# Piranha and turtle.



## conradd (Jun 21, 2010)

Do you think I could keep a few juvenile piranhas with my 5 1/2 inch red bellied turtle or would they try and kill him? If so hows 2 Oscars or 2 Pacu sound? t.y;-)


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## Mikaila31 (Nov 29, 2009)

Well no... Mainly because that turtle is in a very small tank. Don't even think of adding a tank buster fish like a piranha. I would not worry about their compatability, you just don't have a proper setup for that turtle. I believe it is 10 gal per inch, so a 55gal is minimum for your turtle currently. Most suggest 75gal minimum for piranha and is also a ideal size for your turtle. It also needs some place to get out of the water, as well as a basking area with UVA and UVB bulbs to stay healthy....


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## Blue Cray (Oct 19, 2007)

What size of tank are you planning on getting for these P's O's Pacu's and Turtle?


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## Revolution1221 (Apr 20, 2010)

i would say no to this its just to much risk for the turtle they could easily nip his feet up piranha's respond to surface movement which the turtles do a lot of. also deffinetly hell no to a pacu do u know how big they get? they can get up to 30 lbs in captivity were talking like a 500 gallon tank to house an adult. oscars also get massive they need atleast 100 gallons per oscar as adults... dont even get one if you just want it to feed it live foods or you'll head up with hole in the head. now silver dollars in an adequate sized tank would be the most appropriate.


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## konstargirl (Dec 2, 2009)

I would say no. They would eat the turtle... ><


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## Tallonebball (Apr 6, 2009)

Your turtle is already too big for its tank as it is. Maybe you should invest your money in a bigger tank instead of in fish that are also too big for a 10g.
What is this fascination with piranhas that everyone has?? They aren't as cool and mean as everyone thinks they are.


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## Revolution1221 (Apr 20, 2010)

Tallonebball said:


> Your turtle is already too big for its tank as it is. Maybe you should invest your money in a bigger tank instead of in fish that are also too big for a 10g.
> What is this fascination with piranhas that everyone has?? They aren't as cool and mean as everyone thinks they are.


thats what i say i really dont like piranhas at all the black piranhas look kinda neat but ehhh still there are more fish that are actually plenty more aggressive they just get there reputation for being monsters because they have teeth. if chiclids had teeth they would be tearing **** up to lol. IMO puffers are way more aggressive. at work the piranhas run from my hand while the puffers come after it when im cleaning.


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## petlovingfreak (May 8, 2009)

Cichlids do have teeth. And a those fish, let alone a turtle, in a 10 gallon tank is just simply rediculous!


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## Revolution1221 (Apr 20, 2010)

petlovingfreak said:


> Cichlids do have teeth. And a those fish, let alone a turtle, in a 10 gallon tank is just simply rediculous!


i know that what i meant was teeth like a piranha lol i love sticking my finger in the adult african cichlid tank at work just before feeding them lol they go nuts and it feels weird.


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## conradd (Jun 21, 2010)

Mikaila31 said:


> Well no... Mainly because that turtle is in a very small tank. Don't even think of adding a tank buster fish like a piranha. I would not worry about their compatability, you just don't have a proper setup for that turtle. I believe it is 10 gal per inch, so a 55gal is minimum for your turtle currently. Most suggest 75gal minimum for piranha and is also a ideal size for your turtle. It also needs some place to get out of the water, as well as a basking area with UVA and UVB bulbs to stay healthy....


The tank my turtle is currently placed in is only temporary, I'm waiting to go and pick up a 90 gallon and 125.


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## conradd (Jun 21, 2010)

I was only worry about compatibility, the tank size will not be an issue in a few days. Don't want my turtle to be missing some legs when I wake up.


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## Tallonebball (Apr 6, 2009)

I personally say stay away from piranha and Pacu.
Also Im assuming you still won't actually have the tank completely full. Probably like 75% or less. Thats still 60 to 75 gallons of water in a 90 or 75 to 100 gallons of water in a 125.
the turtle is going to already be a big bioload for that amount of water. One oscar MIGHT work with that.
As far as is goes for an oscar, the turtle might take chunks out of it. Just be aware of that and make sure if you do that you always keep your turtle well fed and I would stay away from live food for both of them.


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## Revolution1221 (Apr 20, 2010)

conradd said:


> I was only worry about compatibility, the tank size will not be an issue in a few days. Don't want my turtle to be missing some legs when I wake up.


not to be an ass but u may have only been asking about compatability but we are all concerned fish owners only looking for whats best for the animals. and even still with an upgrade space is an issue like i said oscars need atleast 100 gallons to themselves as an adult because of size and bioload and pacus need like atleast 500. the turtle should have that size tank to themselves really the only fish ive ever seen housed with turtles that actually made me feel it was ok was koi but they were in indoor ponds that were around 3000 gallons.


