Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey Guys,

I know this probably wouldn't work out, but I currently have two Red Eared Slider turtles, one juvenile about 6 inch length carapace, other hatchling. I don't own Piranhas yet, but I really want to get about 5 small ones.

Do you think if I buy one big tank and split it, the turtles and piranhas will live together fine? I know they'll never live together in harmony, cause either the turtles will try to eat the Piranhas or the Piranhas will gang up on the hatchling (the bigger one can defend himself against smaller piranhas I'm sure).

But otherwise, if I divided a long tank in half could they live in the same type of water? Turtles are hardy and adaptable, can adjust to any type of water even regular tap water. They share the same diets too so it wouldn't be too difficult for me to handle. I wonder though how the ammonia/nitrate balance fares with turtles and fish.

Anyone seen/try this before? Let me know. Thanks!

I would just get two separate tanks, your turtles need all the space you can give them.
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I would also suggest just getting 2 different tanks because the turtles water can get very messy and i'm not sure if the pirrhanas can live like that. But the good thing is that if you get pirrhanas, you can feed the turtles the same food as the pirrhanas (small feeder fish)!
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~ Evie

Pets:
German Shephard {Dusty}
German Shephard/Collie mix {Shadoe}
2 RES turtles {Booger and Snot}
African Clawed Frog {Bingo}
Snail {Gary}

Both redbellied and gold dust pirahna get 12 inches long. Pirahnas are happiest kept in groups of three. This means that as adults your tetras will need about 75 gallons of water to themselves. Your turtles will need about that or more. That's a BIG split tank.
And, at least as babies, they grow amazingly fast.
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Eryx - All the fun of a boa in a convenient pocket size!

I imagine that your larger turtle will break through the divider easily and kill more piranha than he eats, unless you silicon-weld a glass-plate divider, which would just about equal 2 separate tanks, anyway. The water-toxins are higher in the turtle tank, but a large tank almost implies a serious filter which virtually elimantes that concern, however, partitioned tanks have decreased circulation and filtration. Feeding isn't the problem, I think cleaning a split tank would be seriously more time-consuming and than 2 separate tanks, no to mention needlessly complicated. I think you'll get more enjoyment out of 2 tanks.