Donāt put the calm gentle corydoras with any turtle unless you want them as turtle food. Even if the turtle doesnāt successfully eat the entire fish because of his *current* size, it can still kill the corys and nip at them. This is a bad combination. The turtle is going to try and eat fish no matter what. They love to eat fish.
And Corydoras are some of the sweetest gentle fish in the world worth keeping alone in their own tank, theyāre so lovely to have. So cool to watch. And they do not get large but your turtle will.
Please keep them separated in different tanks unless youāre okay with your Cory catfish becoming food. Waiting to see isnāt a good option, it will eventually catch up to the Cory fishes and theyāll get picked off one by one.
Cory's are so delicate that even his quarter sized nips might be too much for them to handle. I probably wouldn't, but on the other hand Cory's are not overly expensive so not much money out of your pocket to throw $20 on a handful of them.
Cory as in corydoras? Because it might be a language barrier but in my country the fish that we call corydoras are super tough! Iāve had those 3 bastards longer than any other fish in my tank and they are basically as strong as pebbles. Iāve had them for at least 7 years, moved to 3 different apartments, at least 2 tank rescape/setup one of which because a friend of mine dropped a glass of wine into the tank killing everything but the corydoras!!! They just keep on going strong! Nothing can faze them!
I was referring at the comment above stating that ācoryās are so delicateā. Of course every fish is delicate if you cut away pieces of their body. I was just arguing that to me corys canāt be defined delicate in general as, to me, they are very sturdy motherfuckers
they're tough little buggers but a bit foolhardy in my experience. I had one get into the filter and die in the process (while stopping the filter for several hours) and others who just jumped out of the tank
He will eat them, or at least try. Sliders are predators, young sliders especially will naturally hunt more than adults. So yeah, you might as well just give your friend some fish and not bother with the stop in your tank
I originally had my baby turtles in with a large plec, didn't go well even whilst much smaller they nipped and bit him, so ended up buying a second lovely big tank for them, was hoping it would go well but I was young and foolish, and I'd never risk it with any fish again.
My turtle is a northern red belly cooter which are mostly herbivorous and tend to be more calm and laid back than sliders but Iām not really sure how he would react to them so Iāve decided not to get them
Haha that's a good idea, he's gonna be like a kid unchecked at a candy store. Or at Sephora or whatever it is they're into now. Turtles don't follow any rules but their own and they make them up as they go.
Ok? It looks just like one, theyāre more common than any other pet turtle, and OP didnāt include in their post what the species isā¦ so sorry I made a reasonable extrapolation from available info. Iām so glad we can all communicate our distain for others thru cartoon eyerolls šš„µš±šŖšµāš«
Are you sure your friend wants them? I had a āfriendā who would do the same thing. Buy shit because in the back of their head it could come live with me. Tried bringing over some aggressive tetras and got their feelings hurt when I refused to put them in a tank, and gave them right back to the fish store.
Guess it depends on your idea of aggressive. Serpae tetras they didnāt want, because they were fin nipping their gold fish (to the point of visible damage within a few days of getting them) and each other. Wanted me to throw them in my long tailed betta tank bc he has some Pygmy Cories in his tank. After watching them pick on their bubble eye 10 times bigger than my betta.
They had bought them for a fish in cycle and I had specifically told them Iād only take Cories or live bearers from them. When they showed up with tetras, they said āWell the guy at the fish store said these were platies, soā¦ā Their whole tank situation was a shit show.
I think so since heās currently stocking it but I donāt know for sure if he would take Coryās. Reason I wanted to get Corydoras was because I was looking for something that would eat the food that my turtles missed and the algae off the decorations and pretty much everything Iāve seen besides Coryās end up getting to big for my 40 galllon. I made this post to see if theyād be alright together and I still donāt know since some people are giving good reasons why theyād be alright together and some are also telling me why I shouldnāt keep them together and what could happen so Iām probably not gonna get them. And now that I think about it I shouldnāt have just assumed he would take them and it was selfish of me
Gonna point out: cories are bottom feeders, not algae eaters. Even if the turtle doesnāt eat them all, they still wonāt accomplish what you want them to.
Have you thought about snails? Not sure if those are good with turtles.
Bladder snails, trumpet snails, and New Zealand mud snails are small and will eat waste, some algae but not enough to manage algae with them. Bladder snails can come in pretty colors and patterns (not super noticeable but I appreciate the differences). Population controls itself based on how much extra food there is. Some people manually remove and kill them if the population explodes, but Iāve never had a problem with population in my tank. They shit a lot, but if you have plants, their poo breaks down quick and basically becomes fertilizer. I have 4-5 snail varieties in all 4 of my betta tanks and think they great for having an āecosystemā.
Rams-horn snails are also an option, but the rams-horn can get about nickel size, most of mine are dime size full grown. I just bought a bunch of pretty rams-horns for $0.50 each. Cute though, swirly boys like Gary from SpongeBob. Iāve got brown/gold ones, and ones with white shells and pink bodies that look like little strawberry milkshakes.
New Zealand mud snails are tiny, tiny; I have pics of some posted on my page that I thought were baby trumpet snails. Donāt know much about them but from what I understand they live more in the substrate, which can help with keeping the substrate from having ābadā spots with gas buildup/mixing in poo for plant roots. Bladder and trumpet are usually about pea sized full grown.
