Ph at 8.8

Tain't fresh, and tain't marine! Talk about brackish setups.
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Re: Ph at 8.8

Post by Puffer King »

Phillyfig8 wrote:Im positive you dont need to go up to 1.010. Like pufferpunk said 1.005 would be perfect. I aim to keep mine between 1.003-1.008. I do not recomend keeping any brackish fish in pure fresh. Even mollies live much longer in brackish then fresh.
Use this website to id your mudskipper.

http://www.mudskipper.it/SpeciesList.html

I believe yours is p. darwini
similar to the p.darwini , but there is a blue and white stripe on the dorsal fins which matches that of P. argentilineatus , very silmilar looking though i must say ...and quite hard to tell
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Re: Ph at 8.8

Post by j_wishbone »

Phillyfig8 wrote:Im positive you dont need to go up to 1.010. Like pufferpunk said 1.005 would be perfect. I aim to keep mine between 1.003-1.008. I do not recomend keeping any brackish fish in pure fresh. Even mollies live much longer in brackish then fresh.
Use this website to id your mudskipper.

http://www.mudskipper.it/SpeciesList.html

I believe yours is p. darwini
I emailed the owner of the site mentioned above and he has advised the following:

Hello,

your photos are of Periophthalmus takita, a rather aquatic species,
living on mudbanks of intertidal creeks and higher mudflats.

You should provide wet intertidal mud, and a container filled with water
inside the tank (occupying about 1/3 of the tank), buried to the brim
into the mud.
Heat up and thermostate the air maintaining it at about 30 celtius deg
(e.g. IR lamps for terraria).
Keep the air moist by closing most of the tank.

27 celtius deg and 20 ppt should be ok for the water and mud (to be
sure, just check the salinity of the place where you collected it).

In the setting I suggest you, filtering of water is useless: just change
the water of the container from time to time and check the salinity of
the mud (water will evaporate and salinity will increase: add some tap
water to dilute it if salinity becomes higher than 30-40 ppt).
Bloodworms, shrimps, and other aquarium food for carnivorous fishes
should go.

Where exactly did you collect it?

Cheer,
Gianluca



I will follow as his recommendations...!
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Re: Ph at 8.8

Post by j_wishbone »

Further comparison to the pics of Periophthalmus takita on the http://www.mudskipper.it/SpeciesList.html website proves the mudskipper I have is of similar species

The most prominent and obvious distinguishing factor that I have noticed is the red/orange spots located on its chin/belly/chest region.

Hopefully the photo Ive attached is clear enough.
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Re: Ph at 8.8

Post by Phillyfig8 »

the set up that he suggested sounds really difficult to setup and maintain. the less water the harder it is to keep balanced. from the pictures of the mudskippers in the wild it looks like they are on a sandy beach. do you have any full tank shots?
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Re: Ph at 8.8

Post by polgy70 »

Phillyfig8 wrote:the set up that he suggested sounds really difficult to setup and maintain. the less water the harder it is to keep balanced. from the pictures of the mudskippers in the wild it looks like they are on a sandy beach. do you have any full tank shots?
The suggested setup might not be very easy to realise if you do not have access to intertidal mud. On the other hand, maintenance is not problematic at all.
The superficial layer (few mm) of mud will ensure sufficient aerobic bacterial activity for nitrification, and I suspect that also anaerobic denitrification occurs below this layer. Furthermore, mudskippers are extremely resistant (I'd say almost insensitive) to ammonia/nitrogen loading. The most important factors are: 1) the possibility to select exposed vs. submersed conditions; 2) presence of moist (> 70% RH) and hot (28-30°C) air; 3) salinity of interstitial water and "tide pool" of 5-20 ppt (salinity fluctuations can be reproduced by adding fresh water; refer to conversion tables at different temperatures to convert salinity to density); and 4) availability of mud: sand is NOT appropriate.

I took those pictures in the wild (northern Australia, Darwin): that is intertidal mud with only a minor sand fraction. In any case, burrows were dug in patches of almost pure mud and silt (absence of visible particles). In several sites P. takita was observed burrowing on sloped mud banks of intertidal waterways (creeks, inlets).

good muddies,
GP
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Re: Ph at 8.8

Post by Phillyfig8 »

Your lucky you can just pluck them from the wild and their substrate too. Mine seems extremely happy tho. I agree with you thst mudskippers are the hardiest of fish.
Last edited by Phillyfig8 on Fri Jan 20, 2012 11:24 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Ph at 8.8

Post by j_wishbone »

can you further elaborate why sand is not appropriate?

is it due to its inability to hold the shape of burrows?
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Re: Ph at 8.8

