# Mud Skimmers?



## Dogmatix (Nov 12, 2008)

Hey all.

Just a little bit of a curious question..

Went to get some fish today from Wyevale, and well, they had some mud skimmers..

I've tried looking on the net for more info, but had no luck...

They ned salt in the water, and a very shallow water setting..
Anyone ever heard of them? If so, any ideas where I can do some research, as I am tempted, but I don't wanna uy something without knowing how to look after it.


Cheers


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## philbaines (Aug 23, 2007)

If it helps i think there known as mud skippers


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## Mujician (Mar 7, 2007)

Yes, either you read it wrong or they ad it written down wrong they are called Mud Skippers.


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## Dogmatix (Nov 12, 2008)

You know, your right!
They had them listed as Mud Skimmers!

Right, they are Mud Skippers... any info anyone?


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## Indicus (May 3, 2009)

My local garden centre advertised them as mud skimmers too :whistling2::whistling2:


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## Ron Magpie (Oct 11, 2009)

Yep. Mud*skippers*. Members of the Goby family, that tend to live on tidal mudbanks and mangrove swamps. The need high humidity, brackish water, and a reasonably-sized land area- where they will chase after live food. A friend of mine had a pair- I'd LOVE to keep them myself!:mf_dribble:


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## Dogmatix (Nov 12, 2008)

Ron Magpie said:


> Yep. Members of the Goby family, that tend to live on tidal mudbanks and mangrove swamps. The need high humidity, brackish water, and a reasonably-sized land area- where they will chase after live food. A friend of mine had a pair- I'd LOVE to keep them myself!:mf_dribble:


Any more info?

Such as foods? Temps? Lighting? Salt amount?

Sorry but at £5.50, they don't seem to bad!


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## OlyFroggyBoy (Nov 18, 2009)

I think they eat some sort of muddy sludge, i saw them on the BBC programme LIFE :2thumb:


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## HalcyonInverts (Jul 22, 2009)

i keep them on crickets, mealworms (occasionally), krill and mysis with vits. Water temp ~25C and salinity at around 13ppt. substrate of silty sand


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## Mujician (Mar 7, 2007)

As for the salinity, you will need a hydrometer which measures the salt, I dont know what it has to be for mud skippers but you will find out on the net. As for food, they eat anything. I had a friend who fed his crickets, frozen fish food (bloodworm, brineshrimp, mysis etc) which he would defrost and put on rocks above the water line, and drop it directly into the water, they really are amazing little critters and quite hardy too. For heating them I would only bother with an aquatic water heater. Not reptile type heating. Probably around 26 ish.
My friend also used to catch moths and drop them in, i think he mentioned crisps at one point but i dont know if he was having a laugh!!

That price is very good by the way!!


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## Ron Magpie (Oct 11, 2009)

Dogmatix said:


> Any more info?
> 
> Such as foods? Temps? Lighting? Salt amount?
> 
> Sorry but at £5.50, they don't seem to bad!


No, that's a damn good price! Ok, I would def suggest googling some caresheets, but I'll tell you what I can remember: He used a small heaterstat to heat the water to 28C or so, lit with a standard aquarium lighting tube (it was a 24" tank, as I recall). The salt mix (using marine aquarium salt mix) was about 25% the strength of seawater- but that's something to check. He used a close-fitting drip tray, because the humidity is VERY important. He did feed the occasional cricket, but if I remember rightly, earthworms were the basic food. All this is very rough though, so if you are serious about getting some, DEF check out online information. Oh, and while I think about it, males are supposed to be very territorial. He had a mixed pair, that seemed to get on fine, although the male would do a kind of dorsal fin 'flicking' display every now and then.


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## Mujician (Mar 7, 2007)

They are a fish by the way, not an amphibian. As such need water to completely submerge themselves.

If I was setting up a tank for them, I would probably go for a very large fish tank, half of which I would have as a full on fish tank etc, and the other side very moist, almost quicksand with rocks and branhes for them to climb on.


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## Mujician (Mar 7, 2007)

Ron Magpie said:


> No, that's a damn good price! Ok, I would def suggest googling some caresheets, but I'll tell you what I can remember: He used a small heaterstat to heat the water to 28C or so, lit with a standard aquarium lighting tube (it was a 24" tank, as I recall). The salt mix (using marine aquarium salt mix) was about 25% the strength of seawater- but that's something to check. He used a close-fitting drip tray, because the humidity is VERY important. He did feed the occasional cricket, but if I remember rightly, earthworms were the basic food. All this is very rough though, so if you are serious about getting some, DEF check out online information. Oh, and while I think about it, males are supposed to be very territorial. He had a mixed pair, that seemed to get on fine, although the male would do a kind of dorsal fin 'flicking' display every now and then.


To make them happy, you need to be accurate with the salinity. You cant say 25% the strength of sea water! Brackish water should have a Specific gravity of 1.000, this is measured by a hydrometer. You should use a needle one, not the glass floating one. Around 14, or 15 pounds. Well worth it to measure salt accurately.


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## Ron Magpie (Oct 11, 2009)

Mujician said:


> To make them happy, you need to be accurate with the salinity. You cant say 25% the strength of sea water! Brackish water should have a Specific gravity of 1.000, this is measured by a hydrometer. You should use a needle one, not the glass floating one. Around 14, or 15 pounds. Well worth it to measure salt accurately.


Um, WHY do you think I said 'check it'???


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## Morgan Freeman (Jan 14, 2009)

Indian mudskippers - Smaller and less aggressive, can be kept in groups.

African mudskippers - Larger and aggressive.


