Anyone up for some mudskipper talk?

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Mr.Jingles

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I recently discovered that mudskippers aren't as well studied as I once thought. I pressumed that the internet would have a wealth of information about mudskippers...in english at least. But it has come to my attention that half of Japan knows about these critters and only a few select scholarly or dedicated aussies. Thus, 95% of the stuff I found was in Japanese.

So needless to say, I was wondering if anyone keeps these sweet looking critters and what kind of routines you maintain, what kind of equipment you use, what kind of mudskippers you have, what kind of food you feed, if you have any stories or pictures, or if you have any questions yourself?

thanks for your hlep.
 

cdawson

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Despite alot of claims, they really aren't beginner brackish fish and they need quite a large tank as you'd only be using about 30-40 percent of the tank's volume for water. Roughly 40 gallons of water minimum for 4 adult individuals (they grow pretty quickly), so a 90-100g would be your best bet. In anything less than adequate space they're very hard to care for as keeping water quality up is very difficult. These are large fish (at 6") that make alot of waste and are very messy eaters. They do best at a specific gravity of 1.015 with a setup consisting of coral substrate and calcium based rock as decoration. Another thing is that housing them in anything less than a group of 4-5 is a bad idea, like tetras you need to spread the aggression about as there is definately a heirarchy between the individuals. The only kind of mudskipper you're probably going to see is the nigerian mudskipper, it's the most common and some may say the "only" available mudskipper. Feeding them crickets, whole krill, blood worms (in a bowl) and on the occasion brine shrimp.
 

Max

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cdawson

Just one more question? Isn't it true that they actually will do just fine in water of a s.g. of up to .25 as well? I'm mostly a s.w. keeper and was thinking of adding some of them along with some fidler crabs to a fuge but, my tank water is usually between .24 and .25. The people at my LFS told me that they should be fine and they had kept them like this for years? Just wondering if that was so because if not I'll make other plans.
thanks
chris
 

cdawson

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nope that's way too high, the highest I'd go with them is 1.020 and only for a very short period of time. An LFS is the last place to get info for brackish fish, they are hard to sell and they more often than not literally make info up in order to make a sale.
 

Max

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That's why I asked here thanks cdawson
 

Mr.Jingles

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so other than the large tank and calcium based substrates, is there really anything that needs to be specific to keep these kids?

sometimes people on AC exagerate what people really need to keep a certain fish to pretty much make sure the person does the right thing to make their fish happy.
So I was wondering if a 50 gallon would work. Ive been trying to get as much info on the fish as possible and have read that they spend 90% of their time on land. So although the fish would have billions of gallons to swim in where its from, it seems that 40 gallons of water is a bit steep for these critters in the aquarium. Also, Ive read that they are very hardy and can tolerate varying extremes of salinity (1.005 - 1.020). The major problem posted was keeping ammonia levels down. I read about mangrove trees and their ability to suck all those toxins, including nitrates, out of the water, so I was thinking that keeping the toxins down would be easy. what other water quality problems would there be?

so does any of this information Ive read have validity? am I just reading a bunch of crap?

I understand that these aren't beginner fish for brackish, but wouldn't you consider most cool fish "not beginner fish"?
 

cdawson

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Originally posted by Mr.Jingles
so other than the large tank and calcium based substrates, is there really anything that needs to be specific to keep these kids?

sometimes people on AC exagerate what people really need to keep a certain fish to pretty much make sure the person does the right thing to make their fish happy.
So I was wondering if a 50 gallon would work. Ive been trying to get as much info on the fish as possible and have read that they spend 90% of their time on land. So although the fish would have billions of gallons to swim in where its from, it seems that 40 gallons of water is a bit steep for these critters in the aquarium. Also, Ive read that they are very hardy and can tolerate varying extremes of salinity (1.005 - 1.020). The major problem posted was keeping ammonia levels down. I read about mangrove trees and their ability to suck all those toxins, including nitrates, out of the water, so I was thinking that keeping the toxins down would be easy. what other water quality problems would there be?

so does any of this information Ive read have validity? am I just reading a bunch of crap?