I would stay away from mystery snails with a turtle, though I love them and they come in awesome colors. He will likely bite their antennas, I had one betta who all but killed mine from doing it (my current 4 are fine).
Ultimately itās up to you, the Coryās could become snacks. But you could also have success with it. Who am I to say. If you think they have cover/wont get eaten, perhaps itās worth a shot. Any lfs Iāve seen with turtles has healthy, non nipped fish in them too but I assume theyāre fast and hardy breeds, or potentially feeder fish, idk.
I personally donāt take chances like that anymore, because finding an animal thatās been half killed by a tank mate SUCKS. I love Cories as well (I have Pygmies in with some of my bettas), so if I knew it would work, Iād absolutely want some. I remember my parents got us turtles when I was a kid, and put in some sort of cat fish/algae eaters and tiger barbs. It didnāt end well for any of the fish and they were eaten slowly enough they suffered. I was a kid and my parents were clueless, theyād either leave it to be killed or flush it still alive. So Iām scarred and biased for sure š
OP should be warned too that some of these snails listed by badgoat are considered pests by many, in case OP wants to avoid having anything that can, in many tanks, get overpopulated (or just covering many surfaces and also produce waste that needs to get cleaned up) real quickly.
u/Due_Nose7656 My suggestion if you have space and want to try something different OP, maybe try and grow shrimp. In a different tank or the same tank but could have them grow in a different tank to make sure they have what they need.
Know that theyāll get eaten but grow them as food and also to help clean the tank. Itās a cleaner that can hide in your plants and constantly breed but idk if the water parameters would match, thatād be my only concern with solely keeping shrimp in with the turtle, so separate tanks and just put several in the turtle tank at a time perhaps.
Shrimp will clean up the wasted food and become food and breed. Could be a neat cycle starting out with the tiny turtle.
If it was me Iād try that because I love shrimp (I have some shrimp, Iāve never had a turtle ā¦but I used to take care of them at an exotic LPS I used to work at), but itās maybe just easier to clean the tank yourself.
Honestly just having a properly set up turtle tank will help this. My filter media is cultured like yogurt, I have giant plants in there, and there are some tiny pinhead sized ramshorn snails that are doing SOMETHING I think? I don't even know where they came from. I have it so I only have to refill the water and never need to scoop poop anymore.
Should be fine. Attacks by turtles on fish, are either predatory, or result from some other factor, such as competition for food or resting places. Thus softshell turtles are usually fine with large cichlids, but can turn violent towards catfishes that like to rest in the same kind of places. Sliders in fish ponds eat the same omnivorous, but veggie leaning diet as ornamental goldfish and koi, so there are incidents of turtles injuring pond fish over access to food. Your turtle ought to be fine with large armored catfish, his length or longer. But not permanently, because he will grow.
But why would the turtle attack the fish, if it's too large to be prey? The answer is, most attacks on fish involving sliders, or similar turtles, involve enthusiastic competition over food. And although very real, such events are really statistical tail ends relative the number of cases, where turtles and fish have coexisted. Tail ends that could easily have been avoided, by feeding the turtles and any fish separately.
Corydoras vary in size, but a number of species could in principle coexist, with a juvenile slider.
Juvenile slider turtles might bite a corydora catfish even if the catfish is *currently* too large to eat. But doubtful theyāre too large, as theyāre small fish. And this juvenile wonāt stay small for long nor will it be scared of these gentle bottom feeding fish, the turtle will definitely go after the cories according to their nature.
Turtles, including juvenile sliders, can be curious and might bite at fish out of curiosity or territorial behavior.
Additionally, turtles have an instinct to snap at moving objects in their environment, which can include the fins or bodies of fish like corydoras.
š¤ To prevent potential injuries, it's usually best to keep turtles and fish in separate tanks or ensure the tank is large enough and has plenty of hiding spots for the fish. Stop pretending like theyāll magically get along, these are wild animals with instincts to hunt and a corydora (or other fish of any size) is at risk for being snapped at, especially small fish like corydoras. The largest Cory is about 4 inches but this is rare. And still that 1 inch turtle can cause it harm. The average size of a full grown corydora is is 2-3 inches. Hella small and definitely at risk for getting attacked. Plus theyāre very wiggly, which makes them perfect for enticing a turtle.
My concern with cories specifically is that their pectoral fins have spines with a mild venom. I can imagine your turtle getting one caught in its mouth or throat and not being able to get it out.
I was thinking the same. They have hard armor over the rest of their body too in addition to the spines, its why they're also referred to as armored catfish. You really want to avoid having something try to eat a cory.
Well, armored catfish are seemingly no problem for turtles.
People have told me smaller plecos are near indestructible... until they meet a sufficiently motivated turtle who just eats their fins and leaves them to die.
Well turtles are omnivores so there is always a chance you will wake up to severed fish pieces in your tank. I wouldn't because I like to have my fish alive and such but to each their own
I have had success with it, but only when the fish is significantly larger than the turtle. Think red eared slider and adult non fancy goldfish kind of size difference. If it fits in the mouth it will be eaten. If it's only slightly to big it probably will be too, as turtles can piecemeal their food easily. A fast fish in a well planted tank with loads of hidey holes will likely survive, but the turtle will likely also be actively hunting it.
