General Care Discussion :: Fish compatible with hatchlings?

[BabbyTurts]

Hi guys. I upgraded from a rubbermaid tub to a 90g aquarium. I have two baby turtles that are ~2 months and less than ~2 inch shell length. About a month ago, I added 5 striped danios while still in the tub. Since upgrading, I added 5 rosy red barb.

The turtles were initially interested in the danios. They chased them around and it was really fun and cute to watch. It was pretty clear that the danios were way too fast for the turtles, and once the turtles realized this, they started ignoring them.

Presently, the turtles ignore all the fish in the tank, I have not seen a turtle make an attempt at a fish or chase a fish. Is this normal for hatchlings of their size? Is this behaviour expected to change?

The two turtles and 10 fish are all very small and I am thinking of adding some more. What are other recommended species that can escape turtles well? Any algae eaters?

Thanks!

[ljapa]

I can't comment on recommended fish with turtles, and you'll find many posts here where the answer is "none."

However, I when we had a very young turtle, my son also wanted to get fish. We ended up adding black neon tetras, mostly because they were cheap. Tobi pretty much ignored them. As she grew, the fish were fine.

Eventually, she was moved to a 55 gallon tank and we added more black neons. At some point, we decided to add some plain neon tetras. There was no problem for a bit (weeks? Months? I don't remember.), but one night two of the regular neons disappeared. Over the next two nights, more were gone, until I moved them to another tank.

During all of this, no change with the black neon tetras that she'd been around while very small.

Nearly two years later, that's mostly the case. There have been two disappearances of black neon tetras in the last few weeks. I'm on the fence as to whether this is hunting or older ones that have died. (The original three survived a nasty aquarium cycle with very high nitrite levels.). I've not seen any hunting behavior when I'm watching. And, the black neons don't seem particularly scared of Tobi.

So, the jury's still out for me whether any fish are safe, but my experience is the only fish that are safe are ones they were exposed to when small.

Ask me again in a year, and my thoughts may have changed.

[Kansasslider]

Chinese sucker fish eat algae. You could also add a pleco. I have 1 Chinese sucker in with my turtles. I also have large goldfish that can grow to a length of 1foot. We shall see how long they last. The goldfish are too big to eat so they might live the longest.

[BabbyTurts]

Thanks for the input guys. I read that the chinese algae eaters may become aggressive and kill other fish as they age?

[Jeremiah]

Chinese algae eaters do tend to get aggressive towards the other fish, but so might your turtles!
No matter what the aggression levels are/could be/will be, I wouldn't resort to using an algae eater unless you have non-hair algae growing everywhere. If not, then all you are doing is adding more ammonia to your tank (in the form of the fish, as well as the supplemental food it will need if you don't have enough algae to sustain it). Even then, consistent algae problems are better solved by addressing the excess nutrients in your water--not recruiting fish to "cover the symptoms".

[devilduck]

I'd stick to small quick fish that are not breed and grow too large, like minnows and danios. They provide some movement, color, and entertainment for your turtles. Add them slowly as not to overwhelm your filter.

A lot of people recommend plecos, I do not. Certain types grow very large and all are poop machines. They also have spines that may injure turtles.