Tropical Fish Forum
Tropical Fish Keeping => Gallery Showcase => Topic started by: Littlefish on March 07, 2017, 02:19:49 PM
-
:vcross:
This is the third time since Saturday that I have taken everything out to start again.
Even though I've spent months researching the captive housing of mudskippers as pets, I just can't seem to get the layout in the tank right. I couldn't get the sand/land area right, then I hadn't made the water part deep enough for the filter. I'm about to have another go, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that something works out this time.
Just got back from independent LFS, where I purchased more silicone and got some more advice. They've been very supportive, bless them.
Might also have to treat myself to a take away and some beers tonight.
-
Ok, so I might be getting somewhere with the mudskipper tank. Phew.
I have built a divider to hold the sand/rock/pebbles in place for the land section, and am waiting for the silicone to dry. It's looking a bit grey at the moment, but I'm sure it will look better with the wood, etc. in place.
Had to cheer myself up by blanching some courgette and putting it in the bristlenose tank. It took Harry/Harri around 30 minutes of whiffling around the tank, up to the feeding rock, away to the log pile (repeat many times), before latching on to the courgette for 15 minutes before taking a break. He/she is back on the courgette again, so I think it's safe to say that it's another vegetable that I can offer.
No sign of Bertie, apart from a brief flash of gold from within the woodpile, so not sure if he likes courgette yet. :)
-
I have built a divider to hold the sand/rock/pebbles in place for the land section, and am waiting for the silicone to dry.
I use correx plastic sheeting cut to size to keep bits of aquascape where I want it to be. The wave in my substrate in the Papua New Guinea was created by using correx as in the very crude diagram below. The two outer curves are 5 cm in height and the inner ones are 8 cm. It doesn't need sticking as substrate and physics will keep it in place.
With my large tank (one month past ordering it!) I'll use polystyrene below the substrate to reduce weight when creating the hill which will be kept in place by rocks as well. I find this kind of thing fun but it is work so you have my empathy. :)
-
@marquismirage I usually enjoy setting up a tank, but last week I had concerns that this one may be pushing me to my limits, even before I started.
When I visited the independent LFS today I aired some of my concerns, including the requirement for polystyrene under the stones, and my ability to even put together a tank suitable for mudskippers, when one of the guys said "we have faith in you", so no pressure. :-[
I hope that by the time I go back on Friday (to collect the weekly delivery of live bloodworms for the dwarf puffers) I am in a better mood (less stressed) and have some positive news for them.
I saw some correx at a DIY store today, and thought it would be useful, though eventually went with slate tile thingies to build the divider between land and water. I hope to finish the land area tomorrow, add the brackish water, and get the filter & heater running, with the aim of collecting the mudskippers Thursday/Friday.
It is hard work, but quite a nice way to spend my week off work. :)
-
::) I think we are forgetting something..... didn't I hear you offer a takeaway and a few beers? The coach is booked and will be picking people up on the way south. Brace yourself, you may need a second portion of rice.
-
Aquarium road trip! I'll chip in for fuel and, er, chips.
@Littlefish Hehe, if we wanted the easy life we'd keep rocks as pets. What kind of mudskippers are you getting? I don't know anything about the species kept in aquariums. I remember seeing a documentary once with mudskippers living in mangroves swamps and the males had their own little islands which were their territory and they competed for the best islands.
-
Oi... you know the rules... pictures! :isay:
-
Apologies to all.
The takeaway was postponed and I had roast chicken for dinner.
The mudskippers were delivered to my local MA in error, and the delivery company told them to keep them. As they had not been ordered the staff didn't have the latin name for them, but with much gawping at the tank and waiting for them to flash their fins so we could check the colours, we are confident that they are Periophthalmus barbarus (atlantic mudskipper). This means that they are larger and more territorial than some others, but they are very cute. There are three of them, we think it's two males and a female, and although there hasn't been too much trouble in the store tank, I'm preprared for the submissive male having to be moved to another tank if the dominant males causes problems in the new tank.
As for pictures, I will take some today. I could take a pic now, but it would mainly be rocks, wood, and buckets of sand/pebbles laid out on towels on the floor in front of the tank, after I pulled everything apart again yesterday. ???
