg time.

[KatieSmeltzer]

Thanks for all the replies. But Superman died while he was in a separate tank. I guess the trauma was too much for him. He did have a hollow log that I pushed down into the sand a bit to make the opening too small for Filbert to get into. I also set up some cheap fish hides, but he didn't use them. Now, the question is: should I buy another plecco? I already have algae growing in the tank.

[richieboy]

That's too bad. I'm missing one of my goldies and a yellow lab. So much for living in harmony.

[Love of Animals]

I would research algae eaters first. There are some that are fast and don't grow as large as a pleco. Hopefully someone with more experience in them will chime in. I know there are Chinese algae eaters and Siamese algae eaters. One of them is good and the other is aggressive. I don't remember which ones though.

[SINI5T3R]

The chinese algae eater is the aggressive one. They turn into meat eaters after like three inches long and are CRAZY fast. Not sure about the other one.