Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have had several aquatic turts for several years and never had any luck keeping feeder fish alive in their own tank. I am now in a tight situation. I reccently moved and now I must drive almost 1hr and 30 minutes to the nearest pet store. I would like to get about 50 to 100 rosie reds and goldfish for my turts and keep them in their own aquarium until I am ready to feed them. I have never had any luck with keeping them alive. Should the water level be high? Medium? Low? Fast moving?(if so best way?). Some overall general info would be appreciated!

I suggest you feed your turts frozen/thawed fish. Not only is it easier but will be safer since alot of LIVE feeder fish have parasites and worms.

To keep 50-100 fish you need a large tank.

The tank must have a filtering material for beneficial bacteria to grow. The beneficial bacteria coverts ammonia(toxic),into nitrites(toxic),then into nitrates(safe). Without beneficial bacteria your fishes will die rapidly.

Heres a link on how to CYCLE a fishtank.
http://www.tomgriffin.com/aquamag/cycle2.html

You will also need a ammonia,nitrite, and nitrate test kit.

I use to keep a 55 gallon freshwater aquarium. If you don't mind spending a bit extra for some stuff..you'll have better luck keeping those feeder fish alive. With my 55 gallon aquarium I used a H.O.T Magnum canister Filter that worked very well...the charcoal medium in the canister could be reused after rinsing...max limit on that is twice (to my experience anyway)..the filter sleeves same thing. You get a pretty good flow of water...and canister filters are the best for the growth of Beneficial bacteria...Plus, to establish the bacteria in your system during cycling, there's a marketted additive to the water that contains 7 different strains of the bacteria...I can't remember the name...but its in the aquarium section of most pet stores..

But, even with all that, you may lose alot of feeders anyway. They're mass produced...fed a diet that will get them to, then keep them at a certain size...sometimes not fed at all afterwards, then the added stress of transportation...the change in waters...already sick or debilitated fish..and the chance of Ich is very high..though I've found if you get Aquarium Salt..and Ick Guard II and add a bit of each to the water each time you bring in new fish...you lessen the chance of your fish getting ich.

is the only benefical bacteria in a bottle that actually WORKS.
It is expensive, but does rapidly mature your tank.

I bought mine here http://fishstoretn.com/bio_spira.html

Where do you buy frozen feeder fish? np
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~~Tania~~
(and Jake, Peter, and Mary) the lizard family.

You buy the fishes live then freeze them.

The best way to keep feeder fish alive, is to give them as much room as you can spare, have good filtration and do frequent water changes. Goldfish put out ALOT of ammonia, more than most fish so they pollute themselves fairly rapidly, causing them to die off faster than others.

Like it was stated in another post, feeders are not very hardy to begin with, they are not meant to be pets. You really shouldn't experience many problems with live feeder fish giving your turtles parasites. The biggest parasite that comes in with feeders is ICK and it doesn't affect turtles. Out of all the turtles I have, I have NEVER experienced a problem of my turtles catching anything from live feeder fish.