Introducing turtle to tank question
 

Been contemplating this for a while now.. Can you house a freshwater turtle like a yellow belly or a slider with other freshwater fish? I have a 15 gallon hexagon style fish tank. Was wondering if this is possible to have? Any advice and suggestions is greatly appreciated :-D

Turtles, like any reptile, require special care. You would need at least 75 gals for a turtle, with an emerged area for the turtle to walk and bask on (heat lamp) in addition to a large swimming area. You cannot just plop them into any tank.

I realize that, just thought I'd ask since I do not know much about this topic

AK is quite correct. While technically you can combine fish and a turtle, you have to remember that the turtle has very specific and mandatory needs, like the "land" area where it can bask in heat and completely dry the shell [the cause of so many deaths of those small turtles is due to this, not being able to dry the shell] and this takes a large tank. As the turtle grows, some would naturally eat smaller fish, others turn vegetarian.

And they can live a long time. I had one in the mid-1980's, and when I moved to Vancouver in 1988 could not bring it so I gave it to the son of a co-worker who was interested. Today they still have it, some 25 years later, and it will likely be around a lot longer as it is being looked after.

I've kept what I call "summer turtles", various local painted turtles for the kids to enjoy followed by an early fall release.

They are voracious hunters and eat anything that moves... so it depends on how much you like your fish stock before you even get into basking and other considerations.

Edit, and what Byron said, they live a long time.

Jeff.

Thank you all for the info..I will keep my fish tank as is don't want to mess up the great chemistry i have. If i do get a turtle, mostly like will be in a separate tank of greater size