My Mudskipper Paludarium

[stu40]

Excellent

you need to get Sir David Attenborough to do a hushed voice over

(sorry for those outside UK if you don't know who he is)

 

[coldcazzie]

Excellent

you need to get Sir David Attenborough to do a hushed voice over

(sorry for those outside UK if you don't know who he is)

 

[Flubberlump]

Excellent

you need to get Sir David Attenborough to do a hushed voice over

(sorry for those outside UK if you don't know who he is)

Haha!

 

[HX67]

Theyre so sweet! That's not what I'd call boring to be honest lol. They can't half jump! I don't think I'd ever get anything done if I had these, I could watch them all day.

I'm amazed at their ability to jump and... well, "run" around the scape.
They are very accurate and determined on their ways.

That video is great!

Thanks. I have to do some more training with the Nikon. I'm sure it can do better than this.
Can't see an Oscar on it's way for direction either, but editing that was about on the limits of what I can do for now...

I loved the bit in the middle where they were staring at each other - like two people chatting over the garden fence!

95% of their staring competitions at the border of their territory end up in either one giving up and backing out (often takes minutes, even tens of minutes). One of these days I capture the 5% and show a slo-mo of their splashy dispute.

love that video......they jump!

If I didn't know, I would never guess the video was shot in a home paludarium - just looks so incredibly natural.

They do, truly.
Thanks for these words.

This tank is awesome!!

Great work. You need to take pictures and submit this for TOTM and the mudskippers need to be FOTM.

Wow.

Thanks, again.
Gotta find out about that TOTM...

Lovely, as ever!

Excellent

you need to get Sir David Attenborough to do a hushed voice over

(sorry for those outside UK if you don't know who he is)

Thanks!
To tell you the truth, I'm a big fan of Sir David. But I'm really tempted to trying my hand on [url="http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGrQcQ9fWLc]this[/url] genre, when I grow up to be the documentary maker I feel is living inside me...

 

[mattyeatsmatts]

Dat 3D background......wow

 

[ZoddyZod]

Topic pinned - great read!

 

[fluttermoth]

Yay! This definitely needed pinning.

Of all the fish tanks I have ever seen, this would probably be my all time favourite.

 

[Flubberlump]

Yey!

 

[HX67]

Topic pinned - great read!

'K, this was an unexpected turn. There was a speach I had prepared, for The Academy, you know. But it seems to be misplaced.
Feeling very confident for this

Setting the bar pretty high for me there. Humble thanks.

 

[Flubberlump]

That racoon is gorgeous!

 

[HX67]

Oh, he rocks.. well, raccs.

 

[Flubberlump]

 

[Jenks74]

Awesome tank / love the background an the 'skippers.

 

[PERCY]

That looks great. A list of materials would be nice I.e what type of grout, paint etc. I'd love a go at making a background myself

 

[HX67]

That looks great. A list of materials would be nice I.e what type of grout, paint etc. I'd love a go at making a background myself

Thanks.

-extruded polystyrene sheet (50 mm)
-hot glue
-GS (expanding polyurethane foam)
-pvc conduit
-stainless steel wire
-vinyl string
-tile adhesive
-grout
-brown coloring powder
-acrylic polymer (made for concrete modification)

I use whatever grout I happen to have at hand. They are all pretty much just cement and fine sand. And the coloring. Grain size of sand differs, the thicker the gap to fill, the larger the grain. Largr grain gives a bit texture to the surface, which is nice to experiment with. Sometimes I mix fine bark powder to grout to make it a bit porous...
The modern grouts tend to have acrylic polymer added. They should all be safe to use.
I don't use paint of any sort, just different colors of grout.


Here's a few other hardscapes and pieces I've made with pretty much the same materials:

And just a shot of the amazing aquarist raccoon making a nano-reef of his own with a piece of live rock he stole from me