Tank mates for a Mudskipper colony

NinjaPenguin

NinjaPenguin

AC Members
Feb 18, 2007
394
0
16
52
Johannesburg, South Africa
I'm planning on turning my new 55G into a paludarium with a colony of around 6 African Mudskippers, fish below water level and maybe something interesting and different above the water level (Gecko etc).

I'd like to keep this as natural as possible. Can anyone recommend compatible species that will happily share the environment and interact with each other?

The wife wanted RES turtles but I talked her out of that one! lol
 
is it going to be brackish water?
 
Every site I have visited mentions that they need brackish water but from personal experience of growing up in South Africa this specific species is found hundreds of kilometres inland in small rivers and streams.

The LFS have dozens of them in a display tank which is linked to all the other tanks - definitely freshwater. They all appear healthy with noticeable growth between our weekly visits.
 
NinjaPenguin said:
Every site I have visited mentions that they need brackish water but from personal experience of growing up in South Africa this specific species is found hundreds of kilometres inland in small rivers and streams.

The LFS have dozens of them in a display tank which is linked to all the other tanks - definitely freshwater. They all appear healthy with noticeable growth between our weekly visits.
Click to expand...
LOL no need for defense, just wondering.

how big are they, and can you list some commonly avalible amphbians and partially aquatic reptiles you can find in your area?
 
fishcatch22 said:
LOL no need for defense, just wondering.
Click to expand...

Ooops! didn't mean to come across as defensive - bad choice of words in a hasty response... sorry!

Size 3 to 4". The closest match i can find online is this lil beasty but the ones at the LFS have a much darker color.

The LFS don't stock any other amphibians but there is another store in a nearby town that stock a variety of local frogs and newts. I'll give them a call and find out whats on the menu.

We're pretty close to Malawi and Tanganyika on the map so theres an abundant supply of reasonably priced cichlids. I'm leaning in that direction at the moment...
 
NinjaPenguin said:
Ooops! didn't mean to come across as defensive - bad choice of words in a hasty response... sorry!

Size 3 to 4". The closest match i can find online is this lil beasty but the ones at the LFS have a much darker color.

The LFS don't stock any other amphibians but there is another store in a nearby town that stock a variety of local frogs and newts. I'll give them a call and find out whats on the menu.

We're pretty close to Malawi and Tanganyika on the map so theres an abundant supply of reasonably priced cichlids. I'm leaning in that direction at the moment...
Click to expand...
LOL don't worry, there are some people who leap on the opportunity to flame someone so it's justified.

cool..... it does say that they're territorial, though.

local as in from SA?

as long as the mudskippers can live in the high pH that the cichlids need I see nothing wrong with that.
 
Local as in Southern Africa.

So far it looks like roughly:

6 Mudskippers
2 Yellow labs
2 Kribs
and the 2 common plecos that have outgrown our other tanks.

From what I can gather they're all happy with a pinch of salt and higher PH. Planning quite a few caves and hiding spaces so hopefully the territorial traits won't be an issue.
 
Sadly I don't have a lot of progress to show. Money has been a bit tight and theres a possibility of a move to a new house in August so It will only see the light of day after that. I have however been collecting some raw materials for the decor and "borrowing" cuttings of plants from all over the neighbourhood so I am definitely not going to give up on the idea! ;)

Mudskippers are seasonal here and only available at the LFS in summer (September to March) so I'll try hard to have the tank ready by then.

Heres a concept drawing of the tank layout...

paludarium_concept_2b.jpg


Still working on a 3D CAD drawing.
Projects like this tend to teach one the art of patience! lol
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom