Turtles and tetras?

Question
I know this is sort of an odd question, but are red-eared sliders and tetras compatible?...To make a long story short I need to get rid of a tank to take in my sisters "lovely" goldfish. In order to do so, I need to get rid of my tetras. I don't want to give them back to the petstore, and the only people I nknow who are in to the whole fish experience work with salt water ones. What I want to do is set up an enclosed area for the tetras in one corner of the tank...sort of like a dome over their little section. Yet I also have at least two maybe three dozen feeder fuppies as well which I am definatly putting in their. Will this set up work out? Or am I better off keeping my sisters goldfish( they are called dalmations i think) and the tetras together? Thank you

Answer
Dear Lynn,
I understand your current circumstances, but is there any way you could setup a simple 10gallon aquarium for your tetras? I'm afraid for the amount of bioload of just one red-eared slider can pollute a tank faster than any fish could. I use to own a small red-eared slider turtle but never tried to keep fish with him. I have personally seen aquariums setup with several slider turtles and many feeder fish and those tanks looked so terrible-- Pure brown water. Now I don't know if those tank were just overfed or neglected (maybe both). But I feel it's best for the sliders to have a designated tank to themselves, without feeder guppies or goldfish. Sliders generally don't do well on a diet of feeder fish alone.

There's no harm in trying to experiment with dividing an area for your tetras to be safe from the turtles. The main thing I am afraid of is the resulting pollution from the feeder guppies and turtles themselves. I really wouldn't recommend keeping tetras and goldfish together because those two species require very different care needs.

~ Good filtration is essential in this tank also. And making sure the tetras and turtles are happy and their needs are being tending to always. But of course the much better option is giving the tetras at least a 10gal aquarium of their own.

I really hope this helps!
Sorry if I couldn't be of anymore help. Sliders tend to try to eat small fish so be careful if you meant you are wanting to mix both tetras and turtles together free-range.

Best wishes and feel free to write if you have anymore concerns...
Karen~