Can terrapins live with tropical fish

[Debbie1e]

I have 2 baby terrapins. Can they share a tank with tropical fish?

[Athravan]

Terrapins will eat whatever will fit in their mouths, fish included!

[daz30347]

Yup, as i just found out, put my finger in their tank to put a lil food in, and Bodger(the lil bossy one) bit me finger the little blighter

[James_and_Hana]

All 3 of mine live with two plecos and a handful of different neons, barbs and danios. The odd one does disapear every now and then. Its not recommened by people but obviously its ultimatly your choice As I have a bare bottom tank I find they add a bit of colour. Ive also been told the turtles poo it toxic and will kill the fish but some of mine have been in with them over a year with no problems

[daz30347]

Fair enough, just keep ya fingers out if ya wanna keep em!! lol,

[James_and_Hana]

When I got the maps and they were dinky I used to hand feed them, wouldnt fancy it now they have strong jaws :P one nipped me when i was teasing it showing my mom how they close their eyes before going to bite, never again :P

[inkyjoe]

I kept 3 softshelled turtles with my tropical fish for years, i was more worried about the turtles than the fish though. the turtles never tried to eat the fish, never even tried nibbling steve the stingray who wouldve been an easy target, but the bichir had a couple of goes at the turtles as did some of the bigger cichlids. The big female softshell was unfortunately killed by the ray though(i found the barb in her leg). I then realised what a bad idea this arrangement was and got rid of the turtles. Ive also heard that turtles can get fungal infections more when kept with fish, they also bump up the nitrates-A LOT

[Graham]

Some turts eat fish, some don't bother, if you put fish in with them just be prepared for the fish to get eaten, don't put in any fish that you care about!

[kwiky]

i keep fish with my alli snapper but he eats alot of them, those that survive the first few days learn really quick to stay away so they tend to not get eaten, its usually the newest fish i put in that vanish, ive had some tiger barbs in there for ages and they have all survived as have the neon tetras, 2 angel fish, 10 zebra danios and 2 black platty's havent faired so well though

my tank is pretty big though and the turtle is still really small so the fish have plenty of room to evade him,

[Graham]

Ali Snappers are a bit different to other turts in that they don't actively hunt their prey, (at least the adults don't, I'm not sure about babies?) they just sit still with their mouths open, wiggling that little pink worm-shaped lure until it attracts something, then when it swims close enough it's bye-bye fish!
So if a fish can learn to keep clear of it then it'll probably be OK, especially in a big tank where it has the room to keep well away.
Other species of turt do actively hunt though, especially the good swimmers like sliders and maps and sometimes they hunt in packs, and they'll chase and corner fish then tear them to bits, they can handle fish considerably bigger than themselves especially if they work together.
Having said that I've seen large groups of adult sliders and maps living together with pond fish without ever touching them, and I suspect it's partly down to how well fed they are.