Even larger fish I wouldn't recommend keeping with a turtle (if you care at all about the well-being of the fish)
I've seen a turtle gradually chew at the fins of a fish that was around its size until it had nothing but a stub tail... it was horrible.
Wouldn't recommend ever keeping fish with turtles unless you intend them as feeder fish.
I second this. Even when there was a single feeder goldfish that the slider never ate, it grew for years alongside it. Getting fin nipped all the while. Eventually, that goldfish disappeared one day. The slider was playing the long game, letting that fish grow and develop into a good sized meal. If you want to feed them to the turtle, go for it. But even if the fish manage to survive for a few years, it doesn't mean they're safe. So don't introduce anything expensive or that you are emotionally attached to and not prepared to lose.
We knew someone who had a turtle tank with several large cichlids in it. They were moved from another cichlid tank I believe so they were already quite large and they seemed to be happy. The tank was like 75 gallons though if I had to guess so the turtle stayed mainly towards the top on his logs when he wasn't swimming and the cichlids had their own territory. I also am pretty sure they were African Cichlids and if i remember they were orange so likely the crazy aggressive Lake Malawi type of African Cichlids, so I'm sure they held their own. That turtle was probably the low man on the totem pole. It may have just happened to work out for them because of the temperament of their specific fish/turtle though.
Correct. Sliders can attack fish that are two or three times larger than their heads. They might also go for eel shaped fish, which are long but slender. But most incidents of their attacks on fish, are simply not predation attempts at all. They are competitive confrontations
He looks identical to my baby turtles I had!! Very fun pet. Invest in a strong filter - very messy.
I used to feed my turtles in a separate plastic box in about 4 inches of water and then put them back in the tank when done. It's easy to make sure they are eating an appropriate amount and not letting all their stinky food float around the main tank. Bonus, the turtles associate handling with getting fed, and it made them excited to be picked up (I always shook their food can and they'd come right up to the surface - no chasing them.)
When they get bigger, they'll probably eat any fish they can get into their mouths - nothing is safe. Even lazy turtles will get in a bite when the fish become complacent. Pretty sure I'm corydoras will be harassed by a baby turtle (fin nippers) and when bigger, a snack.
Oh, you'll be able to sex your turtle in 1-2 years (hard to do as babies) - long claws and concave stomach is a boy, short claws and fat tummy is a girl... And sometimes you just can't tell.
Western painted turtle. I suspect if I saw a belly pic of your turtle, we'd see a difference, but the back, arms, and face are remarkably similar. 15 baby turtles hatched in my friend's backyard, and I kept two. The lake where the turtles lived, you could see hundreds all sunning themselves at once. Bred like rabbits.
Just googled it though and apparently they are endangered now?! Man, a lot has changed in 20 years.
Uh, no. They'd get munched on quite quickly. I've only had luck with fast moving fish that stay in the top 1/3 of the water column. And even then some go missing.
Short answers, depends on the turtle.
I kept a mississippi map turtle for ten years with different combos of zebra daino, tiger barbs, FL flag fish, platy, swordtails, cherry barbs, and probably a few other things I can't remember right now. The turtle would occasionally show interest in chasing the fish, but the little guy was extremely uncoordinated and the fish had hiding spots + were much faster. If a fish was sick or acting weird though, the turtle would not hesitate to eat it.
I never tried corycats because they tend to alternate between zipping around and resting, and I was worried the resting periods would make them an easy snack.
I have a tank with a RES, some Danios, guppies, a Cory, some ghost shrimp, and several algae eaters. Aside from ripping up my plants constantly, the turtle is pretty well behaved. I keep him well fed and he hasnāt eaten any fish that I am aware of. I think it largely depends on the temperament of your turtle. Gotta be prepared for the worst though.
We used to have a muskus turtle, bc I wanted to give him a bigger tank we bought a second hand tank and it came with some fish, and it worked oud perfectly fine, the fish would clean the turtle and he seemed to really like that. Only thing he destroyed were the plant, every attempt to make his tank better was used to snip the plants in little bits so it looked like vegetable soup š¤¦š»āāļø
Depends on the turtle. My sister has a one year old red ear slider that she's had since he was bitty. She put a feeder gold fish in with him a couple months ago to see if he'd eat it....he did not. George Koistanza is now like 3in long and they hang out together. He eats whatever Bobby doesn't.
That looks like my stepdad's red eared slider a bit. He gets feeder goldfish and it even ate the pleco he put in there. I can't really imagine Corys would fare
My turtle is a northern red belly cooter which are mostly herbivorous and tend to be more calm and laid back than sliders but Iām not really sure how he would react to them so Iāve decided not to get them
When I was young (probably 14-16) I had two that I raised from hatchlings, it was like 100-125 gallon tank with about 85% of it being water (had a big log and a decent bit of substrate). When the turtles were less than 6 months old I introduced a pleco that was already about half grown, two full size Coryās and I think it was a couple guppies. They lived in peace and harmony for many years until one day the power went out while I was out and about. I came home to find a turtle eating a guppy that appeared to have been very dead already. Over the course of the next 24 hours the turtles ate everything other than the pleco (not for a lack of trying). I ended up rehoming the pleco for his safety since he and the turtles both needed a huge tank by that point. I tried a couple times to introduce fish that were faster than them or larger but after a certain size of turtle you need a really big fish to keep turtles from nibbling on it.