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## Guest (Jun 27, 2010)

house anything with piranhas and its a END STORY.

some petstore do sell pacu as piranhas, cuz some petstore ppl r STUPID.

2 Oscars or 2 Pacu

Turtle will tear up oscars and pacu. Turtle eat FISH ... 

a 90 gallon is fine for 2 Oscars or 2 Pacu. 

125 gallon is fine for ur turtle ... 

as for piranhas, if u cant keep up with them dont waste ur money on it.
piranhas r very shy fish, and it take forever to get them to get use to ppl walking by the tank without scaring them. one lilo movement and piranhas will jump, get scare.


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## Revolution1221 (Apr 20, 2010)

ForMany said:


> house anything with piranhas and its a END STORY.
> 
> some petstore do sell pacu as piranhas, cuz some petstore ppl r STUPID.
> 
> ...


you are sadly mistaken if you think 90 gallons is even large enough for one pacu dude not even adult oscars can be housed in a 90 gallon as i have stated before. here is a picture of a pacu and they can get larger than this in captivity. how these fish ever got into the pet industry is BEYOND me there are very very few people that can actually house one of these fish as an adult! and not to mention the fact that they are easily startled and very very capable of breaking a tank and ive heard plenty of peoples story's of their pacus breaking there tanks.


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## Corwin (May 23, 2010)

man those are big.. and they arent even that nice looking. Ive never really understood the pull for things like Pirhannas, but then again I like peacefull community fish.


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## Guest (Jun 28, 2010)

no way a fish will grow to it full size in captivity unless it is house in the zoo with them big 3000 gallon or big outside pond. 

the pic u post up r just lake/river fish. 

show me a captivity pic of a fish growing that big and maybe ill rethink what i say. 
fish breaking their tank just mean, the tank probly wasnt thick enough.


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## petlovingfreak (May 8, 2009)

I agree, red bellied pacus DO NOT belong in captivity unless you have a VERY large tank with bulletproof glass, I had one that was huge in my 180 gallon when it was freshwater and ended up getting rid of it due to the fear of him shattering the glass. I kept a couple juvi oscars in a 125 with my snapping turtle and one got eaten, the other lasted a while just fine, more than likely if you put fish in with your turtle, expect it to end up food sooner or later.


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## conradd (Jun 21, 2010)

Believe it or not my turtle rarely ever would go after other fish. I've had him for about a year now and he has been living with fish ever since he was born. To all that have answered thank you. A pacu is a bad idea. Pirannahs would prolly tear poor tim to shreds. A friend gave me a Jack Dempsey and that is Tim's new fish companion. Thanks for everyones' input this forum is very useful.


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## Revolution1221 (Apr 20, 2010)

ForMany said:


> no way a fish will grow to it full size in captivity unless it is house in the zoo with them big 3000 gallon or big outside pond.
> 
> the pic u post up r just lake/river fish.
> 
> ...


no offense but you dont know anything and always give terrible advice they have been documented bigger than that in captivity they can reach 30-40 lbs in captivity and 50-60 in the wild and that fish in the picture is probably around 30 lbs. i have personally seen some close to that size at a pet store i know someone right now that has one in a 500 gallon tank and is moving it into a 1000 gallon possibly. and the glass that they can shatter is plenty thick so i dont know what your talking about saying the glass wasn't thick enough because glass thickness is pretty standered in all brands of tanks and doesn't vary much if any brand to brand.


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## Peeps (May 24, 2010)

They are just not compatable in so many ways, even their environment is different let alone tank size. I would never ever do it, not even overnight.


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## Peeps (May 24, 2010)

Okay!!! Can't we all just get along. lol :chair:


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## Superfly724 (Sep 16, 2007)

Maybe I'm out of line for speaking for the group, but the folks here are all about creating the best possible conditions for the fish we all love so much to watch. Ignorantly going against tank size guidelines is just unintelligent. Not to mention cruel. 

Sure, there are plenty of people on Youtube with full grown Oscar's in 55 gallon tanks. Does it make it right? No. A full grown Oscar can barely turn around in such a narrow tank. There are also people keeping Clown Knife Fish in 10 gallon aquariums and goldfish in bowls. It doesn't make it any less wrong just because everyone's doing it. In fact, if you kept your dog in conditions like that, you'd probably be arrested for animal cruelty.

No, we're not all rich folks. We just want what's best for our fish and are willing to spend the money on it. I'm a teenage kid without a job and I still manage to at least attempt to house my fish in the best possible conditions. I just find work where I can by mowing lawns or other things like that. Taking care of a live animals is a responsibility.