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## jamesh (Jul 3, 2009)

1.000 is fresh water as its a reading of the weight of the water and water is 1 gram per ml so 1.000 is completely fresh water

a reading of 1.013 is about average for skippers

at 5.50 they will be in indian type of skipper the dwarf species which are less agressive than the african larger type 

there is one species that lives of algal film but they are not imported 

hope this helps


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## Dogmatix (Nov 12, 2008)

What sort of filteration etc do I need? or would a internal filter be ok?!


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## jamesh (Jul 3, 2009)

just a small internal will do, not too much flow or they will not go in the water as they are rubbish swimmers (really strange thing to say about a fish but hey).

they are one of the most tolerant fish to ammonia and it has been said that they can live in water with such high ammonia that it would kill a normal fish in 2 hours.


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## ipreferaflan (Oct 8, 2009)

Mudskippers look awesome. They the things from the Guinness advert? haha
Would love some, but can't find any anywhere!


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## Ron Magpie (Oct 11, 2009)

I've seen them on sale in London- but usually at a much higher price!


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## ipreferaflan (Oct 8, 2009)

Ron Magpie said:


> I've seen them on sale in London- but usually at a much higher price!


I have to stop buying animals.... must... resist...


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## Ron Magpie (Oct 11, 2009)

ipreferaflan said:


> I have to stop buying animals.... must... resist...


 Hehe. I literally have NO more space- every surface in my flat that doesn't have a plant on it has a cage or tank.


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## Lew (May 31, 2009)

http://www.aquariumindustries.com.au/Assets/96/1/Mudskipper.pdf


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## Lew (May 31, 2009)

giant mudskipper (periophthalmodon schlosseri): info fact sheet, photos


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## Dogmatix (Nov 12, 2008)

Its so tempting!

I just don't have the room though 
Although, I do have two spare tanks, just no where to put them =(


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## ipreferaflan (Oct 8, 2009)

Dogmatix said:


> Its so tempting!
> 
> I just don't have the room though
> Although, I do have two spare tanks, just no where to put them =(


Yeah. That's the problem. I have no idea how to give myself more space. I've rearranged my bedroom so many times haha.


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## Dogmatix (Nov 12, 2008)

I've managed to make a "step" setup with my two tanks, its saved me some space, but means I can't go any larger


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## ilovetoads2 (Oct 31, 2008)

Here is an idea...move all of the food out of your kitchen cupboards, and use them, then, get a bunk bed with clothes storage under it (like a kiddies one) and line the rest of your walls with kitchen worktops, tanks above and below. No one really needs room for pictures, shelves, televisions, or sofas anyway (that is just pure luxury!)

:lol2::lol2::lol2:


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## Ron Magpie (Oct 11, 2009)

Yup- and take out your bath. Think of all the space it will free up!


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## LIZARD (Oct 31, 2007)

Yea i saw these in maidenhead @ hereford too the other week! so cute, so tempting but i have 3 fishtanks already and they are due to be upgraded!


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## ipreferaflan (Oct 8, 2009)

ilovetoads2 said:


> Here is an idea...move all of the food out of your kitchen cupboards, and use them, then, get a bunk bed with clothes storage under it (like a kiddies one) and line the rest of your walls with kitchen worktops, tanks above and below. No one really needs room for pictures, shelves, televisions, or sofas anyway (that is just pure luxury!)
> 
> :lol2::lol2::lol2:





Ron Magpie said:


> Yup- and take out your bath. Think of all the space it will free up!


My mum would kill me.


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## MattStyles (Feb 9, 2011)

OlyFroggyBoy said:


> I think they eat some sort of muddy sludge, i saw them on the BBC programme LIFE :2thumb:


 
They definitely dont eat this... try krill mysis (frozen but thaw out), krill pacifica(frozen but thaw out), brine shrimp(live), river shrimp (live). from my experience, krill superba (relatively large) are not good for them! i can give more info on this if needed... also they eat algae, earthworms etc. and other insects. but be careful not to feed them too fatty foods e.g. waxworms. 

My study organisms are mudkippers and i am always willing to help anyone who needs info!! just message me.

It is important, especially in west-african mudskippers, to have less males. they will quite literally fight to the death otherwise. also, i wouldnt reccomed more than 3 in a 300litre tank. I am currently studiying 11 individuals in a 2000 litre enclosure. They are aggressive and hold strict territories which they will fight over. they will kill eachother if the territories overlap too much. 

regarding feeding, they only need feeding three times a week. for 11 individuals, they are fed monday, wednesday and friday, 18g Krill Mysis, 13g Krill pacifica and 250ml Live brine shrimp. All feed in enriched with vitamins and mineral supplements. this has been calculated for optimum nutrition vs activity and lifestyle requirements. 

i will hopefully be publishing this information later on in the year, but for information sooner, just message me if you want


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## OlyFroggyBoy (Nov 18, 2009)

MattStyles said:


> They definitely dont eat this... try krill mysis (frozen but thaw out), krill pacifica(frozen but thaw out), brine shrimp(live), river shrimp (live). from my experience, krill superba (relatively large) are not good for them! i can give more info on this if needed... also they eat algae, earthworms etc. and other insects. but be careful not to feed them too fatty foods e.g. waxworms.
> 
> My study organisms are mudkippers and i am always willing to help anyone who needs info!! just message me.
> 
> ...


I wasnt being serious btw lol


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## igmillichip (Feb 7, 2010)

Goodness. 2 Mudskipper threads in one day. (or one mudskipper and one mudskimmer  ).

ian


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