Habitat - Indoor :: Fish living with turtles.

[powerofvoodoo]

I'm getting a bristlenosed pleco (hopefully) next week. I'm excited because the algae is driving me nuts (I scrub everything with a toothbrush whenever I do full water changes).
I'm hoping that Donatello doesn't turn out to be aggressive and turn the fish into dinner - I've never put fish in her tank before because whenever I go to petco, the rosys have been sick (first they had ich and had to completely get rid of all the fish to get rid of the ich, now they have something weird on them that the employee doesn't trust) and I don't want to get a goldfish because I don't want to have it get 10"+ long if it does survive.

On to my question though. I keep having dreams about keeping a betta fish in my turtle tank (I think it goes along with my wish for another betta even though I don't have the room for it). Can I put a betta in my turtle tank? I don't see where there would be any cons in it (besides the obvious food factor, but I wouldn't even consider doing this until I find out how aggressive Donatello really is) but I wasn't sure if someone else would see something that I don't.

[danshun77]

i had a gold fish with my turtle for a little time,they got along fine my turtle didn't even try to eat it. Also I had a couple rosy reds with my turtle but he tried to eat them,at first but then he got use to them I think. For the well being of my fish and turtle incase of disease and bacteria i seperated them. My turtle seems happier with out them. He seemed nervous with them. I havint researched having turtles with fish but alot of people with ponds have fish,with their turtles.

[Starchick]

I would see if you can find a source of healthy feeder fish to see what happens first. With a betta I'd would be concerned that even if the turtle doesn't want to eat it, the betta has such long, delicate fins that a little nip from your turtle is going to hurt it.

[mikee]

Fact of life! Turtles eat fish. You may get away with putting a fish in with your turtles, but sooner or later the turtle will start taking a nip or two out of your fish and eventually he will eat it. Sometimes sooner, sometimes later, but it will eat the fish.

[Tenodera]

Yep USUALLY turtles eat fish. Sometimes you get lucky and have a turtle that utterly ignores fish.

Bettas are probably the worst thing you could keep with a turtle. Bright coloured, slow moving, long flowing fins, it'd make any non-fish eater curious enough to try a bite.

In Canada, Roca never chased any of his fish for a year and a half.

The two turtles I keep right now don't chase or pay attention to the fish either. ( I got lucky.)

[TheComputerGremlin]

A betta would be a bad idea! The turtle would just nibble his fins off until he couldn't swim anymore. As much as I don't advocate those stupid little betta bowls, if you want more, get more bowls. I mean, they can be really stylish, some are stackable, they are small enough that you don't take up too much space. If you've got your betta in a 10 gallon tank or something, I can see why you don't want another ... The other thing is that bettas are "fighting fish", which could mean that they might fight back at the turtle. I don't think the betta could hurt the turtle, but I don't know.

[Krzyspam]

I have a large pleco in my tank and he's lived happily with the turtles for years. He is missing part of his back fin though, because they bit it when they were first introduced. (I didn't own them then) Now, they are all buddies, and he even eats the algae off the turtle shells. Last year, my boyfriend put about twenty goldfish (he didn't know better at the time!) in the tank and the turtles decided to keep five as pets. They lasted over a year and grew to about four inches long!! We gave them to a pet store and they are now food for an alligator!! Some turtles and fish get along fine....but I'm still bracing myself for the day that Pablo Plecoso is missing....

[powerofvoodoo]

The betta idea is just a thought that went through my mind one day. It was fleeting and I wouldn't have even considered it unless other people said that they thought it wouldn't be a problem. I am well aware of the fact that most turtles eat fish, but I've also read that Peninsula Cooters are a lot more herbivorous than RES which helps to assure me that Donatello will probably much leave the fish alone.
And I've kept bettas in 1 gallon bowls in the past (and the first one lived about 3 years, the second one died because my sister wouldn't take care of it like I thought she would and the last two died after eating bad bloodworms) and right now, I don't even have room for those in my small dorm room this year.

[rachel16]

Well i put some goldfish in the tank with spunky and he didnt even look at them... So i took the goldfish out after a day or two then put the more exspenive fish in they are all fine... And if one dies he just eats them... But he wont eat them alive...

[Sgt. Pepper]

I have a bunch of rosies in the tank with my turtle, and she hasn't touched any of them yet. I also have a few tiger barbs. However, I think it kind of depends on the size of the tank as well. For a little while my turtle had to stay in a 10 gallon with her fish, and she ate one of the tiger barbs and most of the rosies pretty quickly. In her 50 gallon she can barely keep up with them. I got these minnows about 2 months ago and she still hasn't eaten a single one. It makes the tank a lot livelier though becuase there are about 20 of them, haha.

[yomama]

arent bettas aggresive to a lot of creatures? im not sure the answer to ur question

[powerofvoodoo]

Actually, all of the bettas that I've had have been surprisingly calm (they wouldn't flare at a mirror or each other) but yes, they are known for being aggressive.
My sister kept one of mine in her african dwarf frog tank for awhile and the frogs started nipping at his tail thinking it was bloodworms.
I'll stick with my pleco and maybe a couple of rosies.

[Oshynlover]

Well they are all babies - but when I got the fish I was told to get one's that are fast swimmers. To tell you the truth my turtle is completely into uprooting my plants in the tank... not going after the fish. From time to time I see them all playing. There has never been chasing of one or the other. However- this has only been for a month so its still too soon to tell. Hopefully they will not be a bother... but that's why I got really inexpensive fish.

[emma]

My turtles chase the fish for a few days then usually give up if they can't get them.

[taylor_a]

I have a betta fish in with my new little Toby; they pretty much ignore eachother. And my betta is rather aggressive...making his "angry face" whenever I come into the room.