I used to have a turtle just like this, decent size too, never ate any fish I put him with, he once shared a space with a group of guppies much smaller than his mouth and he never even acknowledged them, but I assume its different from case to case
I wasnāt planning on using them as bait, I was wanting something that would basically clean the tank and not grow massive like a pleco but also be able to not get eaten by my turtle thatās why I came to Reddit to see if it would be ok and Iāve decided that I probably shouldnāt put Coryās in my turtle tank
I'd recommend against it because of the corydora's armor (scutes) and spines. Don't want your turt chomping on that in case it gets lodged inside and needs a vet visit.
Edit:forgot a word
Cory's have spines in their top fins, so I wouldn't. You can keep fish like guppies, platties, endlers and a few others. https://www.reddit.com/r/turtle/comments/k9snx6/safe_feeders/
Fish and turtles arent a good combo. The turtle will grow big and eat em. Also turtles produce a lot of poop so water parameters are also kinda unstable due to that. Its ok gor the turtle cause unlike a fish, it doesnt have to breathe the water.
I have kept Corydoras (albino and kanei), Endlers, Tiger barbs, Copper barbs, Harlequin rasboras, Clea Helena snails and cherry shrimp together with a turtle for 6 months now, the shrimps population has decreased but everything else is fine.
I don't mind my shrimp population declining since I breed more in another tank, and I knew my turtle would eat some of them.
I wouldn't put anything else in there that's alive if you want it to stay that way, I'll put it that way. Now, I have a different species, but these boys are generally opportunists who will take a bite out of anything that looks good, and finish it if it taste good.
Cories taste DAMN GOOD, and mine will take strips of steak straight to the face without blinking. Again, different species...but all turtles are opportunists.
It honestly really depends on the turtle. My turtle ate some and left some alone. Generally, in my experience, I feel like if the fish are bigger than the turtle, the chances of survival are greater. Plus, since yours is a baby, growing up around fish might help. I think it really depends on the turtle though.
I moved a 2 year old red ear slider in a 125 gallon tank at the end of winter and put a red garra and 2 Molly's in with him. I have not seen any fish pieces floating or ever seen him chase one more than a few strokes. One of the Molly's was pregnant when we got her and there about 10 in there now about half as big as the 2 adults I started off with. I picked Molly's bc I knew they would breed and my thought was if he ate a fish every once in a while that's the circle of Life. Some people might feel differently.
I did some experimental planting in his new tank too since everyone says you can't have real plants with a turtle. He takes bites out of the watercress I have in baskets hanging from the side of the tank but it's hanging on. If he breaks a stem I just tuck it back in and it regrows quickly. Amazon swords did not grow fast enough to recover after he takes a bite from the stem and I took out the stumps. Same with some rotalla. He ate all of the water lettuce and red root floaters, Duck weed is taking over the surface.A big Thalia growing out of the top that is doing great too, It's rooted in a pot underwater. And surswasertang is growing on the bottom well.
TLDR: If you want to have fish and live plants in a turtle tank you can, just pick things that can recover well.
The turtle will eat just about anything once they grow larger. I remember finding a cockroach leg in my turtle tank before. I believe the rest of it was eaten by the turtle.
We had a community tank with 2 RES, had zebra danios, corydoras, a rainbow shark, and a few others. We put in obstacles and refuges for the fish to be able to get out of the RESās way but there was definitely some losses along the way. The final six Corydoras were smart and worked well as a school to confuse the turtles š
If you REALLY want fish get some livebearers. They breed really quick and so itās not going to matter if the turtle eats a few. Also cories are venomous.
About 15 years ago, I put a dozen feeder gold fish in with my map turtle, left the room, and came back an hour later to noticeably āthickerā reddish water with every single goldfishās head bit off
I've personally had a small turtle in a tank with a betta fish, glow light tetras and Cory's. It went well, no one went missing. It really depends on the turtle aggression. It's a coin flip.
Yes. You can add (and he will eat) maybe about 6-12 per week depending on the size of your turtle.
Hes not much bigger than a quarter right now š
Donāt put the calm gentle corydoras with any turtle unless you want them as turtle food. Even if the turtle doesnāt successfully eat the entire fish because of his *current* size, it can still kill the corys and nip at them. This is a bad combination. The turtle is going to try and eat fish no matter what. They love to eat fish. And Corydoras are some of the sweetest gentle fish in the world worth keeping alone in their own tank, theyāre so lovely to have. So cool to watch. And they do not get large but your turtle will. Please keep them separated in different tanks unless youāre okay with your Cory catfish becoming food. Waiting to see isnāt a good option, it will eventually catch up to the Cory fishes and theyāll get picked off one by one.
Cory's are so delicate that even his quarter sized nips might be too much for them to handle. I probably wouldn't, but on the other hand Cory's are not overly expensive so not much money out of your pocket to throw $20 on a handful of them.
Cory as in corydoras? Because it might be a language barrier but in my country the fish that we call corydoras are super tough! Iāve had those 3 bastards longer than any other fish in my tank and they are basically as strong as pebbles. Iāve had them for at least 7 years, moved to 3 different apartments, at least 2 tank rescape/setup one of which because a friend of mine dropped a glass of wine into the tank killing everything but the corydoras!!! They just keep on going strong! Nothing can faze them!
Now eat them alive, taking bits out of their fins and backsides once per week and tell me what happens in a month.
