Just Curious... Got An Idea.

[n3ont3tra]

I was reading an aquarium book I had and they mentioned a mangrove
Tank. With mudskippers in it. And I think I might do that eventually. What I want to know is:

Will they go with puffers?
Will they puffers be okay with less water than normal?
What size tank would i need?

 

[nmonks]

Will they go with puffers?

Probably not. Puffers are not ideal community fish at the best of times, and with something as slow as mudskipper in the water, you'd be asking for trouble. If the tank was really big, you might get away with it. But I wouldn't bother. A bigger problem is aggressive or active fish scare mudskippers and stop them swimming, and the mudskippers stay on land much of the time. This doesn't do them any favours, as they need to go into the water periodically.

Will they puffers be okay with less water than normal?

No. Puffers are intolerant of poor water quality. So, you want as much water volume as possible. Most mudskippers couldn't care less about water quality (they're common close by sewage outfall pipes) because they spend so little time in the water.

What size tank would i need?

For the mudskippers, you have two factors: size and aggression. The smaller 'skippers are 8-10 cm, but there are lots in the 15-25 cm bracket. So depending on your species, you'll need a different size tank. Male 'skippers are very aggressive, and unless you keep just one male, you need to plan around having space and hiding places. For the smaller species, you would probably do well working around a 40 gallon tank upwards, so that you have space for the land, water, and mangrove plants. For bigger species, proportionally more.

Richard Mleczko's mudskipper web site is probably the best place to find out more.

Cheers,

Neale

 

[n3ont3tra]

What if I divided the tank helfway in half? Like this:

| |
|____|____|
And put sand in the middle and water on both sides

| |
|WWS|SWW|

EDIT:: Ok, the diagrams didn't work that well... What I was rying to show was 2 pools of water, one on the left, one on the right, that were divided by sand in the middle, and one side would have puffers. So if the MS's didn't want the puffers they could go on the other side. Would that be okay?

 

[MoMa]

if the tank were large enough you could silicone a cut-to-size piece of plexiglass down the middle. if it were visually unpleasant you could try to hide it with plants. basically you're looking at two tanks either way.

 

[Dave Legacy]

I've been trying to for a while now to try to figure out an appropriate way to combine fish and mudskippers together in the same paludarium. Even with a big tank, and a seemingly successful design, at the end of the day I keep realizing that mudskippers are probably best kept in a group and in species only tank w/a large footprint. Canister filters would be good filteration, but if you could grow some grasses or mangroves in the tank to export nutrients you could probably use just powerheads to move the water.

NO PUFFERS!

 

[kanzaris]

I've been trying to for a while now to try to figure out an appropriate way to combine fish and mudskippers together in the same paludarium. Even with a big tank, and a seemingly successful design, at the end of the day I keep realizing that mudskippers are probably best kept in a group and in species only tank w/a large footprint. Canister filters would be good filteration, but if you could grow some grasses or mangroves in the tank to export nutrients you could probably use just powerheads to move the water.

NO PUFFERS!

Hi

The best display of Mudskippers I have seen is at my local Maidenhead Aquatics. The guy who runs it is into Brackish Fish. There Display tank is about 4x4x4. Only half is filled with water and the only Fish in there are Archers. The back of the Tank is build up with rocks, plants and wood and a waterfall is running down the rocks into the tank. There are about 10 Mudskippers sitting on the wood and rocks. It looks fantastic. I will have to take a picture next time I go.

Sabby

 

[nmonks]

As others have said, basically mudskippers need their own tank. It's well worth it. By all means add a few guppies or Endlers if you must, but otherwise leave the mudskippers to settle in. Only then do you get the full fun. They're amazing fish! Funny, tameable, and full of life.

Cheers,

Neale

 

[n3ont3tra]

I really want another fish in with them if I do do mudskippers. What about Archerfish? Also, how would I take care of them and mudskippers?

 

[nmonks]

Your problem is that mudskippers live where there are very few fish. They are poor swimmers, so if they lived where predatory fish were common, they'd be eaten. Instead, mudskippers live where the water is very shallow and others fishes cannot go. So, if you put mudskippers in a tank with active fishes of similar or larger size, the mudskippers get scared and will avoid the water. This holds true even where the bigger fish are harmless, like monos and scats.

Archerfish can work well if the mudskippers are of equal size, but it is rare for this to be the case. Normally, archers are sold around the 8-10 cm mark, while baby mudskippers aroud the 4-5 cm mark seem to be the most commonly traded. But if you can get a large mudskipper species, like P. barbarus, and a smallish archer, like T. microlepis, then the combination would be worth trying. An SG of 1.005-1.008 would suit both species. T. microlepis don't like SG above 1.010, and ideally not even that. The smaller mudskippers only get to about 10-15 cm, are are going to be terrified of the larger archer species like T. jaculatrix.

The other fish worth trying would be the sailfin molly. These like saline conditions, and mollies tend to be pretty harmless fish provided they are not overcrowded.

One last thing. Mudskippers are completely indifferent to water quality (though water chemistry is important). Archerfish and mollies, on the other hand, should be given good, clean water as well as plenty of swimming space. If I were mixing mollies with mudskippers, I'd be thinking about a 180 litre aquarium, half filled with water, with lots of rocks and bogwood for the mudskippers. Giving the "swimming" fish like the archers and mollies too little swimming space would be bad in the long run, partly because they'd feel confined, but also because of the inability to keep the water clean if they only had a few tens of litres to swim in.

Cheers,

Neale

I really want another fish in with them if I do do mudskippers. What about Archerfish? Also, how would I take care of them and mudskippers?

 

[n3ont3tra]

Are archerfish on their own easy to care for?

 

[nmonks]

Yes. They are basically very hardy. The main problem with them is that the two commonest species are large, around 20 cm or so in aquaria. The third of the available species is smaller, around 12-15 cm. The second problem is that while schooling fish they are heirarchical, and in small groups they _sometimes_ become badly behaved, with one fish bullying the others. I've got a guide to identifying them on my brackish FAQ along with some additional info, here.

Cheers,

Neale

Are archerfish on their own easy to care for?

 

[n3ont3tra]

Would 5 be okay together? What size tank would I need? BTW, I appreciate you giving me all this information