Feeding and Nutrition :: Live Feeding

[GotEmInOkinawa]

Hello again all. I recently went to the pet store of base, and purchased some female guppies for the little ones. I bought five of them, and threw them in the small 20gal tank that I feed the turts in. Then I put the little guys in, but the just couldn't seem to catch them. So I put them in the bigger tank, thinking that Morty and DC would have a better shot since they would have more room to maneuver. It's fun to watch them swim in circles after them. Anyways. My question, is it alright to feed them Rice Fish? was just curious if anyone could provide some insight. Guppies here are expensive. Also, is it ok to leave aquatic plants in their tank all the time??? Or will this mean that they are over eating, seeing as how I feed them their pellets also.
thanks again for all your help!

Kevin

[confrontinglife]

Find a pet store that sells feeder guppies, they're usually the babies that start building up in the pet store tanks. You'll probably have more luck in a small town pet shop rather than petco or petsmart. The small shop near me sells them for $2 a dozen.

I bought 2 dozen and just let them breed in another tank

[Steve C]

Sounds like he is on base in Japan, so a a local pet shop may be out of the question. You can try breeding guppies in a separate tank, there are posts here on breeding them. I have live plants in my tank and all my guy does is move them around, but most RES's will eat live plants.

[GotEmInOkinawa]

Yes, I am in Okinawa, so a small pet store is the only choice that I really have, only it's so hard, because they don't speak very much English at all ( or its my fault for not speaking Japanese ). I put some brand new live plants in the tank only a week ago, and already they have eaten all the leaves, and are even attempting to eat the stalks of the plants. I was thinking about the whole breeding guppies thing, but after what I saw last night, I am highly discouraged. I thought I was going to witness a slaughter between the guppies and DC, and Morty. The only thing that they got was a little nip of the tail fin of one of the guppies. They are just chillin' in the big tank now, eating what ever they find on the bottom of the tank, and even mocking the turtles from time to time by swimming right up to them, and running off when the turtle turns around. Should i just leave the guppies in there? Or should I take them out, and resume feeding the turtles as normal?

Kevin

[SpotsMama]

On the aquatic plants, you don't have to worry about your turtles overeating them. They're very low in calories. The bigger problem is probably going to be keeping aquatic plants alive in the tank if your turtles love them so much.

On the guppies, if the turtles can't catch them then just leave them in the tank and feed the turtles are usual. Eventually, I think DC and Morty are going to figure out how to catch guppies but until they do, the guppies will make the tank a little more interesting and keep it clean too. Can't beat that.

[GotEmInOkinawa]

That does sound like a good plan to me, hopefully soon they do figure out how to catch them, cause it seemed like they were really wanting to get a piece of them.