My 20g Mudskipper Tank

So I have been working on my first brackish aquarium, and I finally got it completely finished (minus a replacement heater and something to quiet the filter sloshing) and it’s ready for its only inhabitant, an Indian dwarf mudskipper. I plan on ordering it from my LFS in two weeks, as I have a vacation coming soon and I can’t risk it arriving while I’m gone. Here are some pics!


Here is the whole of the tank, with the results of my ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate tests below it (and the shells are all exogyra ponderosa, a species of prehistoric oyster that lived in the shallow oceans and swamps that would eventually become Texas. They lived in the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, and may have been preyed upon by marine reptiles)


Just in front of this rock is a ghost shrimp named Duke, who is a sort of biological alarm (due to his sensitivity to bad water conditions, he will alert me by dying if there’s something wrong) The water is a bit brownish due to the driftwood I added a few weeks ago (PH is fine, so I’m not too concerned though)


Here is the tank viewed from the side, with a good view of the beach and the driftwood bridge that leads to a pile of rocks for basking on. I will update with more pics once I get the mudskipper itself!

 

Cool! Looks really interesting.
Where's the Mudskipper?

 

There isn’t one yet, but there should be one sometime in February, if it arrives at my LFS soon enough.

 

So I have been working on my first brackish aquarium, and I finally got it completely finished (minus a replacement heater and something to quiet the filter sloshing) and it’s ready for its only inhabitant, an Indian dwarf mudskipper. I plan on ordering it from my LFS in two weeks, as I have a vacation coming soon and I can’t risk it arriving while I’m gone. Here are some pics!
View attachment 392449
Here is the whole of the tank, with the results of my ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate tests below it (and the shells are all exogyra ponderosa, a species of prehistoric oyster that lived in the shallow oceans and swamps that would eventually become Texas. They lived in the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, and may have been preyed upon by marine reptiles like liopleurodon and mosasaurus)
View attachment 392450
Just in front of this rock is a ghost shrimp named Duke, who is a sort of biological alarm (due to his sensitivity to bad water conditions, he will alert me by dying if there’s something wrong) The water is a bit brownish due to the driftwood I added a few weeks ago (PH is fine, so I’m not too concerned though)
View attachment 392451
Here is the tank viewed from the side, with a good view of the beach and the driftwood bridge that leads to a pile of rocks for basking on. I will update with more pics once I get the mudskipper itself!

Any updates?
This is really interesting. I honestly had to look up "Mudskipper" and I'm intrigued

 

Any updates?
This is really interesting. I honestly had to look up "Mudskipper" and I'm intrigued

Not yet, as I’m on vacation atm, but I’m getting back in 3 days or so and I’m hoping to order it ASAP.

 

Ok, I literally just got back a few minutes ago (as of when this message was posted) and I’ve come back to an ugly white mold growing on some of my driftwood. I’m totally exhausted so I’m not doing anything about it tonight, but I’m gonna run tests and everything tomorrow to make sure everything else is fine. Any tips for getting rid of this mold?

 

I have the same thing on one of my pieces of driftwood. It was all scummy with whitish clear pockets on it. I took it out of my tank and hopefully I can return it. I'm thinking it was for a reptile tank? I would love it if anyone has some ideas.

 

What I did was put it in a pot of water and boiled it on the stove. I had to do it twice, as it was slightly too big for the pot, but it has the added benefit of removing tannins.

Another update: I, and my siblings, have come down with the flu, so I’ve been unable to get to my LFS (which is especially annoying as I need some TSS+ to start up my little brothers old 10 gallon) It’s starting to clear up for me and it hasn’t hit my parents yet, so I’m hoping that I’ll be able to go to my LFS by next weekend at the latest.

 

Awww that stinks. Sorry! This is SUCH a cool build though. I've always thought mudskippers looked super cool. How is Duke doing?

 

Duke is great! I actually hadn’t seen him in a while due to the tannin stained water, but after careful searching I finally found him chilling by the heater. I wasn’t able to get a pic because he swam off somewhere while I wasn’t looking, but he seems healthy.