-
::) I think we are forgetting something..... didn't I hear you offer a takeaway and a few beers? The coach is booked and will be picking people up on the way south. Brace yourself, you may need a second portion of rice.
Count me in too! :rotfl:
This sounds a very interesting project. Looking forward to hearing of the developments and pics, before and after the arrival of the mudskippers.
-
Got the tank almost done.
Currently adjusting temperature/humidity/salinity, and will also be adding more sand to the slope on the right.
Don't think I'll put any plants in the water, but will need to get some more long pieces of wood.
Phew, time for a rest now.
-
Wow - that is seriously impressive. Thumbs-up approval from both Mr & Mrs FCMF. :)
-
I agree totally. Looks like your hard work is paying off!
-
Many thanks for the compliments.
It has been hard work, and I'm looking forward to getting the mudskippers and seeing how they get on with the tank. I can always make some adjustments where necessary.
I've made some more adjustments to the salinity, and will leave it overnight before testing again. :)
-
@Littlefish Very impressive! All this started because of the orphaned fish in the store, or was this part of a longer term plan? You mentioned having mangrove trees some time ago so is it a coincidence?
I'm not sure if it is the same species but I think I recall a Life on Earth#1 episode with skippers defending burrows in the mud when the tide was out, returning to the burrow when it was in?
This suggestion isn't initially going to make your life any easier but.... they live in tidal areas and the tank looks like the water volume is quite small. Would it help having a sump and pumping water up into the top tank on a timer. This would give you a lot more water volume and the mud flat area at low water could be much larger and flatter removing the territorial pressure?
btw poor chicken - roasted!
-
Donna - that looks stunning. They're very lucky little mudskippers.
-
@ColinB I hope that they will be comfortable with the environment, fingers crossed.
@Andy the minion basically yes, this all started from a delivery mistake at MA. However, this does show perfectly why I have so many tanks - I start out with the intention of something completely normal, get distracted, and then I'm spending months researching how to house something I've only ever seen on tv. I did buy some mangrove seedlings, but have not had much luck with them. The root systems have frown, but the leaves have not, so they are still in a pot rather than in the tank. I went with air plants in the tank because they can do well in warm, humid environments, and can be regularly misted.
I've seen a tank that has been set up as you describe, and has a twice daily flooding of the mudflat. Technically awesome and completely beyond me. I'd also seen mudskippers kept in paludariums, and originally thought this would be easier and more attractive, even though it is not an accurate representation of their natural environment. I started setting up the tank with a focus on the plants and land section, and soon found that it wouldn't work because my tank wasn't tall enough to accommodate the land and plants properly. That was why I emptied the tank to start again, trying to build the land section lower before finding there wasn't enough room for the filter in the water, then giving up and just going for air plants and what can only be described as an environment which has the correct water/humidity and contains any items smooth enough not to damage the mudskippers undersides whilst still giving them things to climb on and hide under.
I agree that there is not much water, and this was intentional. They spend 90% of their time out of water. They are not strong swimmers and can drown if they can't walk/climb out of the water. Most tanks I've seen during researching them either had very low water levels, or lots of wood in the water for the fish to climb on. I will need to get more wood as I used most of what I had pre-soaked for the woodpile in the bristlenose tank recently.
I know I'll have to make some adjustments to the tank as I go along, but I'm hoping that I've got enough of the basics right. :)
-
Have just got home from MA.
I now have 4 mudskippers. ;D
The whole thing has been an emotional rollercoaster already.
I was very excited driving to the store.
I thought they had 3 mudskippers, but when all the wood was removed from the tank we counted 4. It seemed rude to leave one behind, so....
I couldn't help chuckling when the big boss was trying to net them, and one escaped an ran across the top of the tank.
I was very nervous driving home with them. It's bad enough driving home with fish normally, but also worrying that the fish would drown, made it worse. I put the bag at an angle on the passenger seat, so the fish could swim to a part of the bag where they could climb out of the water if they wanted to.
