Re: Co-habitating fish
- This topic has 1 reply, 1 voice, and was last updated 19 years, 9 months ago by
.
-
Posts
-
Hi Densie, Sorry for the late reply, but I have been out of town and it took quite a while to get thru all the crazy messages that have been flying around in this group lately (a lot of “hate” mail), but I came across yours and thought I should reply. I have 2 Bristlenose Pleco’s in my 90 gallon and they keep the tank spotless! I never have to clean the glass or anything…….no algae anywhere! The good thing about these guys is they don’t get lazy as adults and stop cleaning your tank like the common pleco’s do. They also don’t get huge (only 5 inches max.), so they don’t ever become big “poo factories” like those 12 or 18 inch pleco’s. Generally, you won’t find this type of Pleco at PetsMart or PetCo…….you will have to go to one of the better local fish stores that have a really good reputation and know what they are talking about. They will stock this guy because all the serious “fish people” want this pleco in their tanks. As far as the Turtles wanting to eat them, I guess it varies from turtle to turtle, but I have had no problems after the initial few hours of putting the fish in the tank. My DBT was raised with pleco’s and other fish in her tank since she was a hatchling, so she never even looks at the plecos. She is over 5 inches now and still never attempts to bite them or show any type of aggression towards them. Since she has grown up with them, I am guessing that she will leave them alone as an adult as well. My Red-Eared Slider had never seen a fish until he was 3 years old and he went after the 2 Electric Yellow Cichlids that I put in with him like crazy! This only lasted for about an hour and he finally realized that these fish were entirely to smart and way too fast for him to catch! Now they share the same cave and they never give each other a second look. As far as Cichlids go, make sure you don’t get the aggressive ones. These Electric Yellow ones are NOT aggressive and don’t get big (only 4 inches) and they are recommended for Turtle Tanks by the Old Timers on Austin’s Turtle Page. My 6 inch Slider also initially went after the Pleco’s, but he gave up on them too. For one, these Pleco’s are pretty tough dudes and don’t intimidate easily. The other thing is, their skin is extremely tough, so even during the initial hours of putting them in the tank, when the turtle did manage to get a few good bites in, he didn’t even leave a mark! They are all best friends now……..as long as I keep the turtles fed I should be OK. By the way, my Cichlids are so comfortable in the Turtle Tank, that they are breeding on a regular basis (something that I never thought that they would do), but adds another very interesting element to the tank! I do have some Zebra Danio’s in the tank also. These guys never stop swimming (fish on crack), so there is always some “action” going on in my tank. I do lose about one on these per month. I never see them get eaten, but they are “stupid” fish and are always swimming right in front of the turtles (plus they are bite size), so I’m sure the turtles are getting a free meal every so often. I have tried snails also. Snails live a horrible life in a turtle tank. They are constantly getting knocked off of whatever they are crawling on and they don’t like salt in the water either (if you add a little salt like I do), so I would pass on the snails for Turtle Tanks, but I highly recommend certain types of fish! Take Care, Jimbo —- densieria@… wrote:=============Hi everyone. Wondering if anyone has attempted to have allgee eaters or plecos in the tank w/ their DBT’s. It would be nice to have one to help w/ housekeeping issues in the tank but I am afraid the 2 DBT’s may go after the fish. Has anyone ever tried this or have any suggestions? Thanks in advance. Densie & Jonathan
How big of a gator are we talking about. I always thought that turtles ranked up their pretty high on a gator’s list of things to eat. Funny how some critters which are typically predator and prey in the wild manage to cohabitate in captivity. Richard Stanley
- The forum ‘Diamondback Terrapins’ is closed to new topics and replies.