 

I read elsewhere on this forum that the white fuzz on new driftwood is okay and that if you just leave it alone it will naturally go away in about a week.

Per that same thread, it said it's caused by bacteria blooms that will naturally fade away with time. They also said that removing it yourself won't necessarily make it stop, it will keep coming back until it's taken its course.

I'm new here. This is reguritated information, not mine own.

 

I read elsewhere on this forum that the white fuzz on new driftwood is okay and that if you just leave it alone it will naturally go away in about a week.

Per that same thread, it said it's caused by bacteria blooms that will naturally fade away with time. They also said that removing it yourself won't necessarily make it stop, it will keep coming back until it's taken its course.

I'm new here. This is reguritated information, not mine own.

It's true. I have it on my Manzanita wood and it is harmless to the fish but annoying to look at!!! LOL. I have had mine for a couple of month's. I have a Pleco that likes to eat some of it. IM getting a couple of Mystery Snail's.

 

Update: So I added a homemade sponge of sorts to the filter made from the netting a bag of tangerines cane in to quiet the sloshing noise the filter made, and it works wonderfully! Since I had to remove the filter for two days while the silicone I used to glue it was curing, I put the filter media in a bucket of spare tank water (I always have some fresh, clea tank water ready for water changes or situations like these) I cleaned off the cartridge for the first time in a while so the water was pretty dirty, and I was about to pour the old water down the sink drain when I discovered Duke was somehow sitting there in the water happy as can be! He presumably swam up the filter and was in there feasting on detritus when I removed the media (he does that a lot) Fortunately he’s back where he belongs and not in my drainage pipes! Pics of him in the bucket:




In other news, I haven’t placed an order for my mudskipper yet due to the flu now affecting almost everyone else in the family (it’s passing now though) but we did find a new LFS online that is supposedly vastly superior to my old LFS according to the reviews, so I’m going to be placing the order with them instead of the old LFS, which had a pretty bad supplier anyway (it took them the better part of a year to get the figure 8 puffer that was my tank’s previous resident, and they all had finrot to varying degrees)

 

Update: So I added a homemade sponge of sorts to the filter made from the netting a bag of tangerines cane in to quiet the sloshing noise the filter made, and it works wonderfully! Since I had to remove the filter for two days while the silicone I used to glue it was curing, I put the filter media in a bucket of spare tank water (I always have some fresh, clea tank water ready for water changes or situations like these) I cleaned off the cartridge for the first time in a while so the water was pretty dirty, and I was about to pour the old water down the sink drain when I discovered Duke was somehow sitting there in the water happy as can be! He presumably swam up the filter and was in there feasting on detritus when I removed the media (he does that a lot) Fortunately he’s back where he belongs and not in my drainage pipes! Pics of him in the bucket:
View attachment 403231 View attachment 403232

In other news, I haven’t placed an order for my mudskipper yet due to the flu now affecting almost everyone else in the family (it’s passing now though) but we did find a new LFS online that is supposedly vastly superior to my old LFS according to the reviews, so I’m going to be placing the order with them instead of the old LFS, which had a pretty bad supplier anyway (it took them the better part of a year to get the figure 8 puffer that was my tank’s previous resident, and they all had finrot to varying degrees)

Sneaky little Duke! I'm always anxious doing water changes/ cleaning with my ghost shrimp. sometimes they're just so hard to see! Ever think of getting more?

Good luck with getting your mud skipper, and being rid of the flu

 

Naughty Duke! I always have to check my buckets when I do a water change because my shrimp go for rides down the siphon :|

 

Ok, so last Tuesday, I finally ordered my mudskipper! I went to a new LFS, and they look spectacular compared to any other LFS I’ve been to. They apparently have the largest selection of fish and corals in central Texas, and I believe it! I saw numerous oddball fish (bichirs, arowanas, etc) and breeds of fancy goldfish I’ve only seen in books. They also had an outstanding coral selection and several clams which I wanted so much to buy-alas, since I am probably moving this summer I don’t want to get a large saltwater aquarium until I’ve arrived and settled in.