I got home and one of the fish was floating, lifeless. Huge disappointment at the though that one had died on the way home. I moved the water and the fish didn't respond, which was very sad. I got one of the smaller pieces of bog wood from the tank and scooped the fish out of the water, at which point it took a big breath. Nervous relief ensued. Although the staff had told me to do a slow acclimatisation with the fish, needs must, and I brought this one out of the bag on the wood and placed the wood on the land area. He is in the first photo, and has since moved and seems ok.
For the remaining fish I have rolled down the bag, placed it at a jaunty angle in the water, and put some wood in the bag so the fish can climb out if they want to. I am also slowly adding small amounts of my tank water. As you can see from the second photo, another 2 fish have made their way to the top of the bag.
The final fish is at the bottom of the bag, but seems fine for now. ;D
-
I apologise in advance for the amount of photos I am likely to post today.
Here's another one - 2 fish exploring, one at the top of the bag, the fourth still at the bottom of the bag.
-
Apologies for the quality of the pictures, but the tank is being kept dark today. I can't stop peeking in and taking pictures though.
The last fish was "encouraged" out of the bag and onto a piece of bogwood (wood coming out of water on left of first picture), so now all 4 are exploring the tank.
The first bit of territorial behaviour was witnessed (second picture) but no physical contact, so that was good.
This little fella (third picture) seems to be taking it all in his stride, and has found the cave at the back right of the tank, has explored most of the tank, and seems quite bold, even though he wasn't the dominant one in the shop tank (that was the fish in the second picture).
They are so cute running around the tank, and jumping to different bits of wood.
I can't wait until tomorrow when I can feed them.
-
Love your updates and pics, Donna, such unusual fish! Great to see and I look forward to seeing your progress 8) 8) 8)
-
This calls for Snoopy.....
(https://img.clipartfest.com/525ce07f2dc4124109e88aef19001aa2_-snoopy-tattoo-and-cat-face-snoopy-dancing-clip-art_500-216.jpeg)
-
Thanks Colin. ;D
That was almost my reaction when the floating mudskipper started breathing.
A couple of the fish seem to have found territories that they like, and there has been some chasing around and jostling for position, but they all seem to be doing well at the moment.
They are funny little fellas. ;D
-
The whole thing has been an emotional rollercoaster already.
Good grief - so it was; quite a rollercoaster reading all about it too but thanks for sharing as it's been great to read all about the developments and almost "see" them unfold.
This calls for Snoopy.....
I had just been thinking that there were a few threads where we could have done with some of your pics; glad to see you've "obliged". :D
-
All new arrivals have survived the night.
This little one does not appreciate having his/her picture taken and flashes their fin as a warning to leave them alone. Fair enough, I'm not really a morning person myself and can't summon a friendly response until my second coffee. :)
-
I have been watching this thread with anticipation, and they are adorable. Funny looking things, but adorable :)
I would never have the nerve to dosomething like this ;D
-
@Sue, with your fish experience you'd be able to do anything.
I've spent months researching mudskippers, since the day they were delivered to MA, and I nearly lost the plot over the whole thing earlier this week. The bum-clenching terror of getting in wrong and causing distress to the fish was worse this time than it has been with buying any other fish, or axolotls.
I haven't been keeping fish for very long, but with the support and advice I've got here I've been able to manage most situations, so thanks to everyone here, and a "high five" to the fishy forum friends. ;D
-
Well, after all the chaos of having to split the mudskippers up, etc. I was wondering if I could train them to eat out of a bowl to stop their bloodworms from making the sand dirty, and also wondering how long it would be until they settled down enough for me to be able to take some pictures.
The food bowl thing has been successful in the two tanks I've tried it in. I've used the smallest reptile feeding dishes I could find, and plan to get some more.
Last night I moved the female into the 200L tank to join the one male I'd left in there. Both had survived the night, but the male seems unhappy about having another fish in his tank. I got a coffee and sat on the floor in front of the tank to watch. He chased her around the tank, and when they were both on the sand, face to face, he opened his mouth really wide, and she didn't respond. The open mouth thing is the first part of the display of dominance, and another male would have responded with an open mouth. This could then escalate to flashing the fins, and eventually lead to physical contact. I'm hoping that he is starting to realise that she is not a threat to his territory, and eventually accepts her in the tank. I think I might try a bit of rearranging in the tank and see if that helps.