Post by Phillyfig8 »

j_wishbone wrote:can you further elaborate why sand is not appropriate?

is it due to its inability to hold the shape of burrows?
Generally mud in an aquarium is not a good idea. Some people can get away with it but you have to have the right mud. Sand is fine but it has to be really fine sand. Mine is more fine then sugar. Since the mudskipper spends 99% of the time with its belly touching the sand you dont want him to get all scraped up.
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Re: Ph at 8.8

Post by j_wishbone »

Phillyfig8 wrote: Generally mud in an aquarium is not a good idea. Some people can get away with it but you have to have the right mud. Sand is fine but it has to be really fine sand. Mine is more fine then sugar. Since the mudskipper spends 99% of the time with its belly touching the sand you dont want him to get all scraped up.
you own mudskippers? can u post your set up to give me some inspiration =)
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Re: Ph at 8.8

Post by Phillyfig8 »

yea i had 2 but shortly after i updated to a new tank one jumped out while i was away for a weekend from a 1 by 1 inch hole in the back of the lid. i have since fixed the problem and now my one is living happily with a fig 8, freshwater flounder(sole), bumblebee goby and a few ghost shrimp(ment as snacks but my puffer doesnt like to hunt his food so i keep them in there because i love shrimp they add character to the tank). I had posted pics in the past but i have some more. i have cleaned up the tank a little since these pictures have been taken maybe i get some new pics. i have wanted to paint the pvc cave but the mudskipper loves it so much i dont want to take it out for a week.
i used painted pvc to hold up pieces of plexiglass that makes up the land portion. i found a plastic lip to go around the edge so it wasnt sharp and keep the sand on. when ever i clean the tank i scoop a handful or two back up to the top its not a big deal. i try to keep the SG around 1.005. i feed the skipper bloodworms and crickets. The puffer eats mussels, clams, and krill. the BBG eats anything in the tank and the flounder eats bloodworms. I had 2 nerites in the tank but they didnt make it. i think the puffer was attacking them.

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Re: Ph at 8.8

Post by j_wishbone »

thats soo cool....

does the mudskipper ever venture in the water? hehe

I want to mix a puffer with mine as well but its only a small tank so it will have to stay a species only tank


ok Ive almost finished the tank set up .. Ill post some pics up.... once finalised
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Re: Ph at 8.8

Post by Phillyfig8 »

j_wishbone wrote:thats soo cool....

does the mudskipper ever venture in the water? hehe

I want to mix a puffer with mine as well but its only a small tank so it will have to stay a species only tank

ok Ive almost finished the tank set up .. Ill post some pics up.... once finalised
no the land section that is up against the back of the tank is under water just enough so that his eyes stick out and he will hang out there. i put a rock that has a flat top against the front glass and he jumps up on to it probably for 5 hours a day and watches what goes on outside the tank.
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Re: Ph at 8.8

Post by j_wishbone »

thats great... maybe if i get a larger tank I can so something similar to your set up.. great idea


Below are some pics of the 1st attempt to the current set up...


still working on a way to lift that ugly plastic tube out of the land area... might need to get a longer one to go around the top....
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Re: Ph at 8.8

Post by Phillyfig8 »

nice first attempt. my first attempt was fugly. i like to try new things and figured i try to find a way to have a land and water section so i could have more fish. i did research on my mudskipper and it turns out he is one of the more terrestrial mudskippers. i love him to death but i wish i had one that went for a swim every now and then. the only time he has left the platform is the moment i put him in and he sank for about 20 secs then shot up to the land section. he skims across the top of the water sometimes to take a shortcut to the other side.

i bought this tank off craigslist with a filter and a butt load of supplies for 90. it was an ok deal. the stand alone would cost me 40-80 depending. the tank new on dollar per gallon day would cost me $29. all the supplies would have cost me $30. the only problem is the glass is scratched on the front and back so neither side was ideal but i figured if i messed it up i could always wait for the $ per gallon sale and get a brand new tank but im going to wait till i graduate and buy a 55 gallon and make a huge set up very similar to this one and have more skippers and and another puffer and bunch of bumblebee gobies. i may go with a driftwood look idk yet but im gonna try to have the platform held up by driftwood.
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Re: Ph at 8.8

Post by j_wishbone »

yeah that will look really good using driftwood to hod the platform up

I would like to try something like your idea.. as i would like to have fish movement in the tank also


unfortunately mines seems to be the opposite sounds like i got more of an aquatic species... but still good (what species do you have?)

still pretty cool... he seems to like to stay on the beach side where his body in underwater and his eyes popping out

maybe still shy in being on the open space... give him time maybe...
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