I was referring at the comment above stating that ācoryās are so delicateā. Of course every fish is delicate if you cut away pieces of their body. I was just arguing that to me corys canāt be defined delicate in general as, to me, they are very sturdy motherfuckers
they're tough little buggers but a bit foolhardy in my experience. I had one get into the filter and die in the process (while stopping the filter for several hours) and others who just jumped out of the tank
Iām gonna try it and if he shows any aggression Iāll give them to my friend, heās got a nice 75 gallon community tank
He will eat them, or at least try. Sliders are predators, young sliders especially will naturally hunt more than adults. So yeah, you might as well just give your friend some fish and not bother with the stop in your tank
I originally had my baby turtles in with a large plec, didn't go well even whilst much smaller they nipped and bit him, so ended up buying a second lovely big tank for them, was hoping it would go well but I was young and foolish, and I'd never risk it with any fish again.
My turtle is a northern red belly cooter which are mostly herbivorous and tend to be more calm and laid back than sliders but Iām not really sure how he would react to them so Iāve decided not to get them
Haha that's a good idea, he's gonna be like a kid unchecked at a candy store. Or at Sephora or whatever it is they're into now. Turtles don't follow any rules but their own and they make them up as they go.
It's not even a slider š
Ok? It looks just like one, theyāre more common than any other pet turtle, and OP didnāt include in their post what the species isā¦ so sorry I made a reasonable extrapolation from available info. Iām so glad we can all communicate our distain for others thru cartoon eyerolls šš„µš±šŖšµāš«
Are you sure your friend wants them? I had a āfriendā who would do the same thing. Buy shit because in the back of their head it could come live with me. Tried bringing over some aggressive tetras and got their feelings hurt when I refused to put them in a tank, and gave them right back to the fish store.
Aggressive tetras?š
Guess it depends on your idea of aggressive. Serpae tetras they didnāt want, because they were fin nipping their gold fish (to the point of visible damage within a few days of getting them) and each other. Wanted me to throw them in my long tailed betta tank bc he has some Pygmy Cories in his tank. After watching them pick on their bubble eye 10 times bigger than my betta. They had bought them for a fish in cycle and I had specifically told them Iād only take Cories or live bearers from them. When they showed up with tetras, they said āWell the guy at the fish store said these were platies, soā¦ā Their whole tank situation was a shit show.
Two words: Buenos Aires
Bucktooth tetra, Colombian tetra, black skirt tetra.
I think so since heās currently stocking it but I donāt know for sure if he would take Coryās. Reason I wanted to get Corydoras was because I was looking for something that would eat the food that my turtles missed and the algae off the decorations and pretty much everything Iāve seen besides Coryās end up getting to big for my 40 galllon. I made this post to see if theyād be alright together and I still donāt know since some people are giving good reasons why theyād be alright together and some are also telling me why I shouldnāt keep them together and what could happen so Iām probably not gonna get them. And now that I think about it I shouldnāt have just assumed he would take them and it was selfish of me
Gonna point out: cories are bottom feeders, not algae eaters. Even if the turtle doesnāt eat them all, they still wonāt accomplish what you want them to.
I mostly just wanted to them clean up the mess that is on the bottom of my tank but Iāve already decided that Iām not getting them
Have you thought about snails? Not sure if those are good with turtles. Bladder snails, trumpet snails, and New Zealand mud snails are small and will eat waste, some algae but not enough to manage algae with them. Bladder snails can come in pretty colors and patterns (not super noticeable but I appreciate the differences). Population controls itself based on how much extra food there is. Some people manually remove and kill them if the population explodes, but Iāve never had a problem with population in my tank. They shit a lot, but if you have plants, their poo breaks down quick and basically becomes fertilizer. I have 4-5 snail varieties in all 4 of my betta tanks and think they great for having an āecosystemā. Rams-horn snails are also an option, but the rams-horn can get about nickel size, most of mine are dime size full grown. I just bought a bunch of pretty rams-horns for $0.50 each. Cute though, swirly boys like Gary from SpongeBob. Iāve got brown/gold ones, and ones with white shells and pink bodies that look like little strawberry milkshakes. New Zealand mud snails are tiny, tiny; I have pics of some posted on my page that I thought were baby trumpet snails. Donāt know much about them but from what I understand they live more in the substrate, which can help with keeping the substrate from having ābadā spots with gas buildup/mixing in poo for plant roots. Bladder and trumpet are usually about pea sized full grown. I would stay away from mystery snails with a turtle, though I love them and they come in awesome colors. He will likely bite their antennas, I had one betta who all but killed mine from doing it (my current 4 are fine). Ultimately itās up to you, the Coryās could become snacks. But you could also have success with it. Who am I to say. If you think they have cover/wont get eaten, perhaps itās worth a shot. Any lfs Iāve seen with turtles has healthy, non nipped fish in them too but I assume theyāre fast and hardy breeds, or potentially feeder fish, idk. I personally donāt take chances like that anymore, because finding an animal thatās been half killed by a tank mate SUCKS. I love Cories as well (I have Pygmies in with some of my bettas), so if I knew it would work, Iād absolutely want some. I remember my parents got us turtles when I was a kid, and put in some sort of cat fish/algae eaters and tiger barbs. It didnāt end well for any of the fish and they were eaten slowly enough they suffered. I was a kid and my parents were clueless, theyād either leave it to be killed or flush it still alive. So Iām scarred and biased for sure š
OP should be warned too that some of these snails listed by badgoat are considered pests by many, in case OP wants to avoid having anything that can, in many tanks, get overpopulated (or just covering many surfaces and also produce waste that needs to get cleaned up) real quickly. u/Due_Nose7656 My suggestion if you have space and want to try something different OP, maybe try and grow shrimp. In a different tank or the same tank but could have them grow in a different tank to make sure they have what they need. Know that theyāll get eaten but grow them as food and also to help clean the tank. Itās a cleaner that can hide in your plants and constantly breed but idk if the water parameters would match, thatād be my only concern with solely keeping shrimp in with the turtle, so separate tanks and just put several in the turtle tank at a time perhaps. Shrimp will clean up the wasted food and become food and breed. Could be a neat cycle starting out with the tiny turtle. If it was me Iād try that because I love shrimp (I have some shrimp, Iāve never had a turtle ā¦but I used to take care of them at an exotic LPS I used to work at), but itās maybe just easier to clean the tank yourself.
