# Cichlids and turtles living together...



## fisher king (Mar 30, 2006)

I have turned my 100 gallon(60x16x25) tank into a red-ear slider tank with 1 male slider in it.

I have seen a number of turtle tanks that have African Cichlids in them and the cichlids have been living comfortably in them for some time, even raising broods.

I know with a turtle in the tank there are no certainties, but if you had to put a species of cichlids in the tank, which ones would do okay...Considering there is sufficient rock work?


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## fmueller (Jan 11, 2004)

Any one that you don't mind being eaten or having a piece taken out of by the turtle. Also, turtles pollute the water heavily, so you want a fish that can put up with poor water conditions on occasion. I am assuming that the tank has a nice land part and is not completely filled with water - that's very important for the turtle, but not so good for the fish, for which of course more water is always better.

I've had turtles when I was a kid, and I often had guppies in with them. When the guppies disappeared, I would ad new ones :wink:

If I was set on keeping cichlids with a turtle, I'd use what I could replace easily - convicts or the notorious 'Mixed African Cichlids' you see at any LFS come to mind :?

Frank


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## iceblue (Apr 27, 2004)

fmueller said:


> If I was set on keeping cichlids with a turtle, I'd use what I could replace easily - the notorious 'Mixed African Cichlids' you see at any LFS come to mind :?
> 
> Frank


 :lol: I like the way you think.


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## fisher king (Mar 30, 2006)

Thanks for the advice...Since I posted my comment I have already decided against putting cichlids in the tank.

Last October I removed the outdoor pond that my slider was living in and had been keeping him in a 38 gallon. From here on out the 100 gallon is strictly going to be a turtle tank with no fish. The issue has to be with water quality with I didn't consider when I first thought about add


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## fisher king (Mar 30, 2006)

Let me try again with that last sentence -

The issue has to do with water quality which I didn't consider when I first thought about adding cichlids.


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## jewels2jags (May 6, 2008)

My husband and many of his friends keep turtles. I think convicts would be a good idea. We keep them in our indoor pond with the turtles. A friend keeps his red ear with a pair of convicts and they will nip at the turtle if they're spawning, then a few remaining fry that grow out a little are turtle snacks. We had a mixed african that prevailed with the turtles a little over a year until we moved him to another tank. I think if you want to keep cichlids with the turtle to keep the tank well stocked with rosies or minnows because they're easier prey than a cichlid for turtles lunch. We have a juvenile alligator snapper in with the convicts and hes yet to catch one, because his belly is always full of other fish. Anyway keeping the two together can be done, also having extra filtration in the tank really helps.


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