Mudskipper general help!

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CatPresley3

CatPresley3

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Hello!
I recently received four Vietnamese Mudskippers and was given instruction on how to care for them. However, every article I read online contradicts the instructions I was given!

First of all, the tank we received is a 30g bowfront tank with a pretty large waterfall and rock deck/scape attached to the back. We filled about four inches with freshwater and added a fake vine plant to cover the surface of the water. We also have two Pothos planted in the fine gravel. It's running on an Eclipse 1 bio wheel filter and we're keeping it at about 79 degrees. We plan on feeding them flake food daily and frozen blood worms about 2 or 3 times a week.

I was told the Vietnamese Mudskippers are freshwater, but the few articles available online suggest ALL Mudskippers are Brackish fish..... anyone know?

Also, these little guys are pretty young and small, but will they outgrow this tank?

Any information about them would be GREAT.

Thanks! Cat Presley
 
Sploke

Sploke

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I'm not sure what a vietnamese mudskipper is...a scientific name would help. If its the same species as the Indian mudskippers, then yes they can be housed in fw. Any other advice would be pending figuring out the exact species.
 
CatPresley3

CatPresley3

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sploke said:
I'm not sure what a vietnamese mudskipper is...a scientific name would help. If its the same species as the Indian mudskippers, then yes they can be housed in fw. Any other advice would be pending figuring out the exact species.
Click to expand...
I posted this question on Answers as well, I got two good responses. One person mentioned that they are the same as Indian Mudskippers! We have decided that the tank we received is too tall rather than long, so we're going to start from scratch with a new 30g long. Any other information would be SO MUCH appreciated!
 
Sploke

Sploke

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Care for most mudskippers is basically the same, the indians are a bit easier as they don't get as big. FW should do fine for these guys. You can either make some sort of land area with sand in your tank, or use a platform above the water, driftwood, something that allows them to crawl out of the water. My Atlantic mudskipper loves freeze-dried krill and thawed mysis and bloodworms, as well as crickets. You'll want as much water volume as possible which is why I recommend some sort of platform over the water. Usually building a sand beach area only allows you to put a few inches of water in the tank. Make sure the top fits well also, as they can jump surprisingly well.

Mine lives in a 75gal with bumblebee gobies, mollies and a greenspotted puffer, but my tank is brackish. In a FW tank, they should do well with most community fish.
 
tranceFusion

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Sploke, why do you think Indian Mudskippers are OK in freshwater?

I read a study once about how mudskippers take in water in their cells when the salinity is acceptable throughout the day's tide, and close their cell walls if tides or storms cause the water salinity to reach freshwater or marine conditions..

I had Indian Mudskippers for a while and I read absolutely nothing about them being any different, or them being ok in freshwater. They are quite hardy fish and I am sure they will survive for a while but I don't think that they would make it in the long term.

that said, the tank plans seem cool.. i would probably skip the flake.. they are carnivores. I fed mostly black worms, crickets, frozen blood worms and mysis, and dried krill.

I had 4 in a 30 and it was sufficient, but I felt like they could have used a little more room.
 
Sploke

Sploke

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Because everybody I know who has kept them, kept them in freshwater, and said they had researched the info backing that up. Never having kept them myself, and finding several sources that validated that, thats what I went with.
 
tranceFusion

tranceFusion

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i'd love to see some kind of study or hear some experience of someone keeping Indian Mudskippers in freshwater.. I prob would have kept mine if they could have stayed in freshwater.
 
mudskippers

mudskippers

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tranceFusion said:
i'd love to see some kind of study or hear some experience of someone keeping Indian Mudskippers in freshwater.. I prob would have kept mine if they could have stayed in freshwater.
Click to expand...
well.. I guess this is where I come in.... I myself keeping Indian dwarf skips in a 75gal fw. I tend to become a bit of a rambler, so to keep it simple... it more or less depends on where your skips came from... Yes, in the wild its pretty much all brackish no matter which type of skip you go with... but when it comes to tank raised, thats where you can more so keep them in fw. Basically... if you got the skips coming from fw, you can perfectly well keep them in fw, no harm done, still having the same life expectancy, ect... But if you got your skips coming from bw, then of course it is advised to keep them in bw.
I believe besides deciding fw or bw, your size of tank and set up are really the most important keys to keeping them healthy and happy... I personally wouldn't waste my time getting a 30long, when you should just go for an upgrade now, instead of doing it in a few months or whatever... also... how many skips do you have? IMPO, I think that 3 is max for a 75, I might even be pushing it... so if you have 3+ in a 30... you might want to reconsider your tank size... but like I mentioned, its all in your setup... allowing the skips to have plenty of personal space....

Here the thread to my 75gal mudskipper/community aquarium...[though, I do need to update it, I have added a few more pieces of wood since then...]
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=120570
 
CatPresley3

CatPresley3

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thanks for everyone's help!

we unfortunately decided we can't keep the mudskippers due to the amount of space they require! clearly 4 is too many for a 30 gallon tank and if we had the room for two 75 gallon tanks we would keep them, but i'm afraid that's a little out of my league!

i'd rather find a good home for them than use trial and error to keep them!

thanks again, cat presley
 
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