Posted: Mon Jan 04, 2010 12:36 pm
Goldfish are the absolute worst fish to put in your tank, not only are they extremely fatty and lower your turtles life span when eaten regularly, they also put off way more ammonia waste than any other breed of fish. This means that unless you have an oversized filter for your tank with a well established beneficial bacteria colony then you are going to have high ammonia levels in the water. While this won't hurt the turtle like it will the fish, the turtle still drinks this water and it is basically the equivalent to making your turtle drink his own waste and reprocess it through his system which leads to problems with his internal organs.
If your just adding fish for feeders then get guppies or rosy reds or swordtails. If you want fish for aesthetic purposes, while any fish is at risk in a turtle tank, I could give you a few suggestions that could work out and have in my experience.
What size tank do you have? What kind of filter? Any plants or decor?
6'x18''x20''100g 1 4in RES male 1 2in YBS Female
3 baby Peninsula Cooters
2 Senegal Bichirs
2 pictus cats
1 juvie bluegill
30 swordtails and guppies
10 ghost shrimp