General Aquaria Discussion • anyone keep mudskippers?

[fishwolfe]

i have a 40breeder that I'm going to set up for mudskippers.I've looked on youtube at some videos and have looked at a few websites.I've never kept them and was wondering if anyone here has?

[Darkside]

I have. Cool fish!

[fishwolfe]

could you tell me how you set up the tank?

[Darkside]

Sure.
First off Mudskippers are Brackish water fish, found in mangrove swamps. They are very used to the tides coming in and out. For the long term care of this fish it is imperative that they have a large area where they can exit the water and move about on land. I went with a sort of stepped paludarium approach, with the final step being a gentle slope on to a simulated beach. There was reasonable water flow and I ended up going with an immersed fluval unit for ease of integration. The fish go in and out of the water fairly frequently. I would encourage you to try to grow some mangroves in on the land. The sand should be damp, so as to add comfort for the fish. Some species are active climbers, so make sure they can't leap out. They will dig holes in the sand and have a lot of interesting behaviour. I'm actually in the process of trying to find an elegant way to incorporate waves into a paludarium as I'd like to try mudskippers again soon. They are great fish, they eat the standard fair and are colourful and interesting. You may want to include some mollies with them, and if you're brave some smaller crabs. Once again, they are best maintained with salt in the water. Good luck these are really interesting fish!

[fishwolfe]

thanks for the info.which fluval did you use? i also was trying to make waves.an idea i had was putting a piece of acrylic on a 45 degree angle in the end of the tank,have a return fill the gap between the tank wall and the acrylic and when full enough the acrylic would lay down letting the water out making a wave?not sure how to get the acrylic back to the 45 angle again?just thinking out loud,probly lost ya,i know i confuse myself too.

[Darkside]

I used a submerged Fluval, the power filter variety tilted onto its side, I think that its rated for a 50 gallon aquarium? The method I'd worked out for making waves works on the same premise as a toilet, the pump would fill a reservoir with water, as it reaches the redetermined fill point it activates the pull chain (I'm using parts from an actual toilet), and then the water is released through an area near the bottom, this makes a wave. Without water in the reservoir the plug swings closed again and the pump refills the reservoir... I still have some adjustments to make, but when I get it working to my satisfaction I'll do a write up about it in the DIY forum.

[fishwolfe]

sounds cool.i'll keep an eye out for it.

[fightingfish]

i had four mudskippers once! they are awsome make sure you feed them live food and add salt to the tank as they live in brackish water. i used a glass to make a slope so i could fit a heater to the tank which was placed under the gravel so you couldent see it.

[white-worms]

My daughter just bought 2 funny enough after seeing some for sale in a retail aquarium shop. She thinks they look really cool.

Mmmmmm!

[fishwolfe]

i was tolg by the lfs that they couldn't order any ,but they will let me know when they are available.still need to finish the tank setup.