To create this article, 24 people, some anonymous, worked to edit and improve it over time. This article described how to introduce a sucker fish into your turtle’s habitat. Some may be eaten, however, and ghost shrimp don’t have a long natural lifespan as it is. To create this article, 24 people, some anonymous, worked to edit and improve it over time. Many plecostomus can breathe air due to modifications in their digestive tracts. They're crustaceans, specifically Palaemonetes paludosus, commonly known as the ghost shrimp or glass shrimp. Also keep in mind you'll have to feed the plecos. In the morning, the bristlenose takes occupation (you can see their heads poking out the doorway) and then the afternoon, the clown moves in and the bristlenose goes out. Plecos, loaches, and catfish tend to spend most of their time at the bottom of the tank safe from the turtles, which prefer to swim in the mid and top- water levels. In addition to sucker fish, certain large koi can cohabitate with turtles such as red ear sliders. Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered. For starters, they can be expensive to purchase, and if you purchase a baby Koi fish, there is a good chance that all you will have done is give your turtle an expensive gourmet dinner meal. You can remove your turtle from the tank while you are feeding your fish to prevent the turtle from consuming the fish food. The, "This article helped me a lot. Bear in mind, however, that the turtles may nip at their fins. For care and maintenance purposes, Farlowella and Otocinclus catfish can be included in this group. When feeding your fish, you can remove the turtle from the aquarium so it doesn't consume any of the fish food. As with neons, you’ll want to put some serious thought into whether you’ll risk stocking them with a large angelfish. If you have a lot of algae growing in your aquarium, you will not need to give your fish very many pellets. If you think it is big enough that it won't be eaten and fast enough that it won't be eaten, then you could try it out. Small and fast fish can survive in turtle tanks. Bushy plants can provide good hiding spots. Last update: Nov 29, 2020 1 answer. We use cookies to make wikiHow great. Sucker fish eat algae. People do keep plecos with turtles and they seem to usually have no problem. Using this transition method, the fish will adapt more gradually to the change in temperature, pH, GH, etc., and will be more likely to survive the transition. If you really can’t stand to see another ad again, then please consider supporting our work with a contribution to wikiHow. Pleco cleans Turtles. In this case, 88% of readers who voted found the article helpful, earning it our reader-approved status. Many want to keep plecos and other fish that eat leftovers and algae but this may not end so well for them as they may get some bites taken out of him/her, as it doesn't move much. Ghost shrimp are also a potential short-term option. ", purchase. ! Visit Allturtles.com (see external links) and go to the message board. Plecos can clean up some of the algae in your tank. Turtles can grow up to very large sizes and it is quite common for them to reach at least a foot in length. The goldfish would have to be fairly large so that the turtle doesn't regard it as prey. Key is having places like caves and plants for the plecos to hide because the turtle can definitely kill them if they can't find a place it can't reach. Don't get attached to the fish or anything else placed in t… There is no species who is more likely to eat fishes than others they all try it sometimes. If the turtle does eat them, however, they are inexpensive and easily replaceable. Please help us continue to provide you with our trusted how-to guides and videos for free by whitelisting wikiHow on your ad blocker. Post questions there because they get checked frequently by users. Also, as a warning, many turtles will eat fish that you put in their aquarium. It is difficult to measure the age since it takes centuries, some guess that some turtles could be around 400 to 500 years old. So I would expect pleco deaths and I personally would never risk it. For example, a typical pet turtle can live between 10-80 years or so while larger species can easily live over 100 years. fish cleans the turtles shell frequently. The majority of Plecos are brown in color; however certain species’ … You don’t want the turtle to eat any plants meant to hide or protect your fish. They won't eat turtle waste at all, but they will eat pieces of leftover veggies and algae wafers and other such things. Space. No, hermit crabs do not live in water so it would not be a very good idea. Because they can live so long, you'll need to be committed to caring for the pleco over the course of its life. ‘pleco.s’ or ‘pl*co.s.’ A large group of sucker-mouthed armored catfish from South America. If the turtle is used to eating live fish, then it will be difficult to house it with a fish. If you provided it with a cave it can fit in but can get out of from the front or back so a turtle cannot block it in then maybe. The same applies to driftwood, but also make sure the wood has been treated for use in aquariums so that it doesn’t release any toxins. Fish and turtles can live together harmoniously, as long as you choose the correct fish, turtle, and environment. Be sure to feed the turtle right before putting the fish in the tank to reduce the chances of it being eaten by the turtle. Rocks are good hiding spots for fish, but make sure they’re not too heavy for the aquarium or too light for the turtle to move. Large armored catfish and pleco are also among the best fish to keep with turtles. The pleco would have to be at least 6 inches. By using our site, you agree to our. The mollies might appreciate it since they are known to live … Axolotls and Turtles can Live Together? a molly was sick and I was told the aquarium salt helps the fish immune system so they can stay healthy. We know ads can be annoying, but they’re what allow us to make all of wikiHow available for free. My painted turtle gets along well with our sucker fish. How do I feed my goldfish without my turtle eating the fish's food? It's very popular among turtle keepers and there is a plethora of information there. All rights reserved. Comes in many varieties & some (like the Zebra Pleco.) Carefully, take out half the water in the fish bag and again add a little tank water at a time every 5 minutes until the water in the bag is again doubled. List of Prospective Algae Eaters.. Giant gourami are large enough that they might not be considered turtle