The saltwater fish were kept in rather small tanks a lot of the time, though to be fair they all had pieces of live rock in with them to hide behind and they were all extremely tiny-I didn’t know blue tangs could be that small and look identical to the adults. Anything that was remotely too big for those tanks was in one of multiple larger tanks, and it seemed like nothing was too overcrowded (except the arowanas in the freshwater area, though they weren’t much more than 7~ inches and looked pretty healthy) I even got my first look at an adult convict goby!

And not too many exotic giant fish as far as I was aware in the saltwater area, except for tangs and a few puffers, and maybe a few goatfishes and wrasses. No sharks or shark eggs to be seen anywhere! (wasn’t sure about species though, as I was paying most of my attention to the corals and clams)
I feel like they’re an LFS I can come back to and buy from without feeling the slightest tinge of guilt-their pea puffers looked especially happy to be alive, and puffers being as sensitive as they are I imagine the water quality is pitch-perfect.

Anyway, back to the main topic. They said it could be a week, it could be a year, but I gave them my name and number and they said they would call me when it arrived. I feel like I can actually trust the staff though, and I imagine it will arrive soon (I certainly HOPE it does)
I’m gonna wait on getting java ferns for now as the budget isn’t very huge, and I’m prioritizing my little brother’s tank and my half-built betta tank (my brackish tank has 3-5ish gallons of water from a kit with a filter intended for 10-20 gallons, so I think I’m good on filtration) Duke is happy as far as I know, with the water being as dark as it is it’s nigh-impossible to find him without tearing half the tank apart.

 

So I’ve been looking at alternative sources for mudskippers (not because I don’t trust my LFS, I’m just impatient) and the closest thing I could find was two blue spotted mudskippers. I’ve read about them and they don’t seem to get much bigger, but I feel really iffy about putting a pair in my tank, especially if they could both be males. The pair was also 90 dollars. Is it worth the risk (and the price) or no? I’m perfectly fine with continuing to wait but I’d like to get it sooner than later.

 

So I was at my LFS today and guess what? They had mudskippers!!! My new heater still hasn’t arrived so we’re grabbing the same one from petsmart tomorrow and then running over and purchasing said mudskipper. There were two and I was honestly tempted to get both. Could two Indian dwarf mudskippers live safely in a 20 gallon tall? I’m iffy about it but I feel bad about leaving the other one there.

 

I don't know but yay! So glad you finally found some.

 

And here he is, my new mudskipper! He’s currently being acclimated but seems healthy. I was told he’s especially mean so I shouldn’t house any others with him, so I decided to stick with the original plan and just have one.


I’ll update with better photos and a name poll once he’s done acclimating.

 

Alrighty, he’s in the tank!

 

Awesome!!! I can't really find him but I'm sure he'll love his tank LOL.

 

After feeding him a few times, I’ve decided to name him Pig, because that’s exactly what he is. I fed him this morning and he was so impatient he just dragged the whole piece of frozen brine shrimp I gave him into the water before realizing it wasn’t actually edible yet.
I’ve been doing some research and I am pretty sure he is actually a Periopthalmodon septemradiatus, and not a true Indian dwarf mudskipper, periopthalmus novemradiatus. They do grow to similar sizes however so I’m not too concerned about it.

 

He looks really cool! I hope you have a great experience keeping him.

 

Turns out pig is living up to his aggressive nature! I was feeding him today, and I decided to try holding the food in the palm of my hand and letting him climb on it, but he decided to try taking a chunk out of my finger instead. It didn’t hurt much or leave a mark, but it did prove he has four very big teeth that are good for grabbing things.

He’s incredibly smart though, that’s for sure. I’d say he gives my lovebird Ginkgo a run for his money when it comes to intelligence. Just looking at him, it feels as if he’s studying me as much as I’m studying him.