I understand that these aren't beginner fish for brackish, but wouldn't you consider most cool fish "not beginner fish"?
It just happens that the more "cool fish" are the hardest to take care of and keep healthy in an enclosed evironment for a long time.

to answer your questions from before I dug up this old post from another board I compiled from a couple responses I made on mudskipper care

This is an excerpt from a message I wrote to member

anyways, slowly bring the specific gravity to about 1.015 over a series of water changes over weeks. Make sure the tank is cycled, they won't survive long in an uncycled tank. Unless of course you're up for water changes everyday =)

If you haven't got the space I can maybe take 2 of them off your hands, the rest you'll have to find homes for (vancouver aquarium?).
Setup up the aquarium with a crushed coral substrate, or better yet refugium mud which is what I'm going to use in my new setup. Have the tank (need to know your tank size) about half way full of water with alot of separate perches above water. Don't use anything that'll lower the ph, like driftwood. Use those cichlid rocks for any rockwork in the tank. They're also very territorial, so expect alot of bickering between individuals. You'll also probably notice that the largest male will take control of the entire tank. He's the head of the group, he'll control everything in the tank. when he wants a perch he'll take it from the other mudskippers. He's the reason I lost two mudskippers. so unless you have a rather large tank 12 mudskippers is going to be way too much for what you can keep in one tank. They also reach a size of 6" so you should work it out to 10 gallons per skipper. If you can get ahold of mangrove saplings you're one step closer to making the perfect mudskipper evironment. If you also have a rather large tank you could also keep fiddler crabs for a cleanup crew, they work great at keeping down the brown algae you're going to get (cyanobacteria comes with brackish water unless you have a protein skimmer). If you really want a good setup then big al's sells sumps and you could install one and run a protein skimmer through there. You'll also want to use a intake filter such as a fluval internal. you'll also want a submersible heater such as a rena cal or the tetra whisper heater (I recommend the rena cal). Keep the tank at a temp of 82 farenheit. If you use the coral substrate or refugium mud and the lace rock (big al's has it) that should keep your ph steady at 8.5.
When you change your water, you should have separate container to mix, and heat the spare water for 24hrs. Never raise the salinity more than .002 SG when you change your water, this can kill your beneficial bacteria
http://www.fishinthe.net/html/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4436

These fish HAVE to be kept in their own tank, no tankmates, they will eat them! Do not be tempted to buy the monos at big al's you need a much larger tank!
Even mollies won't last with mudskippers.

and for reference you have an african mudskipper, they come from the brackish mud flats in northern nigeria. they get to a max size of 6" and need a temp of 82F a ph of 8-8.5, feed them crickets frozen krill and brine shrimp are a treat once in awhile, try to spread the food throughout the tank on perches, they don't normally feed in the water.


Minimum tank size for 4 adult mudskippers - 90-100g with at least 40g of water.


Here is another excerpt from another message I wrote


Despite alot of claims, they really aren't beginner brackish fish and they need quite a large tank as you'd only be using about 30-40 percent of the tank's volume for water. Roughly 40 gallons of water minimum for 4 adult individuals (they grow pretty quickly), so a 90-100g would be your best bet. In anything less than adequate space they're very hard to care for as keeping water quality up is very difficult. These are large fish (at 6") that make alot of waste and are very messy eaters. They do best at a specific gravity of 1.015 with a setup consisting of coral substrate and calcium based rock as decoration. Another thing is that housing them in anything less than a group of 4-5 is a bad idea, like tetras you need to spread the aggression about as there is definately a heirarchy between the individuals. The only kind of mudskipper you're probably going to see is the nigerian mudskipper, it's the most common and some may say the "only" available mudskipper. Feeding them crickets, whole krill, blood worms (in a bowl) and on the occasion brine shrimp.
I hope this helps.
 
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