mudskippers

**guppyguppyfish** · 04-24-2007, 7:53 PM

does anyone have personal experiene with indian mudskippers,I am thinking of adding a large mudskipper tank to my collection of small tanks.

**Sploke** · 04-26-2007, 11:14 AM

I don't have indian mudskippers, but I have an atlantic mudskipper. From what I've read, the care is prettty similar for both. Mine is in a 40 breeder tank with a platform built up for her to climb out of the water onto. SG of 1.010, tankmates are bumblebee gobies, mollies, and a violet goby. I have some fiddler crabs too but she beat the crap out of one and possibly killed it so I wouldn't recommend them unless you don't mind losing one once in a while.

**peach rum 11** · 04-29-2007, 10:09 AM

not yet! but i'm ordering my trio of indian mudskippers at the end of may (gotta wait till school's out!)
from what i've gathered:
they are fairly territorial, but aggression is mainly limited to dorsal fin flaring
they are carnivorous, and enjoy foods like freeze-dried/frozen krill, crustations, bloodworms, live earthworms, mealworms, and very small feeders. but i'm sure a frozen pea once in a while wouldn't hurt.
they obviously need access to dry land.
most people don't keep them in water more than 10" deep.
get a heater gaurd, or put your heater where they can't perch on it, ever.

**Fishouttawater** · 06-11-2007, 8:25 AM

Sorry Baby gurl but im tring ta git mine too. Did u know they can shoot laser beams out their eyes?

**Ruben Tolon** · 06-11-2007, 8:18 PM

just make sure you have adequate land space and are willing to provide them a proper diet.

**guppyguppyfish** · 09-07-2007, 2:37 PM

do you think petsmart would order them in?

**mudskippers** · 09-09-2007, 2:05 PM

I highly doubt that Petsmart would order them in. Chances are slim... but it dosn't hurt to ask...

Also, I keep a few indain dwarf skipps in my 75gal mudskipper / community tank. So, yes, I do know a thing or two about indain skipps

You can feel free to PM me with any questions that you may have...

You shouldn't have too hard of a time finding some indians, as they are quite popular, along with the Alantics.

Basic info - they like to be in groups, id suggest at least getting two min. But make sure that they have tons of "land". It is very important that they have plenty of room to roam around, and also.. they MUST have hiding room from one another. They dont like to be lonely, but if they are around eachother too much, you will see more aggression than you'd like....

Also.. indians are one of the very few types of mudskippers out there that can be kept in both fresh and brackish water. But keep in mind.. that if you buy your skipps from brackish water... then you should keep them in brackish water. Expecally if they were tank raised, But if they were raised up in fresh they can still live a long happy life in fresh...

**mellowvision** · 09-09-2007, 4:28 PM

are they the smallest of the freshwater skippers? what are the other varieties that are ok in freshwater?

**mudskippers** · 09-09-2007, 9:48 PM

Originally Posted by mellowvision

are they the smallest of the freshwater skippers? what are the other varieties that are ok in freshwater?

To my acknowledgement, Indian Dwarfs are the smallest. I do belive that there is another spices of a dwarf skipper out there, but I really cant think of it...
And as far as the freshwater goes... You should understand that it is still reccomended that you keep the skippers in brackishwater. Personally, Id only advise the indain dwarfs to be kept in freshwater, (personal experince) Any other skipper that you will find that can be kept in freshwater, will be a bit rare, You will have better luck finding the indians.

The main thing that you should think about when concidering on setting up a mudskipper tank is the set up.
So many people have just a few pvc tubes gluged or stuck to something, and thats the only "land" that they give for their skippers... I have seen this way more times then I'd like. I have even seen this on a few websites as a reccomendation to do, but honestly.... Does that seem right to keep any creature on a 2~3inch pice of tubing and say.. "enjoy"... NO!
Id reccomend doing part water, part land as a set up. Some skippers can even be known to dive deep into the water and eat small fish or fry.
Mainly, you want to try to make a very natural setting.... (rockwork, driftwood, ect..) Id say.. stay away from the pipe work..

Heres the link to my mudskipper / community tank...
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums...d.php?t=120570
Some of the best pics are on pg 3 and 4

**Staind_Ice** · 09-17-2007, 11:36 AM

I've got 3 in a 20 gallon with a 10 inch or so platform covered with sand and slopping so that part of the 'beach' is in water, part is dry. They're doing quite well, thus far the aggression has been limited to dorsal flaring and chasing, usually over food or a favorite spot. They take bloodworms, small cubed krill or chopped large krill very well. I also feed them a brine shrimp/spirulina mix one or twice a week to keep their diet varied. Crickets weren't a huge hit, probably because it's hard to find any small enough for these guy when they're still young. Ghost shrimp go over better but I'm not sure they know what to do when they catch them, lol. Right now their tank mates are 1 molly, 2 red chromides, and a fiddler crab.

I attached a picture of the tank if you're interested.