Mudskipper Tank

[etheridgefishkeeper]

what tank size do they go in?

 

[nmonks]

20 litres is much too small.

Remember, the aquarium needs to provide both water and land area. That means the tank can't be too small, or the water side will be too shallow for a heater and filter, and the land side will be too small for a stable slope of sand and pebbles.

The best way to approach this question is by looking at the length of the tank. That means for a very small species like the Indian Mudskipper (Periophthalmus novemradiatus) you will want around 90 cm (about 3 ft) so that you can have a reasonable depth of water while also providing enough space for the slope of sand. Also bear in mind Mudskippers are often very territorial, yet nervous, so if they're cooped up in a very small tank they may fight or hide away a lot.

They don't really mix with anything. Unless the aquarium is very big, the watery side will be too shallow for other fish. Furthermore, Mudskippers eat small fish but are scared of big fish! It is, theoretically, possible to keep them with brackish water fish such as livebearers of similar size, but hardly worth the effort.

Cheers, Neale

WOULD A MUDSKIPPER do okay in a 15-20l tank?
Only one!
And what could they go with
thanks

 

[Mads]

Hi Neal 
 
I keep two atlantic mudskippers and one of them is about 12 cm. They are kept in a community tank both bumble bee gobies and blue bellied gobies (Lentipes whittenorum). I bought six young blue bellied gobies, which are a bit longer than bumble bee gobies but still smaller in size, and now I can only see one of them, or at least one at a time. The atlantic mudskipper is a very clumsy fish and none of the the bumble bee gobies are missing, but still I suspect that the mudskipper has eaten the blue bellied gobies. What's your thought on that?
 
There is also empire gudgeons in the but that have shown little interest in the blue belied gobies.
 
Regards 
Mads

 

[iliveinazoo]

Hi Neal 
 
I keep two atlantic mudskippers and one of them is about 12 cm. They are kept in a community tank both bumble bee gobies and blue bellied gobies (Lentipes whittenorum). I bought six young blue bellied gobies, which are a bit longer than bumble bee gobies but still smaller in size, and now I can only see one of them, or at least one at a time. The atlantic mudskipper is a very clumsy fish and none of the the bumble bee gobies are missing, but still I suspect that the mudskipper has eaten the blue bellied gobies. What's your thought on that?
 
There is also empire gudgeons in the but that have shown little interest in the blue belied gobies.
 
Regards 
Mads

Unfortunately Neale hasn't been as frequent here as he used to be but I can talk about my experiences of the Atlantic Mudskipper P Barbarus.  I have 2 and they got on fine for a few months, I also kept them with 2 fiddler crabs because I'd read that if crabs and mudskippers were about the same size then they could be housed together.
 
The fiddlers had to be put in a tank of their own because out of the blue my similarly sized Mudskipper had removed a claw and most of a crabs legs in a matter of seconds, if I wasn't standing over the tank the crab would have been destroyed in under a minute, it was fascinating watching the sheer aggression.
The mudskipper tank now has a divider in it because they will simply not tolerate each other - they don't peck at fins, they attack to kill.  So I wouldn't be suprised if fish start to go missing

 

[Mads]

Tanks iliveinazoo. Sounds like they are aggressive ones. For the time being they are nyt aggressive but ill see. They are hiding away much of the time. It seems like al though i have had them for almost a year they are still nervous and flee if there is a sudden movement near the tank. Trying to tame them, but it takes time.

 

[maurizio]

Yep, that's Barbarus for you.
Neale once called them psychotic, if I recall correctly!

 
Briefly, everything smaller is food, everything bigger scares them out of water.
 
Take a pic of your tank, Mads, we wanna see!
 
Maurizio

 

[Mads]

Hey Maurizio 
 
See some pics of my tank in http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/426105-brackish-tidal-tank-with-gobies/
 
Kind regards
Mads