food. "They’ve got personalities," Bendo added. There are 12 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. Plecos (Hypostomus plecostomus), for one, should never live together, with one exception. "Great! Below, we will go into detail about what to consider, and introduce some of the species that work best in turtle habitats. They will sometimes try to eat your plecos, which will result in the spines being lodged in their throats. Should my 8 inch red eared slider turtle have a sucker fish in its tank? Can a hermit crab live with any other fish? Plecostomus – eat algae & commonly kept with turtles. The catfish is 3x the size of the terrpains. Goldfish and feeder fish will cost you about $1, but tropical fish and sharks tend to cost more. Can a Pleco live with Yellow Bellied Sliders? Salt helps with some parasite infections and with a few diseases. Anything that you put into the tank (except an adult Plecostomus or maybe an apple snail) is probably going to eventually get eaten by your turtle. If the turtle nips at the fish or keeps bothering it, remove the fish and find it a new home. Can I put a turtle and a blue lobster together? don’t eat algae. If you are getting fish to eat algae, consider buying apple snails instead. Even the crayfish are bigger. One of my favorite "working fish" to keep in a turtle tank aren't really fish at all. How do I feed my goldfish without my turtle eating its food? Natural Habitat for a Plecostomus. These small, translucent scavengers are sold inexpensively in the aquarium sections of pet shops as feeders or tank cleaners, and they do a good job of it. HD footage of a pleco eating algae off turtles shell. Tiny and agile fish such as guppies may be able to cohabitate with turtles. Best Answer. The common pleco. They could hurt each other. If you decide to pair a fish with a turtle, then you need to choose a turtle species that won’t actively hunt the fish in the aquarium. You can put fish in your turtle tank. But they are very small, and despite their stealthy lifestyle, they can end up as prey for bigger fish. Plecos are shy, bottom-dwelling algae-eaters and, although they can get fairly big, they should not be put in a tank with any fish or turtles that might try to harm them. Very small, agile fish like guppies may be able to survive with turtles, though they may overpopulate the tank. Learn more... Turtles eat just about anything. % of people told us that this article helped them. The common pleco is established throughout the American South, and can be found from California to Florida. Then recently we discovered that these two plecos have made some kind of arrangement where they rotate occupation of the same tiny little house. concisely, I relied heavily on hyper-links to resources elsewhere on the Net.You can read the article & use hyperlinks to further explore the topics you need to know more about. They can swim though. The Red Eared Sliders are pretty small at the moment and I've allowed for plenty of escape routes for the fish which are to small for the terrapins. Non-aggressive types of cichlids are also potentially good mates. I really do not know how as turtles eat fish and a pleco that sits in the corner all day is neon sign saying come eat me. If you don't think you will maintain your goldfish tank for around ten years, you may want to reconsider purchasing a pleco. There are several specie… To put a sucker fish in a tank with a turtle, use a tank that's at least 80 gallons and wait until the turtle is mature before introducing the fish. wikiHow marks an article as reader-approved once it receives enough positive feedback. Since it is very possible the turtle may eat these type of fish, they are not necessarily a good choice as turtle companions. Take wikiHow’s Wine Course and drink wine like an expert. Musk turtles don't swim you see so it'd be hard for them to get to the fish,mostly they'll just let it be and carry on with the rest of their lives.I have 5 fishes in with my Common Musk and he loves it when they swim around him.It would be okay to leave him there but if you see that they start pestering him then you can move him. Don't get attached to the fish or anything else placed in the tank. This article has been viewed 176,945 times. Plecos can live for a long time and grow quite large. You also need to check what you are feeding it. Plecos are algae eaters of varying colors. Plecostomus a.k.a. Keeping this in mind, it’s never a bad idea to have a tank setup that is at least 80 gallons of water with the length of the tank measuring in at least 5 feet. Get the largest ones possible and they should be safe in the tank, unless you have a 2 foot (0.6 m) long turtle. In this article, when we refer to sucker fish, we’re talking about bottom feeders, in general, including Plecos and other catfish. 1.) Is it okay that I put a moss ball with my red ear slider? Axolotls generally get to be about 12-14 inches in length, while common plecos will get to be about 2 feet long when they're fully grown. ", How to Put a Sucker Fish in a Tank With a Turtle, http://www.exo-terra.com/en/products/floating_pellets_aquatic_turtle_adult.php, http://www.vcahospitals.com/main/pet-health-information/article/animal-health/turtles-aquatic-feeding/1075, http://www.reptilesmagazine.com/Most-Popular-Pet-Turtles/, http://animals.mom.me/animals-along-red-ear-sliders-5468.html, http://www.allabout-aquariumfish.com/2010/02/pet-turtle-in-fish-tank.html, http://animalquestions.org/reptiles/turtles/can-turtles-and-fish-live-together/, http://www.fishchannel.com/fishkidz/beyond-beginners/hiding-spots.aspx, introducir un pez diablo o cualquier otro animal en el tanque de una tortuga, Einen Saugfisch in ein Aquarium mit einer Schildkröte setzen, placer un catostomidae dans un aquarium avec une tortue, consider supporting our work with a contribution to wikiHow. There are several problems I can see with putting an Axolotl and a Pleco together. Unfortunately, plecos are doing just that in many areas of the United States. All tip submissions are carefully reviewed before being published. the aquarium salt is specifically for freshwater fish. {"smallUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/images\/thumb\/e\/e7\/Put-a-Sucker-Fish-in-a-Tank-With-a-Turtle-Step-1-Version-2.jpg\/v4-460px-Put-a-Sucker-Fish-in-a-Tank-With-a-Turtle-Step-1-Version-2.jpg","bigUrl":"\/images\/thumb\/e\/e7\/Put-a-Sucker-Fish-in-a-Tank-With-a-Turtle-Step-1-Version-2.jpg\/aid45789-v4-728px-Put-a-Sucker-Fish-in-a-Tank-With-a-Turtle-Step-1-Version-2.jpg","smallWidth":460,"smallHeight":345,"bigWidth":"728","bigHeight":"546","licensing":"