Mudskipper compatability

  • Get the NEW AquariaCentral iOS app --> http://itunes.apple.com/app/id1227181058 // Android version will be out soon!

Fungi

Knock-Out Stuff
May 6, 2007
314
0
0
34
Melbourne, Australia
Thanks skip :)
I still haven't set it up, I'm going to finish cycling mt 15gal in my room before I do anything else. I've seen your 75gal, it's freakin' awesome, with the floating woord and the way that the water trickles down it, if I could make a tank half as good as that I'd be ecstatic. What's the minimum size tank required to keep the dwarf Indians?
Glad to have such a wealth of knowledge here :grinyes:
 

muddskipper26

Mudskipper Man
Jan 28, 2007
371
0
0
32
michigan
Thanks skip :)
I still haven't set it up, I'm going to finish cycling mt 15gal in my room before I do anything else. I've seen your 75gal, it's freakin' awesome, with the floating woord and the way that the water trickles down it, if I could make a tank half as good as that I'd be ecstatic. What's the minimum size tank required to keep the dwarf Indians?
Glad to have such a wealth of knowledge here :grinyes:
a 20 gal long is the minimum for an Indian
 

muddskipper26

Mudskipper Man
Jan 28, 2007
371
0
0
32
michigan
many sites say twenty gallons for the dwarfs
For those hobbyists without a lot of room, there are the smaller species of mudskippers, of which Pearse's mudskipper, Periophthalmus novemradiatus, is the most commonly imported. Reaching about 4" in length, a group of 4-6 can be housed in a 20 gallon long (30" x 12")

i would only keep two max in a twenty long, i have also seen sites that say a ten gallon is the min for one, but that is a bit generous.
 

Fungi

Knock-Out Stuff
May 6, 2007
314
0
0
34
Melbourne, Australia
But colloquialy, these go under many names (just a short google search), so they can be dwarf Indians, Pearse's mudskipper or dusky gilled? I'll have to check the availability of these, the only mudskippers I've seen sold in my state are Atlantics and regular Indians.
 

tranceFusion

AC Members
Mar 21, 2007
280
0
0
43
Frederick, MD
Well, I'm not going to ramble on about their living habitat or anything just yet, if your interested in my two cents, id be glad to help... anything from feeding, to some good ideas on keeping their gills and eye lids wet (so they don't have to dunk themselves in the water) or if your just wanting some good links about them and their natural habitate... Just let me know.... I'm not saying I know everything, but they are my fav. fw 'fish'. ;)
I'd love to hear your two cents! Its hard to find info on mudskippers and I feel like I have been winging it so anything you want to share about how you care for them would be awesome.

I feed mine live blackworms about half the time, and the rest of the time I feed either live crickets, frozen krill, or frozen bloodworms. I am not sure if this is the best diet for them.
 

mudskippers

AC Members
Jun 1, 2007
897
0
0
35
Tempe, AZ
I'd love to hear your two cents! Its hard to find info on mudskippers and I feel like I have been winging it so anything you want to share about how you care for them would be awesome.

I feed mine live blackworms about half the time, and the rest of the time I feed either live crickets, frozen krill, or frozen bloodworms. I am not sure if this is the best diet for them.
Well, about my two cents, it depends on what you want to know... I tend to be a bit of a rambler... lol. And remember, I am no expert, this is just some of what I have learned online, through fellow skipper keepers, and my personal experience...

Anyways, not sure where exactly to start... As mentioned above about different peoples opinions about how many per what size aquarium.. I think that 2 for a 40gal would be min. But also like I mentioned, it really all boils down to the way your aquarium is set up... It wouldn't do much good having a 40gal and only attaching some PVC tubing to something and calling it a mudskipper tank... lol. You want to try to keep things natural. If you want to go for more of a 'random' look, then just make sure that you still provide plenty of 'land' and hiding areas. In my personal opinion, I think that the PVC tubes and other random things like that doesn't tend to have a big appeal with me....

