Question About Mudskippers

[Synirr]

I'm thinking of picking up some mudskippers I saw on Aquabid. The choices are Periophthalmus novemradiatus and P. septemradiatus. I was thinking of setting up a 20 gallon long, half water and half land... the question is, could I keep my waspfish with them? I'm not sure what SG these mudskippers prefer, still have some research to do, but the waspfish likes it around 1.016. I also haven't found any info about the temperament of mudskippers yet, so any info would be appreciated . Unless those auctions skyrocket in price, I'm definitely getting some

EDIT: Oh, and what kind of substrate for the land portion of the tank do you recommend?

 

[nmonks]

If you haven't already seen Richard Mleczko's mudskipper page, you should visit it soon. He's the most experienced mudskipper keeper I know, and has collected and kept mudskippers for decades.

You are right to mention salinity in the context of keeping mudskippers. Most of the commonly traded species are from brackish water habitats and do not like continually high salinities. Something between 1.005 and 1.015 is best. Anything about 1.010 should be fine for the waspfish, so I'd aim for 1.010 to 1.012.

Mudskippers are fairly aggressive fish to one another (a suprise to most keepers) and can be bullies towards more placid tankmates. I would guess a waspfish of equal size would be safe, but it it was much smaller than the mudskippers it might be at risk. Mudskippers eat small fish (obviously a bad idea if the prey has venomous spines...). Conversely, small 'skippers may be eaten by a larger waspfish.

Also check on the adult size of the mudskippers being offered for sale. Periophthalmus septemradiatus gets to about 8 cm at most, novemradiatus to 10 cm. I'd worry about septemradiatus ending up as food if the waspfish was particularly big and hungry.

As for sand, coral sand is probably ideal since it will buffer the water a bit. You may find it easier to use smooth cobbles and rocks to build up a shoreline, with a few bits of bogwood. The mudskippers don't mind too much if they can't dig (though they like to).

Cheers,

Neale

 

[CFC]

In such a small tank there will definately be aggression problems, we have found that we are only able to keep one mudskipper in a 30 gallon tank as it forced out the other two we had within a week, if we hadnt removed them they would have been killed.

 

[Synirr]

Thanks for the info and link, much appreciated! I wouldn't worry too much about the waspfish making lunch of the mudskipper, he is only a little over 2", tops. It's the other way around that I'm worried about, but the waspfish does have his own tank obviously, so he can stay there if I get the mudskipper and think better of it. I have seen a mudskipper setup using rocks for the land area and it looked nice, but I'd prefer to have something they can dig in; I love seeing my fish display as many of their natural behaviours as possible in the home aquarium

What species do you have, CFC? I was thinking of a pair, so a larger aquarium may be in order!

 

[CFC]

I have Periophthalmus barbarus, they re a little bigger than the ones you are looking at but still only reach around 15cm.

I would advise against a pair, the chances of you getting two males is very high and one fish will end up being constantly bullied by the other, I'd either go for a single mudskipper or a group of 5 or more with space permitting to spread aggression. Apparently mudskippers don't actually like each other very much and live in burrows several meters apart in the wild, they guard their space ferociously from all comers and only allow others into their territory for breeding.

 

[nmonks]

Just a follow-up to aggression. According to Richard Mlezcko, aggression increases with "land area". If the mudskippers are forced to use just one big of bogwood or stone, they are much less aggressive. They only become aggressive when they have territories to defend, and if they can't do that, they generally get along better.

Until my TFH brackish book hits the shelves, your best source of info is the Aqualog book. Well worth tracking down if you have an interest in these fish.

Cheers,

Neale

 

[Synirr]

Thanks again for the info! I've just moved to a bigger city and now have access to a shop where I can get mudskippers without having to order them and pay an atrocious price for shipping, so I'll probably be getting one from there. I suppose I'll go with just one after all, since I do want it to have some land area to dig around on