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## Ghost Knife (Mar 12, 2008)

Superfly724 said:


> Maybe I'm out of line for speaking for the group, but the folks here are all about creating the best possible conditions for the fish we all love so much to watch. Ignorantly going against tank size guidelines is just unintelligent. Not to mention cruel.
> 
> Sure, there are plenty of people on Youtube with full grown Oscar's in 55 gallon tanks. Does it make it right? No. A full grown Oscar can barely turn around in such a narrow tank. There are also people keeping Clown Knife Fish in 10 gallon aquariums and goldfish in bowls. It doesn't make it any less wrong just because everyone's doing it. In fact, if you kept your dog in conditions like that, you'd probably be arrested for animal cruelty.
> 
> No, we're not all rich folks. We just want what's best for our fish and are willing to spend the money on it. I'm a teenage kid without a job and I still manage to at least attempt to house my fish in the best possible conditions. I just find work where I can by mowing lawns or other things like that. Taking care of a live animals is a responsibility.


Well said. +1


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## Chaos553 (Apr 2, 2007)

I'm pretty sure he was asking for compatibility, not if ForMany knows what he's talking about. It's kind of messed up to just completely flame on someone like that, even if his information was false. Tsk tsk tsk.

However, I do agree with everyone's input regarding staying away from the Pacus/Piranhas. If you really trust your turtle to coexist with an Oscar, give it a shot, it's not guaranteed that it won't work, you're just taking a risk. I do find it interesting that he hasn't touched other fish since he was small, that's pretty cool.

Keep us updated, I'm kind of interested on what happens.


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## Revolution1221 (Apr 20, 2010)

Superfly724 said:


> Maybe I'm out of line for speaking for the group, but the folks here are all about creating the best possible conditions for the fish we all love so much to watch. Ignorantly going against tank size guidelines is just unintelligent. Not to mention cruel.
> 
> Sure, there are plenty of people on Youtube with full grown Oscar's in 55 gallon tanks. Does it make it right? No. A full grown Oscar can barely turn around in such a narrow tank. There are also people keeping Clown Knife Fish in 10 gallon aquariums and goldfish in bowls. It doesn't make it any less wrong just because everyone's doing it. In fact, if you kept your dog in conditions like that, you'd probably be arrested for animal cruelty.
> 
> No, we're not all rich folks. We just want what's best for our fish and are willing to spend the money on it. I'm a teenage kid without a job and I still manage to at least attempt to house my fish in the best possible conditions. I just find work where I can by mowing lawns or other things like that. Taking care of a live animals is a responsibility.


im gonna have to give a 1 up to that also well put. like he assumed i am not rich lol obviously because i work at a pet store so i dont make very much im a college kid living in an apartment about 700 sq feet and like you devote all of my extra money in providing the best possible home and care for my animals that i can. i have even gone so far as to buy things at the pet store to improve an animals living because the owner didnt want to "waste" his money on it. we had fire bellied toads living in reptile bark with a water dish. i cleaned it out completley bought new gravel some slate rock air pump and some hose and gave them half water half land. well needless to say the boss was so pleased with the way it looked that he gave me all my money back lol. but other times he hasnt.


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## Revolution1221 (Apr 20, 2010)

Chaos553 said:


> I'm pretty sure he was asking for compatibility, not if ForMany knows what he's talking about. It's kind of messed up to just completely flame on someone like that, even if his information was false. Tsk tsk tsk.
> 
> However, I do agree with everyone's input regarding staying away from the Pacus/Piranhas. If you really trust your turtle to coexist with an Oscar, give it a shot, it's not guaranteed that it won't work, you're just taking a risk. I do find it interesting that he hasn't touched other fish since he was small, that's pretty cool.
> 
> Keep us updated, I'm kind of interested on what happens.


