Feeding and Nutrition :: Too many feeder fish?

[Captain Rotundo]

I have two aprox. 2 inch RESs, for about a month now. I added 18 minnows to the tank a while back and over the course of about two weeks they ate them down to 6. The six have been hanging out for several days now. I added the 18 at once because at first I added 4 or 5 of them, but the turtles didnt eat them for a day and a half (I was afraid they would eat to much) so I figured I could get away with more.

Is it safe to add more feeder fish, or will the turtles over eat on them? I know they will over eat pellets from what I've read so I dont want to give them too much opportunity to eat fish, but at the same time its nice to see the fish in the tank, and they seem to rather enjoy chasing them about.

[missibsu]

Mine always eat down the number and leave a few behind. It's like they don't have a care in the world and the turtle ignore them. If I add new fish to the tank, they gobble them up. It's like they can tell who's new. Not quite sure what to make of it, but I'd venture to guess that if you add more, they will get eaten.

[turtledudee]

mine only eat the dead ones...

[Captain Rotundo]

well my concern is with them eating too much. If they eat them down too fast I am assuming that is bad, and means I should not add more than a few at a time.

[missibsu]

I wouldn't offer too many at a time. They are higher in protein.