Anyways, back to the set up... natural... You can go a few different routs with this... you could use driftwood, you could use rocks such as lace rock and rocks similar to that, you could make your aquarium completely a skipper tank and just use the bottom of the aquarium as their 'land.' With this way, you could do a 'mud' type substrate, bare bottom, super fine sand, (I read that, but Personally, I think that it would just 'clog' their gills) IMPO, I would really recommend doing something along the lines of half water half land...

Now, once you've figured out what you want to use (wood, rock, pvc, ect) you then want to figure out your set up of the tank. You want to make sure that your skippers have what I call 'wet land.' (So they don't have to go for a dunk in the water constantly to wetting their gills.)
Since you are going to want to provide plenty of 'land' for your skipps, remember to not have your 'land' level. You want different heights, caves, everything and anything that you can come up with with whatever you are using.. Like I mentioned before, they like the company and to have the competition every once in a while, but they also need their personal space. I have never heard of one skipp killing another in an aquarium, but I have seen some pretty crazy territorial issues. lol.

Anyways, moving on...
Also, you have to decide... freshwater? or brackish water? Brackish water is more common though you can have the Indians in freshwater.
On this note, if you were to purchase skips, and they were in brackish water, keep them in brackish water. Only if your skips were bought in freshwater, then I would suggest keeping them in freshwater. (Unless of course you wanted them in brackish, then of course, you could always acclimate them)
(On that underlined note, that is one thing that I was urged when I first got into keeping mudskippers. The one who said that, I trust in his knowledge, so I pass it on, not sure if its 100% true, but Ill stand by it..)

And as always, if you do anything along the lines of half water half land, make sure that the tank mates are compatible. I think someone mentioned in this thread or maybe another about how they wanted an archer fish, personally, i wouldn't get any fish that is a jumper and a hunter. I had an archer fish a few years ago (not knowing how big they got, lol) anyways, he would jump at anything and everything. Though it was quite fun to watch, I think he would more then likely have tried to eat the skips if he had been presented with the opportunity.
Also, about the fish in the water, If you can, and if you want to try... you could keep small neon tetra sized fish in there and see if your skippers will dive down and catch them. I have read of them doing this in the 'wild' but haven't scene mine do it. I have scene mine perch into the water a lot, but never dive into the water and catch a fish. I just think it would be cool... lol.




Well, I have rambled on so much, I think I should give it a break. Hopefully this has helped somewhat.

And remember, when I say 'you' I'm just saying to someone in general, not necessarily directing all of this towards any one person. And also remember, I am no skipper expert, this is just all my experience and knowledge of what I have come to learn.....


Here are two links that can also tell a little more about them...

http://rmbr.nus.edu.sg/rbz/biblio/51/51rbz097-100.pdf

and this one, but it has a cuss word in it for some reason, so I will space it out, (so the sensor doesn't catch it) and then you can type it in your address bar correctly and hopefully it will work...

http://www.vexen.co.uk/holys h i t/mudskipper.html

And then here is the link to my 75gal community / mudskipper tank... (Pics on every page) I'd still like to add more wood, but this is it for now..... Any questions on my tank, also feel free to ask...

http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=120570
 

Fungi

Knock-Out Stuff
May 6, 2007
314
0
0
34
Melbourne, Australia
Okay, thanks very much for that :)
It's interesting that Indian skippers bought fresh should stay fresh...
I'm going to put my plans into motion some time the week after next, I appreciate all of the help. :clap:
 

arian13

Registered Member
Apr 25, 2008
1
0
0
Hello, I just got mudskippers believe they are the indian little blue spotted ones...The girls at the pet store told me to do half brackish water in a 10gal tank, and give them spots to jump on..which I have done but the more i read I realize they probably need some sand too..Do you have any pics or your tank to get an idea from..Im new on here so if i missed them sorry..
 
zoomed.com
hikariusa.com
aqaimports.com
Store