Plants for Turtle Tank?

[Moonfox]

Hi all.

Ok, so - me being a little OCD - I've officially had enough of my brother's pebbles and sticks turtle setup. It's fail. So I'm desperate to put some plants in there. Only problem is - as I'm sure all of you other turtle keepers out there are well aware - anything I put in there is promptly shredded, eaten and just generally decimated within hours of it being planted, regardless of how stuffed full of food the turts are. That's why my brother gave up a while ago.

Please tell me that there is some form of water foliage that they don't destroy! Besides fake plants, please, since they don't provide adequate cover for small fish and, as I've already mentioned above, the turtles monster anything they even suspect might be edible.

Thanks for any help!

 

[raycarpetpython]

My turtle may be different, but I rarely see him touch plants. Some are a month or so old and are still intact, he just likes to dig them up and kick them around the tank and generally make a big mess. I just buy the cheap (can't think of the name) grassy and bushy looking ones. Mention yabbies though and he does his happy dance lol. sorry if im not much help

 

[Kitah]

I'd be interested in knowing some suggestions for this too The only plants I've come across that my boy doesn't eat are water hyacinth and water lettuce which are both pest species and not permitted (I used them before I knew they were not permitted, and they were thoroughly dried out and disposed of away from waterways)

It does depend on the species, generally longnecks are carnivorous and its the shortnecks that eat aquatic vegetation. Granted though, I've seen longnecks that still destroy the vegetation and consume bits of it.

 

[Moonfox]

Thanks Ray - I actually don't think we've tried the grassy ones before... I'll grab some this weekend.

Kitah - is your boy a short neck? I forgot to mention - ours are Macleays Short Necks.

 

[snakecrazy]

hey ive got java moss in with tommy hes a long neck but mine is only about 9-10months old and hes in with hes mate the guppy he just keeps pushing the plants around . hope that helps in anyway . good luck

 

[Kitah]

Yeah, mine is a Kreffts short neck. I've tried grassy type aquatic plants and he eats those, too. He does prefer the base of them though - much more tender and tastier I suppose haha. I ended up just having the blades of the plant loose in the tank... Silly boy

 

[Moonfox]

Kitah - sounds a lot like our two .

I'll grab some different things on the weekend and give it a go.

Snakecrazy - you've got guppies in with Tommy? That was what I was hoping to do with our tank... we had guppies with them a while ago after our population exploded. There was a certain natural selection going on... didn't necessarily correspond with my favourite fish >_<.

 

[Kitah]

How old are your two, moonfox? If they're only young, they may very well go off eating all of your fish as they get older + bigger. My big boy is 4yo and won't catch fish anymore- I can keep anything in with him and he doesn't seem to bother them, now. He was a lunatic catching each and every fish when he was a hatchy/juvie, and then as he got older he started leaving about 7 in the tank at all times (put 20 guppies in, the next day there would be 7, for example), and now he doesn't touch them at all

 

[raycarpetpython]

How old are your two, moonfox? If they're only young, they may very well go off eating all of your fish as they get older + bigger. My big boy is 4yo and won't catch fish anymore- I can keep anything in with him and he doesn't seem to bother them, now. He was a lunatic catching each and every fish when he was a hatchy/juvie, and then as he got older he started leaving about 7 in the tank at all times (put 20 guppies in, the next day there would be 7, for example), and now he doesn't touch them at all

Have you tried offering any other live food? Mine is 6 years old and will occasionally eat feeder fish, but loves the yabbies. I think they are easier to catch aswell. The fish tend to be a bit quicker and are smaller

 

[xxMelissaxx]

My short necks shred anything and everything - I have tried a fair bit but have now totally given up.

 

[JAS101]

my eastern long necks dont touch the water poppys , but i dont know if the short necks will [ until oct-nov when the weather starts to warm up]

 

[ShepQLD]

,my saw shell tends to leave the bushy plants alone (by that I mean he doesnt EAT them, he certainly uproots them and pushes them around the tank!) but they dont have to be rooted to grow so the feeder fish have somewhere to hide... though I found this thread intersting because I have noticed in the past few months he has stopped eating the fish, he goes nuts for yabbies and freshwater shrimp but the feeder fish are just getting bigger and bigger in with him... might try putting some guppies in, maybe he will leave them alone now aswell!! he is nearly ten years old