My Mudskipper Paludarium

[lljdma06]

Hey! I didn't spell "full" wrong!

You're not off the hook, yet.

But very funny. We are good at Spam in the Planted section. It is clever, witty spam.

Liz









Wisteria

 

[HX67]

I'm about a month away from taking the next shot of the tank, on a work assignment in France.

In live-in animalsitter we trust.

 

[HX67]

Sooooo, back from Normandie to find out the observational qualities of the live-in animalsitter have consentrated on something else than the mudskipperarium.
Both pumps of the tank were pretty much clogged. The filter was circulating very little, the pump taking water up to the pools was stuck.

The result:

All emersed Crypts gone, a lot of the mosses history.

One casualty fish, the male Anableps. Not dead for long, since I found the remains...
Bummer. I blame myself for this, naturally. Next time there will be more training.

On the brighter side, the Samolus did not mind the drought:

Vals and Lotus are showing very promising growth, still minding the water is 1.003:

The MTS population is exploding.


I dropped by at a summer cottage on the Baltic shore and collected a couple of plants:

Any idea of what they are...?

Despite the cons, there is still hope for this setup, maybe:

All skippers are doing great. Bumblebees are doing great. The two remaining Anableps were a bit shabby, but seem to recover well.
Thanks for looking.

 

[lljdma06]

Well journals are warts and all. Gutted about your crypts, those were starting to really look good. I have no idea what your collected plants are.

Glad the mudskippers are doing ok. The black mangrove was lost?

It doesn't suprise me that the vallis would be ok with a sg of 1.003. The lily is a nice surprise, though.

 

[HX67]

Warts and all, truly. But We'll be back!

The black mangrove is doing good. Not grown as much as I woulda expected, but alive and looking ok.
Lilies have been totally stagnant for about six months or so. This is really the first time they have done considerable growth. I guess I just need to neglect the tank alltogether?
Thanks for your compassion!

 

[HX67]

There's interesting new growth on the roots.

Judging by the places they are appearing, they might be Samolus valerandi seedlings:

I find this very interesting indeed.

 

[Caprichoso]

I love the mudskipper "BOO" picture, it's pretty epic, lol. You worked very hard on this and did a fantastic job

 

[Verminator89]

Seeing the progress on this now is making me really want to set-up my paludarium idea. However, since i asked you some questions regarding DIY backgrounds i've since moved house and can no longer fit one in (gutted). I may have to convince my future father-in-law to let me set up "one" more tank for my Paludarium. Had to bin my last DIY attempt as i really did fail with it haha.

Can't wait to see more updates, especially now your plants are gradually taking hold again

 

[Verminator89]

I'm at this paludarium thing again now due to the unfortunate death of my beloved and most prized fish. I've collected various things and added them to my "watch list" on eBay, so i can begin pricing up how much this is going to cost to get started, and all going well end up costing. I'm stuck at trying to find pvc piping that'll suffice to do the job of creating roots. Everything i search either gives me clear piping for things like air hoses, which seems too ewkward to even begin thinking of using to bend into place, i can't see how it would hold its shape. The other popular search is womens lingerie haha, very unpractical.

What is it exactly you've used. I can't even find a suitable alternative. Although i'm concidering chopping off the twiddly bits of my actual Redmoor (drastic but would do) and using these instead of pvc 'piping'. Its worth mentioning i've searched; pve pipes, pve hose, pvc tubes, pvc poles, pvc strips...I'm just struggling to find anything that even looks as pliable as what you've used.

Whilst your at it, hows the tank going currently? Still moving along nicely, recovering slowly i hope!

Cheers,
James

 

[HX67]

Hi, James. So sorry to learn about the loss of that magnificent JD.

Now the pvc-pipes I use are normally used for electrical channeling. They put those pipes inside structure when building and then pull electrical wires inside them. There are several types, this is rigid pipe that can also be bent "cold" with a metal spring (the spring is placed inside the pipe to keep it in form and then pulled out after bending it).
Bends great with heat and without the spring. Well, the form of course suffers easily, but it doesn't matter. Holds the shape after cooling (I cool it with water spray when making the fake roots).

Let's see if I can find an English search...
Well, this seems to be pretty much the stuff...

Thanks for asking, the tank seems to be recovering. Well, actually, Samolus seems to think it was better off when I was away... But other than that, all is good at planet Hx.

Hope the link leads you to the right direction, and feel free to give us a heads-up if there's anything else you think I could help you with.

Caprichoso, thanks for your kind words!

 

[communitytank75]

VERY AMAZING...make me one lol!! i will buy hahaha!!! very nicee..i want to get mudskippers now

 

[HX67]

Thanks, ct75.

I would be happy to, so beware!
Mudsies rock.

 

[karawr]

Hyvä, ihana!!! That's about the extent of my finnish.

Seriously, very beautiful work. They must be so pleased, they're so cute!!

 

[HX67]

Well done, karawr!
And kiitos.

 

[Biulu]

Great idea, great implementation, great tank! I wouldn't even know where to get mudskippers here.... One question though, is there a special reason why you have 3 males and 1 female? Or was that what was available? Another question: do these fish mind to have so many plants in the water? I thought they would be more into clear substrates?