 

Haven’t updated this thread in a long while! Today I had to move Pig to the living room while we move away for a month-ish, and I thought it would be the perfect time to remove the ugly substrate I had. We went down to the LFS, and grabbed some really nice white sand. Here are some photos of the rescaping process:





I forgot to take a bunch of photos, but I think it turned out great and now actually looks like somewhere a mudskipper would live. Pig seems to enjoy it so far!
Duke, unfortunately, was nowhere to be found when tearing the tank down, and I was extra careful not to accidentally suck him up. I presumed he died at some point and rotted away, or Pig caught him and had himself a treat. May he Rest In Peace.

Anyway, another neat thing I noticed about the sand: Pig leaves these funny little trackways all over the terrestrial part of the tank. Here’s a pic:


And for those of you who are curious, here’s the sand I used:

 

Haven’t updated this thread in a long while! Today I had to move Pig to the living room while we move away for a month-ish, and I thought it would be the perfect time to remove the ugly substrate I had. We went down to the LFS, and grabbed some really nice white sand. Here are some photos of the rescaping process:
View attachment 441837
View attachment 441838 View attachment 441839
I forgot to take a bunch of photos, but k think it turned out great and now actually looks like somewhere a mudskipper would live. Pig seems to enjoy it so far!
Duke, unfortunately, was nowhere to be found when tearing the tank down, and I was extra careful not to accidentally suck him up. I presumed he died at some point and rotted away, or Pig caught him and had himself a treat. May he Rest In Peace.

Anyway, another neat thing I noticed about the sand: Pig leaves these funny little trackways all over the terrestrial part of the tank. Here’s a pic:
View attachment 441840
And for those of you who are curious, here’s the sand I used:
View attachment 441846

I'm betting pig ate the little guy...

 

Can we see more picture of him in his tank?

 

I would, but I’m currently in another city an hour and a half away for the month and he stayed home so I can’t take pics. I go back frequently to check on him so I can get more photos then.

 

This is so cool I've never seen a mudskipper in a tank before/up close and there so cute!

 

Yeah, he’s easily the best fish I’ve ever had. I’m honestly surprised they’re so rare in captivity, they’re pretty easy to care for, incredibly hardy, and have so much personality.
They’re pretty aggressive (I should get some pics of what happens when I put a mirror next to the glass) so they’re really a species-only tank type fish, but that doesn’t make them any less interesting.

BTW I eventually figured out he’s an African mudskipper, despite being marked as an Asian. I imagine that the two shipments were mixed up (he was approximately the same size as the others, who were Asians) and he ended up with his Asian cousins.

 

Very interesting fish never seen anybody actually setup a tank for them but tempts me a little after seeing this thread

 

Reading this makes me want to get one. I'm going to start doing some research lol

 

This is a really interesting thread. Has me wondering what it's like to watch a fish walk on it's fins.

 

As he's so cute! Does he make those little blobs with sand? Like when they burrow

 

So far, he hasn’t attempted to burrow (despite being a male) but I have seen documentaries about them and they do make those blob thingies.

Briandd30 ValerieAdams Do it! Mudskippers are super great, the hardest thing about them is actually finding a LFS that will order them for you/stocks them regularly. (as you may have noticed reading this thread it took me the better half of a year to find mine)

 

I really want to! If you don't mind me asking, how much was Pig? And if you could have a different type, which one would you choose?

 

IIRC, he was somewhere between 15-30 dollars.
If I could choose a different species I’d probably go with the Asian mudskipper (periopthalmus novemradiatus) which is harder to find but is smaller and in large enough tanks (40+ gallons) can be kept in groups so long as each individual has an area of land they can claim for themselves.

 

IIRC, he was somewhere between 15-30 dollars.
If I could choose a different species I’d probably go with the Asian mudskipper (periopthalmus novemradiatus) which is harder to find but is smaller and in large enough tanks (40+ gallons) can be kept in groups so long as each individual has an area of land they can claim for themselves.

When I was reading about them yesterday, some sources said they could be kept with red clawed crabs. I've always wanted a red craw crab tank too so I really would like to try to get both and put them together in the future.

 

If you do go with red claw crabs, make sure each species has plenty of land so the mudskipper doesn’t harass the crabs.