Baby map and guppies?

[Sprightly Tails]

Hi, I'm new here and still looking around.
Just Wednesday (28/09/2016) I got my baby map turtle, I think it is a miss. map, but that is yet to be determined. Either way, very tiny baby who is quite active and very brave (doesn't run/swim away when I get near and even hand fed on the first day!). The tank is 60x30x30, there is the filter, heater, dock, lighting and a metal tub lying down for it to hide in (or sit on top of). I am about to head out and buy a small cave or something to put in for the turtle to hide in instead of the metal tube. There is nothing on the bottom of the tank but I would like to eventually buy a few rocks and maybe a plant or two. If I get the plant and a thingy to make bubbles to distract my little Spright could I maybe put several guppies or tetra into the tank with him/her? I know fish and turtle generally shouldn't be put together, but I'd buy the necessary things for them, like plants, smaller cave places Spright can't get into and other such things. I just want to know if this is a reasonable thing to do. Oh, and about the size of the tank, I'll be upgrading that as soon as I have the money for the biggest my desk can handle!
The reason I am thinking guppies or tetra is because they'd be in a group and too fast for my little Spright to actually capture (possibly). I understand that this could go completely heywire and I'd have a bloody massacre on my hands, but is it at least worth giving a try? If so, how many teeny fish would be reasonable to put in with Spright?
Thank you in adavance for any advice!

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi and welcome to the Forum!

It has been my experience that turtles don't expend too much energy chasing fish they know they can't catch. Will they eat the fish - you bet, but they usually can't catch them.

I'm not really into water turtles, so let's wait to hear from other members.

 

[Paschendale52]

I've had guppies in with my two southern painteds for about 9 months now. Only once have I seen them eat one, and it was only because the guppy got caught in the roots of a plant and couldn't swim at all (they were thick roots of duckweed all tangled). One of my turtles will occasionally chase the guppies for ~10 seconds or so, but they give up pretty quick.

 

[Markw84]

I like guppies or mosquito fish in with my turtles. I've had them multiply to a few thousand in a 4 foot x 6 foot tank I had several spotted turtles in, and they provided a nice added source of food. Great extra exercise as the turtles would occasionally chase them to try to catch one, but as Yvonne said, turtles don't spend too much time chasing fast prey. They mostly will pick off sick or injured, and scavenge. The fish also are the "canary in the cage" giving the first warnings if water conditions get off balance as they show distress while a turtle will not. In smaller (normal) numbers, the fish will normally do fine with the turtles. When you first put the fish in and they are distressed - the turtles will often show the most interest. If they survive that, and settle down, they will last quite some time with no problem. Sometimes a turtle can catch one if cornered, or at night, but that would be the exception, not the rule.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Ghost shrimp are like 10 for $1.
They are excellent scavengers and are also turtle food.
A win, win.

 

[dmmj]

my water turtles must be the exception to the rule they'll chase for hours sometimes when I'm out there with them. You can put fish in there just don't get to sad ifeaten. apparently water turtles have never watched Finding Nemo

 

[Sprightly Tails]

Thank you all for your help!
I was at a fishery today and found a small breed of fish cheap enough to buy several of that could happily live in the tank size I have. They were zipping around their tank so quickly I couldn't keep up! Good for not being caught by a turtle. Given everything I have read on this thread or all over the interwebs I will give this a chance and see how it goes!
This was a lot of help!

 

[Yelloweyed]

When my mud turtle woke up after hibernation, she ate all the fish in the tank. Now that she's eaten well during the summer, the guppies are getting out of hand. @Lemonade suggested I freeze them alive and then serve them later. I may need to give it a try.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

@Moozillion
Has had some experimentation with water turtles and tankmates....

 

[Moozillion]

My experience is that these water turtles are natural born predators! They WILL find ways to get the fish: either chasing them or hiding in plants and waiting until a fish passes too close. Even baby turtles.
When my mud turtle was about a year old I put a group of guppies in the tank. Mud turtles are poor swimmers and guppies are fast, but dang if my little guy didn't eat a guppy the very first night! I gave the surviving guppies away.
But chasing and eating fish is a very natural behavior, and it's probably good stimulation for your turtle. You just need to decide how much you care about the fish getting eaten or mangled.
Water turtles are great!!!!! Welcome to the club!!!

 

[Gillian M]

A very warm welcome to the forum!

Please post pics of your turtle.

 

[Yelloweyed]

If I see Muddie hunting the guppies, I turn into a cheerleader for a bloodthirsty sport!

 

[Moozillion]

If I see Muddie hunting the guppies, I turn into a cheerleader for a bloodthirsty sport!

 

[Sprightly Tails]

Hi everyone!
A big thank you to all your advice. I went ahead with the risk and bought five guppies to start off with (it was all I could afford after buying everything else).
One of the guppies had a tail missing which I only noticed just before I got them into the tank. Of course my little Spright saw them and wanted a good snack. Poor Gimpy (no tail) only had two hours left to live, but Spright got a great meal...
As for the other four guppies, they and Spright get along! Yup. You read that right. They actually hang out together! Spright chased them all a few times but since then hasn't bothered and as I was watching the fish got near, Spright noticed them but couldn't have cared any less!
All four guppies are totally in tact and very greedy (they eat a LOT!) and even now there is no chasing to be done. I feed Spright out of the tank so I figure that s/he has learned to not to eat anything while in the tank? Either way, this is a happy place for them to be. I will likely buy four more guppies soon, just so there aren't so few (unless you sthink I shouldn't?)
Again, thank you all for your help and advice!

That is a small video of Spright the day I got him/her if you are interested to see!

 

[Sprightly Tails]

If I see Muddie hunting the guppies, I turn into a cheerleader for a bloodthirsty sport!

eek!

 

[Sprightly Tails]

A very warm welcome to the forum!

Please post pics of your turtle.

 

[Lemonade]

I've had some turtles who when hungry enough will catch every fish in the water. Others who will only catch them if I make it super easy, like emptying the water to the same level as the turtle, and other who never catch, so I have to catch and freeze for further feeding.