mudskipper brackish tank

was thinking of selling my tank as lost the job and was going to emigrate but staying now.But with all the spare time now decided to make a half water and half land brackish mudskipper and fish tank.have a good landscape vision in my head just 4 questions.have been on a lot of sites last couple of days and have most aspects sorted.

1) a type of carpeting moss/plant for land and water for brackish water.

2}an adhesive which can be removed and suitable for this project but can be removed if needed without tank been damaged if in future want to go back to a fish tank.

3)would anyone no if polysterine effect the water and is it safe to use under water .

4)if there is a safe paint for coloring fake rocks etc for use in tank and were to get it


will be starting in a week or so and input will help i was going to document with pictures as well so other people won,t make mistakes i will make before it is eventually right.

I have a few different set-ups with mudskippers in them, but tend to use all natural decor (apart from one tank that has an awfully tacky fish-tank ornament).

What sort of tank dimensions do you have by the way?

Plants....there would be a few if you went for a short-term freshwater system, but if you go for Brackish then why not try living mangrove.

Any paint safe for marines would be fine. I don't use any paint though.

Polystyrene....if soaked well then it is fine in the short-term, but I've not tried it long-term. Polystyrene itself is fine, but there is always the risk of manufacturing by-products in it.

I have some polystyrene chunks floating in some tanks.

Which species of mudskipper are you going to get?
The choice would determine how you set-up your tank:

if you go for the commoner Periophthalmus barbarus then you need to make multiple regions for their get-away response (diving into water) plus have plenty of visual barriers (they are aggressive and easily take chunks out of each other and your fingers).

If you go for something like Periophthalmodon septemradiatus then they are much smaller (about 8-9 cm) and need escape hide on land (their escape response is to go to the land).

You need something for them dig in as they like to dig....inert sterlised aquatic mud is best (but getting it is not always easy).

Fascinating animals.

Don't ask about breeding them...I've been trying for over 30 years and no one else has ever bred them in captivity: but you could be the first.

Ian

thanks for response tank is a 190 corner tank was looking all weekend for examples .seen great one on you tube and then theres a link( waterfall led a_z) its in german but good setup lot of plants which i wouldn,t need but great setup.

I will use stones persplex mainly as not 100% on other materials safty aspect. and use a couple of slate pieces and soil i look into mangroves after this and see what lighting needed substrate etc.

not sure what type species of mudskipper yet but would like to leave enough water space for two archers. and leave small various pools for the mudskippers if they don,t take to the deeper water.

cheers derek.

I'd recommend that of the ones more commonly available you go for Periophthalmodon septemradiatus (often called the Vietnamese Mudskipper) as much better bet than the larger much more aggressive and physically powerful common mudskipper (Periophthalmus barbarus) for the plan of mixing them.

The P. barbarus grow to a foot long and are the only animal to ever draw blood (and quite a lot) from me.

I can't read german, but I'd usually gather german sites give good info. Good Mudskipper info is quite sparse on the web. Most of it is clearly second-hand.

Ian

i keep you posted if i have an issues i let you no making a trip saturday to seahorse for adhesive and other ideas

If you're in there the same time as I am, then have a chat.

ian

There was an artical in Practical Fishkeeping (Dec issiue I think) on growing Mangroves, I'd say it pretty much covers all you'd need to know to get started..

Rolly

thanks rolly i check that out