some of the posts by him got deleted by the admins so the fuull conversation is not there he went off flippen out swearing and cussing calling me names and saying he was going to keep an adult large mouth bass in 55 gallons just to spite me and that it was ok to keep an oscar in 55 gallons when like the other guy said thats not even wide enough for them to turn around. and yes it was about compatablity but when another member here is giving out false information not only about compatability but also on tank requirments it is up to us to ensure that the information is corrected and that someone doesnlt make a mistake they will regret. and i dont want you to think i am comming after you because by no means is that what i am doing. i just wanted you to know some of what was said is missing so u may be seeing it different from what actually happened. and i never did say that a turlte couldnt be housed with the fish i mean i would never recommened it but that doesnt mean that its not possible alls it means is that it is risky. the pacus would certainly be the best choice as they are the most peacefull but they just get wayy to big to possibly house them in a home aquarium. the oscars obviously being the second choice with that i would be a little bit worried about them tryingg to bite the turtles toes. and again tank size is another issue with the size tank he is talking about getting is what would be good for the turtle alone. in order to house 1 oscar with 1 turtle as adults i would atleast recomened 200 gallons and i think that would be bear minimum for them. now as for the piranhas i could never in good concious tell anyone to house a turtle with them even if the turtle has lived with fish its entire life. its just in the nature of the piranha to bit and tear apart the turtles feet and head. i think what should be done is instead of investing in other fish to live with him the proper care of the turtle should be number 1 priority. things like proper foods calcium and vitamin and mercury vapor bulb. which conrad i was going to ask you if you had one of those? and sorry chaos for ranting so much thats just how deep my pasion for animals is. no matter what it is ant, earthworm, fish, or elephant i still like to see everything being taken care of properly.


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## Chaos553 (Apr 2, 2007)

Revolution1221 said:


> some of the posts by him got deleted by the admins so the fuull conversation is not there he went off flippen out swearing and cussing calling me names and saying he was going to keep an adult large mouth bass in 55 gallons just to spite me and that it was ok to keep an oscar in 55 gallons when like the other guy said thats not even wide enough for them to turn around. and yes it was about compatablity but when another member here is giving out false information not only about compatability but also on tank requirments it is up to us to ensure that the information is corrected and that someone doesnlt make a mistake they will regret. and i dont want you to think i am comming after you because by no means is that what i am doing. i just wanted you to know some of what was said is missing so u may be seeing it different from what actually happened. and i never did say that a turlte couldnt be housed with the fish i mean i would never recommened it but that doesnt mean that its not possible alls it means is that it is risky. the pacus would certainly be the best choice as they are the most peacefull but they just get wayy to big to possibly house them in a home aquarium. the oscars obviously being the second choice with that i would be a little bit worried about them tryingg to bite the turtles toes. and again tank size is another issue with the size tank he is talking about getting is what would be good for the turtle alone. in order to house 1 oscar with 1 turtle as adults i would atleast recomened 200 gallons and i think that would be bear minimum for them. now as for the piranhas i could never in good concious tell anyone to house a turtle with them even if the turtle has lived with fish its entire life. its just in the nature of the piranha to bit and tear apart the turtles feet and head. i think what should be done is instead of investing in other fish to live with him the proper care of the turtle should be number 1 priority. things like proper foods calcium and vitamin and mercury vapor bulb. which conrad i was going to ask you if you had one of those? and sorry chaos for ranting so much thats just how deep my pasion for animals is. no matter what it is ant, earthworm, fish, or elephant i still like to see everything being taken care of properly.


I guess I missed the whole first half of this, I apologize for calling you out on it. 

I just don't understand why people still think raising Pacus in aquariums are "alright." My friend's dad had 3 Pacus in a 75g tank that pretty much took up the whole entire tank and he ended up donating them to a local zoo because they weren't going to stop growing at any point. They just aren't suitable for any home aquarium regardless.


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## Revolution1221 (Apr 20, 2010)

Chaos553 said:


> I guess I missed the whole first half of this, I apologize for calling you out on it.
> 
> I just don't understand why people still think raising Pacus in aquariums are "alright." My friend's dad had 3 Pacus in a 75g tank that pretty much took up the whole entire tank and he ended up donating them to a local zoo because they weren't going to stop growing at any point. They just aren't suitable for any home aquarium regardless.


yeah there are very very very few people who are able to keep them as adults and yet they are still widely sold from different distributors even tho they are seeming to become less common walmart used to sell them stating they only get 12 inches i believe.... lol i do know someone that has a pacu but they have it in a 400-500 gallon tank and they are rich own their own business and plan on either buying a 1000 gallon tank or giving it its own pond. even 1000 gallons seems a little small the more i think about it. my moms pond is 1000 gallons and from what i see in those pictures for how big they get just doesnt seem like it could fit comfortably.


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## conradd (Jun 21, 2010)

To Revolution and Chaos I will keep you guys posted on what is going down. Thanks for all of your time. Tim the turtle is still only a year old and roughly 5 inches. He has been briefly housed with a pleco and angels before and never once nipped, though he was a little to interested in my beautiful angels and had to be removed. Soooo I probably plan on just keeping him with the Jack Dempsey and maybe a little down the road some convicts. 
And Yeah my original question was really just if my turtle would survive with the piranhas, oscars, or pacus, but I have learned a lot more then was originally planned. Thanks guys/gals.


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