My Mudskipper Paludarium

[HX67]

It's the season now, so yesterday just strolling on the beach in Copacabana I got more than I could carry! As a comparison, one month ago I found only two (the ones you see in my tank right now), inside a mangrove swamp!

In the past I had no problem in smuggling 3-4 in my checked-in luggage, but I'm totally unsure what exactly brazilian laws say about exporting seeds. Seems like I'm gonna figure out soon!

No charges, perhaps just the shipping expenses from Aalborg.

Cheers!

Sounds amazing.
Good luck with the customs!

Feel a little numb after reading this and your blog for the last hour...what fabulous work. Hope you don't mind a couple of questions...

I want to create a completely submerged trunk of a tree with roots branching out...I am thinking I wouldn't be able to use the foam for sculpting as you have as it would strongly want to float, even if covered with plaster and grout. How do you attach yours to the tank, or is it unnecessary as yours are only partially submerged?

Very impressed with the way you retain the detail of your sculptures even when coated with plaster and grout...stunning stuff. Do you need to prepare the surface of the foam once sculpted, so that it will accept the plaster/grout without it just sloughing off?

Thanks for your words.

I make submerged, non-floating pieces as well as floating ones.
When the piece doesn't have to sink, it's just more practical to make the bulk with foam. Lighter and easier. I almost always cut and sculpt the foam, getting rid of the smooth surface it leaves after curing. Grout grips onto the processed, very porous surface quite willingly.

When I want the piece to sink, I either use heavier filler (grout mixed with sand/gravel or even concrete) or I make the piece "one-sided" so that the foam can be carved out after finishing the desired shapes.

 

[JDs4me]

 

[HX67]

 

[HX67]

My man Maurizio delivers:

Rhizophora mangle Brazil-Denmark-Finland.
Thanks, M.

 

[maurizio]

My man Maurizio delivers:

Rhizophora mangle Brazil-Denmark-Finland.
Thanks, M.

My pleasure!
My tiny contribution to your great tanks!

Cheers!

 

[Biulu]

Good luck with the seeds! I hope they germinate soon.

 

[HX67]

Good luck with the seeds! I hope they germinate soon.

Thanks! I hope they do as well.

A Riparium Supply™ planter proved to be useful once again:

The plan is to let them start rooting in the planter a bit and then fix the ones that do, to the hardscape without the planter.

On another note, we've got blooming of Samolus like there is no tomorrow:

Thanks for looking.

 

[HX67]

The dimmer morning/evening light is certainly nicer color than the HQI's are:

 

[stu40]

Lovely pic

 

[HX67]

Thanks, pal.

Seeing the pics with just the 6400 K T8 on finally got my a&& in gear.
I did what was long overdue and ordered 6500 K bulbs for the 70W HQIs to replace the old ≈3000 Ks.

 

[Timmy_Bee]

What sort of foods do you feed your skippers? can you ever get away with pellets and flakes etc, or are they really better off on live foods? Am thinking of setting up my own tank (although my DIY/art skills leave a lot to be desired, so no DIY root system for me..)

 

[HX67]

Hi, Timmy_Bee.

Mudskippers have very good appetites when they are doing good. They call everything food.
Mine are somewhat easy to target-feed, as they pretty much call one of the pools at a time their home.

They certainly do eat pellets and flakes, both from the pools and the bottom of the tank.

I like feeding them a varied diet and do include live food at times (i grow cockroaches and mealworms for my lizards and buy crickets every now and then).
Mainly their diet consists of frozen goodies. Bloodworms, Mysis, Artemia and whatever else is found from the freezer of the LFS. Fish, shrimps (peeled) and mussels.

I also make a frozen mix for my fish.
Here are pretty much all the ingredients:

-shrimps, with shells
-white fish (pollock)
-mussels (no shells)
-spinach
-peas
-banana (no peels)
-beef (pork) heart
-juice from a lemon
-garlic
-eggs and their shells
-beef liver (not pictured, the only ingredient that I cook before mixing everything)
-carrots
-spirulina powder
-vitamins
-gelatine

Everything is minced & mixed together in a mixer, bagged in thin plastic bags, cooled to let the gelatin work and then frozen.

The mudskippers seem to smell the shrimpmix when I take it out from the fridge and feed the other tanks. They go wild...

All in all, when they are doing good, they have no problem eating pretty much anything.

 

[HX67]

Got the bulbs.

The difference is not huge, but it's noticeable.
The old 3000 K:

The new 6500 K:

(Sorry for the overexposed pics. The Nikon is a bit of a wild horse to me at this point...)

The change is for the better in my eyes.
Remains to be seen what the new HQI bulbs do to the growth in the tank.
The gardener's been on a leave for awhile now, so pruning is a bit behind schedule.

Thanks for looking.

 

[kou102]

Just amazing. Awesome creativity.

 

[Verminator89]

Whens your next gardening endeavour! Haha.

I'm hopefully reviving my paludarium idea again. Dug out my styrofoam this morning, think i've lost the grout though, but may opt for cement this time with colourants in. Been doing alot more research and getting excited at the idea again. This time i need to complete it, as last time i got to the grouting stage and then binned it as my situation in life altered suddenly. Back on track now though!