How much water do i need for mudskippers?

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MrDankYT

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I saw these mudskippers in my local pet store and i wanted some, when i got home i researched more about them i saw they needed brackish water, and that makes it so that i can't keep them in the same tank as my other fish, also saw they'll eat anything that moves, and with my shrimp and small tetras in the tank i don't think it would go well, so i was already making my terrarium into a paludarium and thought that would be a good place to put them, my question was, is the size good enough for them? the area where there will be water is about 55x10x10cm, and the part where there's land and plants is about 55x22x35 (L,W,H). Is this enough? If it is then i'll definitely buy them as they're super cool.
 
It depends upon the species, but if the mudskippers are one of the smaller sized species, then the tank you mention should be fine as far as dimensions. The "land" portion is much more significant to the mudskippers than the water depth. Provided they can fully submerge themselves in water--which means it can be very shallow, say 2 inches (5 cm) depth at the deepest area, they will be fine. Providing a beach setting is ideal, where the sand (it needs to be sand) is sloped from the water up to being "dry." Logs on the "land" portion are good, as this is natural.

Mudskippers will remain out of water more of the time than submerged. They must keep themselves moist (much like an amphibian) and they will return to the water for a mouthful, as they "breathe" primarily by extracting the oxygen from the mouthful of water, replenishing it when they need to. So the sand can have lots of areas where is it sitting in water rather than being actually out of the water. Sort of like shallow puddles.

The feed on the land area, not underwater. I had one many years ago and every night I fed him foods like small chunks of frozen squid, shrimp, and similar (thawed of course), from my fingertip. Once or twice a week I put a very small clump of live small worms (tubifex back then) on one of the logs where I always fed him from--and he got used to that...at the first sound of the tank cover opening, he would jump into the water and swim to the log, climb out, and literally jump for joy. He got so excited a couple times that he jumped right out and I had to chase him over the floor.

Brackish water is mandatory. And keep the mudskippers on their own, no other fish,etc. Also, if you want more than one, get them together from the same source (tank); this can avoid introducing disease from different sources, something that happened to me and I lost them.
 
Thanks so much for your response! I just finished up the tank and it has sand on the bottom and flat stones as a way to get up on land, on land is moss, dirt, sand, some wood, and another big piece of stone where they can bask for the light. I have a device called maxi fogger that releases fog into the paludarium, so it will be humid enough. i will probably be feeding the mudskippers with mealworms or bloodworms, mealworms i breed myself. I already have a big bag of what's called "Marine SeaSalt" from a brand called Tetra which i used when hatching brine shrimp, that will probably do. Should the tank remain plant free or can i add something? Will it survive in brackish?
 
Thanks so much for your response! I just finished up the tank and it has sand on the bottom and flat stones as a way to get up on land, on land is moss, dirt, sand, some wood, and another big piece of stone where they can bask for the light. I have a device called maxi fogger that releases fog into the paludarium, so it will be humid enough. i will probably be feeding the mudskippers with mealworms or bloodworms, mealworms i breed myself. I already have a big bag of what's called "Marine SeaSalt" from a brand called Tetra which i used when hatching brine shrimp, that will probably do. Should the tank remain plant free or can i add something? Will it survive in brackish?

Generally sounds good, but a couple of cautions. On the food...mealworms and bloodworms should only be fed once a week. I used to raise the mealworms too, primarily for my amphibians and African Butterfly Fish, but with fish especially (including mudskippers) no more often than one or two worms a week. I used to feed the beatles once in a while, the amphibians were good at catching them, not sure how a mudskipper would do, but try it and see. Bloodworms once a week, they too are not that healthy.

If you live where you can get small earthworms in the garden or a compost, try those, the very small ones. They are far more nutritious as worms go, one a week.

Be careful of light, they do not bask in light like reptiles need to, and they must remain moist.

Plants are not easy, but Java Fern can tolerate brackish conditions so attach a few plants to some of the wood. It will grow emersed like this if the moisture is kept as you seem to intend.

Salt must be marine salt, intended for marine salt water tanks. Mix half strength (or whatever the directions may tell you). I don't know the Tetra but it sounds right.
 
The rock leading to the land is copper ore I plucked from the forest then power washed and cleaned thoroughly, it's pretty smooth and the sand is some sand that's supposed to used in industrial purposes and is recommended aquarium sand in Sweden, called blästeringsand. "Blasting sand" ? The grains are 0.2-0.7mm. I might change some of the stone to smoother store bought black stone, no clue what it's called in english but it's black, flat and easy to break apart in pieces.
 
Oh and the light is a bright LED light from an aquarium, probably won't heat or dry anything, I keep the fogger on every other hour of every day (not during night), when the fogger isn't on the moss will also keep moisture so I think it will be humid enough, need to find a hydrometer to measure salt levels...
 
Alright i put in the salt, im guessing it's around 5 litres, and at 1.010 specific gravity/10 ppt i found i should use 60 grams of salt with a calculator, will test the salinity though when i get a hydrometer
 
The rock leading to the land is copper ore I plucked from the forest then power washed and cleaned thoroughly, it's pretty smooth and the sand is some sand that's supposed to used in industrial purposes and is recommended aquarium sand in Sweden, called blästeringsand. "Blasting sand" ? The grains are 0.2-0.7mm. I might change some of the stone to smoother store bought black stone, no clue what it's called in english but it's black, flat and easy to break apart in pieces.

No, this is bad on both counts. Do not ever use copper ore in an aquarium, it will leech copper and fish cannot tolerate copper at levels that are even safe for humans.

The sand is not good either. Blasting sand is rough, that is why it is used for blasting to break up other rock. The fish including mudskippers will not be OK with this sand.

The flat black stone might be shale which is (or should be) fish safe...but why not go with a more authentic mudskipper habitat? They will be the better for it. Sand and chunks of wood. For very inespensive sand, get a bag of play sand; this is the most highly refined industrial sand. You could also use marine sand, though it might mess with the brackish water issue. Probably best to use the inert play sand and then mix the brackish water from scratch.
 
Oh and the light is a bright LED light from an aquarium, probably won't heat or dry anything, I keep the fogger on every other hour of every day (not during night), when the fogger isn't on the moss will also keep moisture so I think it will be humid enough, need to find a hydrometer to measure salt levels...

That is OK as far as temperature. Just make sure it is not too bright, this bothers mudskippers and fish.
 

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