Whilst on the floor I built up a stack of books to rest the laptop on, and hid behind it. Eventually the male got used to the situation, came out of hiding, and I managed to get some pictures. Apologies for the quality though.
To start with the fella swims up to check the bowl for food.
He decides to approach the bowl from the water/log, rather than just jump in form the sand.
He jumps from the log to the bowl.
He spends a bit of time in the bowl eating bloodworms. Nom, nom, nom.
On leaving the bowl it's time for a quick dip to freshen up before returning to the log.
-
My brain was filling in the commentary at the end with David Attenboroughs voice. These mudskippers are so interesting!
-
I can see the large tank from where I am sitting, and I admit that I have spent a lot of time watching them today.
They are fascinating, and I'm still getting used to having them. Hopefully they will be fine in their current tanks for the time being. One of the ones in one of the quarantine tanks will be upgraded when the 80cm tanks arrive over the next week or so. Then the other one will either get his own 200L tank in the spare bedroom, or the 125L tank in the hallway if the tiger barbs get moved to the 200L tank.
I don't know how long it takes them to get to their full size, but I'm already thinking about how I'm going to house them when fully grown. :yikes:
They are weirdly adorable, and their little faces are so cute. ;D
-
I dreamt about your mudskippers last night, then woke up during the night and had to check that they weren't in my bed, so vivid was the dream! :)
-
So how big will they get???
I'm not well up on mudskipper morphology and I can't be bothered to look it up... sorry! :-[
-
I dreamt about your mudskippers last night, then woke up during the night and had to check that they weren't in my bed, so vivid was the dream! :)
That's a bit scary :yikes: sorry about that. :-[ I hope that they don't cause any more vivid dreams and they were all in their tanks (with secure lids) before I went to bed last night. :)
-
So how big will they get???
I'm not well up on mudskipper morphology and I can't be bothered to look it up... sorry! :-[
I can only identify one of the four mudskippers confidently at the moment, and that's the one with the bright blue flash on his fin, which would be P. barbarus which can get to anywhere between 15 - 25cm. The larger sizes are only really found in the wild, so keeping my fingers crossed for mine staying at the slightly smaller end of the range.
I have no idea what species the other two males are, and they have both blue and brown/red flashes on their fins, and I can't find any firm identification for them. Perhaps it will become more obvious as they grow up, but they do also have the same body markings as the p. barbarus, so perhaps they are the same but a little younger (although they are the same size). As for the female, she doesn't have big, flashy fins, so completely lost as to how to identify her. There is a strong possibility that they are all the same species, but I really don;t know. I guess that's one of the problems with taking on and incorrect delivery from MA, they don;t have any information on exactly what the fish are.
-
After splitting up the mudskippers it got to the point that I needed a quarantine tank as one of the axolotls had injured his leg. What to do? I couldn't bring myself to go out and buy another tank as the living room was looking quite full of tanks, so I decided to put a divider in the 200L tank. The fish are still small, so it should be ok for a while, until I get the tanks sorted out elsewhere.
I've sewn fine garden mesh onto some large plastic mesh and split the tank. Both sides have access to water, and several hides and plants, and enough room for food bowls. :)
The fish can see through the mesh, so they've spent a bit of time watching each other, but generally it's gone quite well. One of them broke through today, but no damage was done and I managed to usher him back to his own side.
They are quite active little fellas, and very entertaining to watch.
When I get the other 200L tank set up in the spare room I'll divide it and put the other 2 mudskippers into that one, get the living room sorted, then start thinking about how I'm going to house them when they grow up. :yikes: ;D
-
I like the webbing. Spider fish, spider fish, does whatever a spider fish wish? Who needs a living room! More tanks!
-
Don't encourage the situation, you're sounding like the guys at MA.
-
Well, my 4 mudskippers are still with me, and recent circumstances documented in https://forums.thinkfish.co.uk/general-fishkeeping-chat/think-fish-keepers-daily-news/msg45196/?topicseen#new show that I have finally found out that my gang are P. septemradiatus.
They will be getting a new set up, all of which will be documented in https://forums.thinkfish.co.uk/gallery-showcase/multi-tank-syndrome-confessions-of-an-mts-sufferer-by-littlefish/ so I can keep all my fish work in one place. :)