Worm Castings experiment.

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MudskipperFan

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Okay, so like what I posted in the "mud for my mudskipper thread", the mud source for my mudskipper is hard to get to. What is also happening is that the mud is getting mixed into the water and when I do water changes the substrate becomes more sand then mud. As a result, I still want to buy another mudskipper to possibly breed them, but I really can't do that without some clay like substrate. I'm going to try using worm castings as the new substrate, because it's the most claylike soil I can find. To prevent the water from becoming nutrient soup, I'll also add alot of algaes on the substrate (this would be really good food for a bolephthalmus mudskipper) and put some plants in the substrate as well. What do you think?


Well, since nobody but me has gone this far, it's an experiment, so wish me luck guys.




If I can, I'll try to cycle it.
 

pbeemer

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1 i have ZERO experience with mudskippers or with realistic (non-plastic) vivaria / paludaria / whatever

2 i'm not sure exactly why you want clay, but it sounds like you need to create a more cohesive material that won't rinse away rapidly when washed or climbed on


if that's what you want, then i would suggest a blend of a little sand (mostly for traction) and straight bentonite clay.

the cheapest source of bentonite (unless you know oil drillers) is kitty litter. get the cheapest, non-scented, not modified clay kitty litter you can find. put it in a 5 gallon bucket and slowly add water, stirring continuously with something like a drill-powered paint stirrer. it will probably start out as dirty water with hard lumps and chips of clay rattling around in it, but gradually the clay will start taking up water and the chunks will be rattling around in thin mud. stop and let it sit (covered) for 8 - 10 hours to see how much of the inevitable excess water the dry lumps will suck up. work back up to the consistency you need by adding more dry clay, stirring it in, and letting it soak for another 8 - 10 hours. (the soak process is necessary because you want to end up with a stiff mud that will hold its shape, and you aren't going to be able to stir that.)

[be very careful to clean up any of the thin mud that might splash out in the early stages; they don't call it "slip" for nothing.]
 

MudskipperFan

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1 i have ZERO experience with mudskippers or with realistic (non-plastic) vivaria / paludaria / whatever

2 i'm not sure exactly why you want clay, but it sounds like you need to create a more cohesive material that won't rinse away rapidly when washed or climbed on


if that's what you want, then i would suggest a blend of a little sand (mostly for traction) and straight bentonite clay.

the cheapest source of bentonite (unless you know oil drillers) is kitty litter. get the cheapest, non-scented, not modified clay kitty litter you can find. put it in a 5 gallon bucket and slowly add water, stirring continuously with something like a drill-powered paint stirrer. it will probably start out as dirty water with hard lumps and chips of clay rattling around in it, but gradually the clay will start taking up water and the chunks will be rattling around in thin mud. stop and let it sit (covered) for 8 - 10 hours to see how much of the inevitable excess water the dry lumps will suck up. work back up to the consistency you need by adding more dry clay, stirring it in, and letting it soak for another 8 - 10 hours. (the soak process is necessary because you want to end up with a stiff mud that will hold its shape, and you aren't going to be able to stir that.)

[be very careful to clean up any of the thin mud that might splash out in the early stages; they don't call it "slip" for nothing.]
I need something clay-like because I want to encourage my mudskippers to burrow easily and eventually breed.
 

Chrisinator

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Have you thought about having styrofoam, covering it with gravel/sand and then creating the burrows yourself by just cutting the holes? That'll prevent your mudskippers from being buried.
 

MudskipperFan

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Yeah, but eventually in the mudskipper's breeding, the burrow gets flooded and destroyed by the mudskipper when the eggs are ready to hatch, but with clay, it will hold its shape in the water for some time.
 

pbeemer

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I must apologize for giving you some bad advice above.

kitty latter may have started out as bentonite clay, but it looks like they've sintered / bisqued it and crushed it. this probably gives it a huge effective surface area for adsorbing odors and water, but it isn't really clay anymore and it will not revert to mud no matter how long you soak it (i've been trying ever since i got worried about it).

anyway, sorry about that.
 
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