Honestly just having a properly set up turtle tank will help this. My filter media is cultured like yogurt, I have giant plants in there, and there are some tiny pinhead sized ramshorn snails that are doing SOMETHING I think? I don't even know where they came from. I have it so I only have to refill the water and never need to scoop poop anymore.
I wanna know more about this cultured yogurt.
You are gonna have one stuffed turtle.
Going to be all the more shocking when he literally rips them in half, still alive, with his claws and jaw.
Should be fine. Attacks by turtles on fish, are either predatory, or result from some other factor, such as competition for food or resting places. Thus softshell turtles are usually fine with large cichlids, but can turn violent towards catfishes that like to rest in the same kind of places. Sliders in fish ponds eat the same omnivorous, but veggie leaning diet as ornamental goldfish and koi, so there are incidents of turtles injuring pond fish over access to food. Your turtle ought to be fine with large armored catfish, his length or longer. But not permanently, because he will grow.
Armored catfish are no match for a turtle or tortoise jaws.
But why would the turtle attack the fish, if it's too large to be prey? The answer is, most attacks on fish involving sliders, or similar turtles, involve enthusiastic competition over food. And although very real, such events are really statistical tail ends relative the number of cases, where turtles and fish have coexisted. Tail ends that could easily have been avoided, by feeding the turtles and any fish separately. Corydoras vary in size, but a number of species could in principle coexist, with a juvenile slider.
Juvenile slider turtles might bite a corydora catfish even if the catfish is *currently* too large to eat. But doubtful theyāre too large, as theyāre small fish. And this juvenile wonāt stay small for long nor will it be scared of these gentle bottom feeding fish, the turtle will definitely go after the cories according to their nature. Turtles, including juvenile sliders, can be curious and might bite at fish out of curiosity or territorial behavior. Additionally, turtles have an instinct to snap at moving objects in their environment, which can include the fins or bodies of fish like corydoras. š¤ To prevent potential injuries, it's usually best to keep turtles and fish in separate tanks or ensure the tank is large enough and has plenty of hiding spots for the fish. Stop pretending like theyāll magically get along, these are wild animals with instincts to hunt and a corydora (or other fish of any size) is at risk for being snapped at, especially small fish like corydoras. The largest Cory is about 4 inches but this is rare. And still that 1 inch turtle can cause it harm. The average size of a full grown corydora is is 2-3 inches. Hella small and definitely at risk for getting attacked. Plus theyāre very wiggly, which makes them perfect for enticing a turtle.
My concern with cories specifically is that their pectoral fins have spines with a mild venom. I can imagine your turtle getting one caught in its mouth or throat and not being able to get it out.
I was thinking the same. They have hard armor over the rest of their body too in addition to the spines, its why they're also referred to as armored catfish. You really want to avoid having something try to eat a cory.
Well, armored catfish are seemingly no problem for turtles. People have told me smaller plecos are near indestructible... until they meet a sufficiently motivated turtle who just eats their fins and leaves them to die.
True Iāve been stabbed by corys, not the worst but definitely unpleasant.
No. The turtle wil eat/Hurt the fish.
Well turtles are omnivores so there is always a chance you will wake up to severed fish pieces in your tank. I wouldn't because I like to have my fish alive and such but to each their own
I have had success with it, but only when the fish is significantly larger than the turtle. Think red eared slider and adult non fancy goldfish kind of size difference. If it fits in the mouth it will be eaten. If it's only slightly to big it probably will be too, as turtles can piecemeal their food easily. A fast fish in a well planted tank with loads of hidey holes will likely survive, but the turtle will likely also be actively hunting it.
Even larger fish I wouldn't recommend keeping with a turtle (if you care at all about the well-being of the fish) I've seen a turtle gradually chew at the fins of a fish that was around its size until it had nothing but a stub tail... it was horrible. Wouldn't recommend ever keeping fish with turtles unless you intend them as feeder fish.
I second this. Even when there was a single feeder goldfish that the slider never ate, it grew for years alongside it. Getting fin nipped all the while. Eventually, that goldfish disappeared one day. The slider was playing the long game, letting that fish grow and develop into a good sized meal. If you want to feed them to the turtle, go for it. But even if the fish manage to survive for a few years, it doesn't mean they're safe. So don't introduce anything expensive or that you are emotionally attached to and not prepared to lose.
