Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello, I know that I'm probably going to get discouraged from doing this, but I am trying to combine a turtle tank with a fish tank. I have a musk turtle (aquatic turtle) in a 20 gallon that is 30 inches long and about 6 inches high with water. I have a pretty good filter (Zoo Med 501) which does a good job of keeping the water clean. I also do regular water changes (50 percent) about once a week. Right now I also have about 10 guppies in there and the fish seem to be doing fine, except after like three days many of them will start to migrate up to the surface and then stay there motionless. When I see that, the only thing I know to do is quickly change the water, because I am guessing they are running out of oxygen. I really don't know anything about fish, except that I know that they need clean fresh water, and a good supply of oxygen in the water to breathe, so that's why I change the water.
I was advised from a guy at Petland to try using an "air pump" for the fish. He said that that might be a quick easy fix to help aerate the tank or circulate oxygen for the fish. I was just wondering if anyone here has had success with combining water turtles and fish, and if so are ya'll using air pumps or anything to help supply the fish with oxygen?
According to the guy at the pet store, the general rule of thumb is 1 fish per every inch or 1 gallon of tank. I have a 20 gallon filled about halfway with water, so that's about 10 gallons with about 10 fish. Right now I am thinking about using a elite 801 air pump and using an air stone to disperse the air. Any thoughts on this, will it be effective or not?
Thanks for your help and ideas!
Mark
1 Razorback musk

Hi.

I have fish with all 4 of my turtle tanks including my musk which only has 6 inch high water. I have guppies in with my musk and I only use a filter, no air pump. I just assumed that the filter was doing a good enough job replenishing the oxygen in the water. One difference could be the amount of algae in the tanks. Do you have any? I allowed some to grow before placing the guppies in there which could be helping with the oxygen level.

I think fish with the turtles is a really good thing. The tutles will try and catch any new fish you add to their tank, but after a few weeks, the fish will just become part of the tank and the turtles will leave them alone. Plus I think it adds some action to the tank. Just make sure to keep the tanks clean because the fish waste can really add up and can hurt your turtle.

-Mike
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Mike
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2 Painted
1 Musk
1 Common Snapper
1 Cooter
1 Map
1 RES
1 Corn Snake
1.1 Water Dragons
2 African Frogs
1 Toad
1.0 Degu
1.2 Chihuahuas
0.1 Cat

Cool, thanks for your response.
Yeah I've got quite a bit of algae in there right now, and that's one of the reasons why I got the fish. I actually went to buy a few chinese algae eaters, and ended up getting them along with about 10 guppies and 4 glowlite tetras. I really love the tetras and I'm thinking about getting a few more of them. Especially since the turtle doesn't even bother the fish.
I might try to air pump too though, I've heard from a few people who are using them with their tanks who also have turtles.
Thanks
~Mark

1 Razorback musk