turtle looking out of place...

[-DC-]

after some debate i've decided too try moving a small map turtle into the monster fish tank.

It's been a couple day's now watching very closely want too make sure he doesn't start nipping fin's, and that the bichirs dont try too eat him but so far so good.

My java fern received a heck of a trimming in the first day but he's since lost interest only taking the occasional bite now , and the turtle does an AMAZING job at cleanup after feedings hunting down every tiny particle of food . Also on top of being very entertaining for me too watch the little guy in such a huge tank it also seems too keep the oscar and the more inquisitive of my ornate bichirs per-occupied.

any way not the best pic's was feeding day but thought i'd share, I've never seen a fish make a turtle look so small. More pic's too come once the glad from evening sun is gone.

[hi-revs]

how big is the map turtle?

[Ursus sapien]

Great shots! Cool to see her/him in action:-)>

[King-eL]

That awesome!!!

[Victor]

That looks cool. How do u have the dock and basking area setup?

[Audrey]

I've wanted to do that with my red sliders for a while how has the experiment handled so far

[josephl]

That looks cool. How do u have the dock and basking area setup?

That was what I was wondering too or are they fully aquatic?

[snow]

I've wanted to do that with my red sliders for a while how has the experiment handled so far

Putting reds with fish will most likely not work out. I have two that are 12" in size and they have killed anything put with them. You have to be very careful when adding a turtle to a fish tank. The op's turtle is working for now because of the size difference between his turtle and fish. Plus map turtles are less aggressive than red sliders. It's always touch and go with turtles. Even fly river turtles can get nippy when they get large.

[-DC-]

I agree DO NOT put a RES in with fish, i have several RES in another tank of their own the get large and from 4" up the will gladly just take chunks out of larger fish and other turtles, this map turtle was one of 2 i adopted his mate passed away , i dont like keeping turtles solo and RES would quickly kill off a map turtle so i figured i'd tr him out with fish, i check this tank ever 5 minutes for 24 hours straight then probably every 20 min for the rest of the weekend, no joke kept waking up thinking "what if it trie too eat the aro" that worry has since passed lol.

I had a 14 inch common pleco who lived in with my dwarf caiman no issues, moved him out too clean algea in one of the turtle tank and a 5" res killed him first night it was in a tank !

Any turtle/fish mix is a risk, map turtles are a much more docile species also the are a small species so this one seems to be fine with the big fish, he's take out smaller fish before but shows no interest in the bigger fish.

So far i saw him nip an endlie once and she nailed him back lol havn't seen him go near an endli since!

The ornate bichirs love the turtle one in particular is glued too him seems too have figured out the turtle is great at locating food and follows him around as it searches lol

the ornates often snatch meaty food from him, but it's hilarious when the turtle stops too chow down on a piece of veggie or java fernthroughs the ornates for a loop. They seem too recognize that he's eating and found food, they will sniff and circle but just can figure out what the turtle is eating lol they just dont register plants as edible i guess!

also no the are not full aquatic , i always have floating driftwood in my tank, i make sure one large piece is always wedged directly below the lamp originally this was too shade a large bush of java fern. Now doubles as a basking area, it's narrow as the water surface is only 3-4" from the glass but because of the wood aquarium this area is completely hidden from site.

He doesn't seem bothered at all by the narrow space probably because of a glass top, and feels very secure with wood walls on all sides

He's a couple shots, he's incredibly quick too dive in when i lift the lid but a couple turned out at least well enough too show him lol

[josephl]

Very cool pic and smart turtle. Thanks for showing the pic