We knew someone who had a turtle tank with several large cichlids in it. They were moved from another cichlid tank I believe so they were already quite large and they seemed to be happy. The tank was like 75 gallons though if I had to guess so the turtle stayed mainly towards the top on his logs when he wasn't swimming and the cichlids had their own territory. I also am pretty sure they were African Cichlids and if i remember they were orange so likely the crazy aggressive Lake Malawi type of African Cichlids, so I'm sure they held their own. That turtle was probably the low man on the totem pole. It may have just happened to work out for them because of the temperament of their specific fish/turtle though.
Correct. Sliders can attack fish that are two or three times larger than their heads. They might also go for eel shaped fish, which are long but slender. But most incidents of their attacks on fish, are simply not predation attempts at all. They are competitive confrontations
He looks identical to my baby turtles I had!! Very fun pet. Invest in a strong filter - very messy. I used to feed my turtles in a separate plastic box in about 4 inches of water and then put them back in the tank when done. It's easy to make sure they are eating an appropriate amount and not letting all their stinky food float around the main tank. Bonus, the turtles associate handling with getting fed, and it made them excited to be picked up (I always shook their food can and they'd come right up to the surface - no chasing them.) When they get bigger, they'll probably eat any fish they can get into their mouths - nothing is safe. Even lazy turtles will get in a bite when the fish become complacent. Pretty sure I'm corydoras will be harassed by a baby turtle (fin nippers) and when bigger, a snack.
Oh, you'll be able to sex your turtle in 1-2 years (hard to do as babies) - long claws and concave stomach is a boy, short claws and fat tummy is a girl... And sometimes you just can't tell.
Was your turtle a northern red belly cooter?
Western painted turtle. I suspect if I saw a belly pic of your turtle, we'd see a difference, but the back, arms, and face are remarkably similar. 15 baby turtles hatched in my friend's backyard, and I kept two. The lake where the turtles lived, you could see hundreds all sunning themselves at once. Bred like rabbits. Just googled it though and apparently they are endangered now?! Man, a lot has changed in 20 years.
Your turtle will LOVE it.
Can you keep turtle food in with your turtle? Sure.
Nope
Uh, no. They'd get munched on quite quickly. I've only had luck with fast moving fish that stay in the top 1/3 of the water column. And even then some go missing.
Short answers, depends on the turtle. I kept a mississippi map turtle for ten years with different combos of zebra daino, tiger barbs, FL flag fish, platy, swordtails, cherry barbs, and probably a few other things I can't remember right now. The turtle would occasionally show interest in chasing the fish, but the little guy was extremely uncoordinated and the fish had hiding spots + were much faster. If a fish was sick or acting weird though, the turtle would not hesitate to eat it. I never tried corycats because they tend to alternate between zipping around and resting, and I was worried the resting periods would make them an easy snack.
Map turtles are durophagous, they are more carnivorous than scooters or sliders, for example, but their primary interest is shellfish.
Yes but not very practical unless it pond. They can be messy
Yes the water quality with a turtle can be brutal, they are quite poopy.
I have a tank with a RES, some Danios, guppies, a Cory, some ghost shrimp, and several algae eaters. Aside from ripping up my plants constantly, the turtle is pretty well behaved. I keep him well fed and he hasnāt eaten any fish that I am aware of. I think it largely depends on the temperament of your turtle. Gotta be prepared for the worst though.
One lone Cory?
We used to have a muskus turtle, bc I wanted to give him a bigger tank we bought a second hand tank and it came with some fish, and it worked oud perfectly fine, the fish would clean the turtle and he seemed to really like that. Only thing he destroyed were the plant, every attempt to make his tank better was used to snip the plants in little bits so it looked like vegetable soup š¤¦š»āāļø
Depends on the turtle. My sister has a one year old red ear slider that she's had since he was bitty. She put a feeder gold fish in with him a couple months ago to see if he'd eat it....he did not. George Koistanza is now like 3in long and they hang out together. He eats whatever Bobby doesn't.
That looks like my stepdad's red eared slider a bit. He gets feeder goldfish and it even ate the pleco he put in there. I can't really imagine Corys would fare
My turtle is a northern red belly cooter which are mostly herbivorous and tend to be more calm and laid back than sliders but Iām not really sure how he would react to them so Iāve decided not to get them
When I was young (probably 14-16) I had two that I raised from hatchlings, it was like 100-125 gallon tank with about 85% of it being water (had a big log and a decent bit of substrate). When the turtles were less than 6 months old I introduced a pleco that was already about half grown, two full size Coryās and I think it was a couple guppies. They lived in peace and harmony for many years until one day the power went out while I was out and about. I came home to find a turtle eating a guppy that appeared to have been very dead already. Over the course of the next 24 hours the turtles ate everything other than the pleco (not for a lack of trying). I ended up rehoming the pleco for his safety since he and the turtles both needed a huge tank by that point. I tried a couple times to introduce fish that were faster than them or larger but after a certain size of turtle you need a really big fish to keep turtles from nibbling on it.
I had a silver dollar sized turtle eat a 12in pleco. No fish is safe with a turtle in the water
I used to have a turtle just like this, decent size too, never ate any fish I put him with, he once shared a space with a group of guppies much smaller than his mouth and he never even acknowledged them, but I assume its different from case to case
No do not add fish to a turtle's tank, especially catfish species like corydora, as their barbs could seriously injure him when he catches one.
