I'm looking for a very small turtle for fish tank. Is there any that will stay little and not eat the fish?

Question

It could be a turtle that is for water only, or one that would be in the water and on land. The fish aquarium is small, and I don't want one that will grow much. I'm not sure there is such a turtle. No one around here seems to know anyway.

Answer 1

Texas map turtles are fairly small. Males are 2 3/4 to 3 1/2 incheshttp://www.austinsturtlepage.com/Care/caresheet-texas_map.htm

Musk turtles grow to about 5 or 6 inches

All turtles will dine on anything that you put in the tank however, and will need a place to bask with apropriate lighting.

Answer 2

An aquarium set up for fish is not very good for a turtle. Turtles need a place to get totally out of the water so they can bask. They also need a basking light and a special uvb light made for reptiles Otherwise they can't process certain vitamins and they'll die.. Most turtles will get too big for a small fish tank. They also need a very strong filter. because they are messy. And yes most if not all of them will eat your fish when they get bigger.

Answer 3

The smallest aquatic turtles are these:
Mississippi or False male map turtle (full grown ~4")
Southern Painted (full grown ~4")
Spotted turtle (full grown ~4")

The map turtle and southern painted turtles are cheap and readily available for $10-15. The need a basking area, where they can haul out and completely dry. They also need a basking light (heating emitting incadecent (rgeulra bulb) of 75W-100W). You cannnot use a traditional fish hood/cover, since the heat bulb cannot emit heat through the tiny openings for flourescent tubes.

The thing is that you cannot sex a male map turtle when it is yong and female map turtles get up to 7-8". But both male and female southern painted turtles (thick red stripe down the back of the shell), stay between 4-5" when full grown. It takes them 4-7 years depending on captive conditions to reach that size.

Both map and southern painted are excellent swimmer and can handle deep water, over 12". The spotted turtle prefer shallower water, since they live in bogs and swamps in nature. They are not as adept as the previous two and requre shallower water, but more importantly, lots of logs and submerged and semi-submerged furniture to climb and hide. Plus spotted turtles are a threatened species and cost more. In certain you cannot even buy them, but you can own them though.

Anyway, your best bet is a southern painted (Chrysemys picta dorsalis). Do not get any of the other painted turtles, (Eastern, Midland or Western), which get to about 6-10" when full grown.

BTW, any of these "small" turtle species I mentioned will require at least a minimm of 40 Gallon tank. A 10G tank will be OK for one year; a 20G tank for another, but by the thri year, you will need a 40G tank. Why? It needs that space to swim and live. If there's not enough water, the water dirties quickly, even with the best filter and the turtle will get bored and attack fish. BTW, all three will eat fish when the opportunity arises, but generally, they are not proficient hunters like redeared sliders, snappers, and etc.

If you have a 10-20G tank with a small internal or power filter, I would not suggest you get a turtle and fish with it. It will last for a year or two and you will see the problems I mentioned... frequent dirty water, fish disappearing, furniture rearranged.

Here are some articles to read up on:

Basic Turtle Care:
http://www.austinsturtlepage.com/Care/care.htm

Choosing your first turtle:
http://www.austinsturtlepage.com/Articles/firstturtle.htm

Southern Painted Caresheet:
http://www.austinsturtlepage.com/Care/cs-spaint.htm

Enjoy.

Answer 4

do not put a turtle in with fish. the turtle could eat the fish, they could be very territorial, there will be a lot of stress in the tank and they will all die, and turtles can spread disease to the fish, and the water conditions are different for turtles and fish, so either the fish or the turtles will die. just get a seperate tank

Answer 5

, so i think if you do not intend to keep her you should let her go, without the proper set up she could die, she will need warm water and a basking spot at the minimum to help her digest her food, with out a water heater or basking lamp the chances are she will not eat and will get too cold, you could just get some turtle pellets to feed her and she will eat greens as juveniles they are mainly omnivores, change the water daily but as you said you do not intend to keep her so the kindest thing would be to put her back in a safe place and let her live, sorry honey there is no easy option with out the correct tank filters and heating the chances of her surviving are small so to save this heart ache let her go and live a free life, best of luck anyway.

Answer 6

There is no turtle that will suit your needs for that. Pond turtles and freshwater aquatics all eat fish whenever possible.

AND they need at least 10 gallons per inch of turtle for good health.

AND they tend to generate a lot of wastes in the water which makes cleaning a bigger chore and requires a much bigger filter.

This is just not a good deal for you or the turtle.

Answer 7

if you get a turtle started on turtle food they will mostlikely eat the turtle food instead of fish. if you got one you'd have to have a little bridge for the turtle to sunbathe on and you'll need a light for them too. i wouldnt suggest getting a turtle and putting it in a fish tank cuz the light for the turtle may burn up the fish or the turtle may like fish more than turtle food

Answer 8

Any small aquatic turtle will eat your fish and out grow your tank quite quickly. Please do not put turtles in a fish tank, set up a proper vivarium with the correct lighting (UV) , filtartion and heating first.

Answer 9

Mud turtles or musk turtles are mostly aquatic, and small.
Unfortunately, just about any turtle that is suitable for being a pet would bother your fish, and eventually, eat some.

Answer 10

Turtles will grow up big enough to eat your fish - that's what turtles do.