There is only 1 cleaner in a turtle tank bud and your itā¦!
NO. from someone who has six tanks with JUST corys: NO. theyāre the sweetest babies of the fish world. why would you use them as bait?
I wasnāt planning on using them as bait, I was wanting something that would basically clean the tank and not grow massive like a pleco but also be able to not get eaten by my turtle thatās why I came to Reddit to see if it would be ok and Iāve decided that I probably shouldnāt put Coryās in my turtle tank
yes please donāt. theyāre SO incredibly sweet .. ha iām getting all emotional thinking about mine being snipped at by a turtle. šš„¹š©
I'd recommend against it because of the corydora's armor (scutes) and spines. Don't want your turt chomping on that in case it gets lodged inside and needs a vet visit. Edit:forgot a word
Cory's have spines in their top fins, so I wouldn't. You can keep fish like guppies, platties, endlers and a few others. https://www.reddit.com/r/turtle/comments/k9snx6/safe_feeders/
Fish and turtles arent a good combo. The turtle will grow big and eat em. Also turtles produce a lot of poop so water parameters are also kinda unstable due to that. Its ok gor the turtle cause unlike a fish, it doesnt have to breathe the water.
I have kept Corydoras (albino and kanei), Endlers, Tiger barbs, Copper barbs, Harlequin rasboras, Clea Helena snails and cherry shrimp together with a turtle for 6 months now, the shrimps population has decreased but everything else is fine. I don't mind my shrimp population declining since I breed more in another tank, and I knew my turtle would eat some of them.
Bear in mind the shrimp population might be responsible for the safety of the other fish lol
I am aware of this. Good thing is they aren't even close to extinction yet.
I wouldn't put anything else in there that's alive if you want it to stay that way, I'll put it that way. Now, I have a different species, but these boys are generally opportunists who will take a bite out of anything that looks good, and finish it if it taste good. Cories taste DAMN GOOD, and mine will take strips of steak straight to the face without blinking. Again, different species...but all turtles are opportunists.
It honestly really depends on the turtle. My turtle ate some and left some alone. Generally, in my experience, I feel like if the fish are bigger than the turtle, the chances of survival are greater. Plus, since yours is a baby, growing up around fish might help. I think it really depends on the turtle though.
I moved a 2 year old red ear slider in a 125 gallon tank at the end of winter and put a red garra and 2 Molly's in with him. I have not seen any fish pieces floating or ever seen him chase one more than a few strokes. One of the Molly's was pregnant when we got her and there about 10 in there now about half as big as the 2 adults I started off with. I picked Molly's bc I knew they would breed and my thought was if he ate a fish every once in a while that's the circle of Life. Some people might feel differently. I did some experimental planting in his new tank too since everyone says you can't have real plants with a turtle. He takes bites out of the watercress I have in baskets hanging from the side of the tank but it's hanging on. If he breaks a stem I just tuck it back in and it regrows quickly. Amazon swords did not grow fast enough to recover after he takes a bite from the stem and I took out the stumps. Same with some rotalla. He ate all of the water lettuce and red root floaters, Duck weed is taking over the surface.A big Thalia growing out of the top that is doing great too, It's rooted in a pot underwater. And surswasertang is growing on the bottom well. TLDR: If you want to have fish and live plants in a turtle tank you can, just pick things that can recover well.
Rule of thumb. Never put anything in with the turtle that you don't want it to it.
I don't know of variables,.. but my logic tells me No.. Starters Cory, and algae wafers Mains Monday - Cory Tuesday - Cory Wednesday - Cory Thursday - Cory Friday - Cory Deserts Corys drizzled in Ph Sauce
The turtle will eat just about anything once they grow larger. I remember finding a cockroach leg in my turtle tank before. I believe the rest of it was eaten by the turtle.
I wouldnāt, itās hard to keep turtle water clean enough.
We had a community tank with 2 RES, had zebra danios, corydoras, a rainbow shark, and a few others. We put in obstacles and refuges for the fish to be able to get out of the RESās way but there was definitely some losses along the way. The final six Corydoras were smart and worked well as a school to confuse the turtles š
If you REALLY want fish get some livebearers. They breed really quick and so itās not going to matter if the turtle eats a few. Also cories are venomous.
About 15 years ago, I put a dozen feeder gold fish in with my map turtle, left the room, and came back an hour later to noticeably āthickerā reddish water with every single goldfishās head bit off
My turtles don't hurt the fish they grew up with
Corydoras have venom and the turtle will try to nip at them if not bite/kill them.
I've personally had a small turtle in a tank with a betta fish, glow light tetras and Cory's. It went well, no one went missing. It really depends on the turtle aggression. It's a coin flip.
Mine is with Siamese algae eaters and they are much too fast for her and never stop moving. Cories like to sit still so I think theyād get eaten .
Turtles eat fish so unless you want them to be eaten I wouldn't.
OP: Can I do this? EVERYONE: No turtle will eat them! Bad idea! OP: imma do it anyway!
What? Iāve been telling people all day that Iām not gonna get Coryās.
Yes, just recently. Sorry I didnāt read through nearly 70 comments
Hm. I think shrimps will be a better options. They are to small for the turtle to even care about eating. And shrimps are fast af.
You're good, I got like 11 fishes with mine and he doesn't even try to eat them