# Mud skippers



## tortoisechap (Aug 15, 2007)

Does anyone keep these and is it possible there such amazing cool fish. And if anyone does to they require any specialist treatment or just simple fish care?


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## shaun (Apr 28, 2007)

I have never kept one, but i know that you need half land half water, and you dont need very deep water. Here are a fue videos for you.

YouTube - mudskippers feeding

YouTube - Valdemar the Mudskipper is hunting


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## Amber-uk (Nov 11, 2007)

I don't know anything about them, but asked my older brother and he said to try here 
Internet Aquatics : Tropical Fish, Marine, Brackish, Cold Water Fish Shop

its where he got his from.


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## Kevin_D (Oct 16, 2007)

I keep Mudskippers, they arent that difficult to keep as long as all they're requirements are met. 

They need brackish water (around SG 1.008-1.012) ph around 7.5-8, so coral sand is good to use as substrate. 

The water temperature should be heated to around 26c, and should be filtered, preferably with a spraybar as they enjoy water movement, they will also rest on the spraybar. 

They dont need deep water, around 10cm or so is ok, as long as the heater and filter are always submerged. Its a good idea to have a "beach" area or preferably two areas to keep fighting down as each Mudskipper will have its own terratory. Good decorations to use include bogwood that resemble roots, or fake mangrove root.

They must have a very tight fitting lid, and ideally a condensation cover under the lid to help keep the humidity very high, an aquarium light built into the lid is also a good idea.

They eat small invertebrates, live crickets etc.. occasionaly dusted with a vitimin supplement. They will also eat pre-frozen bloodworm, they usually only eat on land though, so a decent sized land area is important.

Malaysian Trumpet Snails can be used to keep the tank clean, and keep algae down, checks should be done to make sure the salinity is right, and water changes made regulary.

Some pictures of my set-up,


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## tortoisechap (Aug 15, 2007)

One they sure are cool i dont realise they relied that much on land. And the dude in the video could even hand feed them! Do you have any idea where to get them or is a simple case as may be in an aquatic supplies near you?


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## Amber-uk (Nov 11, 2007)

You can buy them over the inernet using the link in my other post


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## Kevin_D (Oct 16, 2007)

I got my ones from my local aquatic shop (Big Blue Aquatics, within Caerphilly Garden Centre) they ordered them in for me, it may be worth asking around local shops as they may be able to order them, any of the larger aquatic shops like Maidenhead Aquatics may already stock them.


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## tortoisechap (Aug 15, 2007)

Cheers amber i'll look into it.


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## wolves-stu (Dec 22, 2007)

Hiya,

We have got mudskippers in the shop I work at in Wolverhampton, West Mids.

If you would be interested I am sure I could sort something out.


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## Forestjewel (Aug 16, 2007)

I keep them they are great to keep


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## t-bo (Jan 26, 2005)

Great pics Forest....

I love these little guys, fascinating, always fancied keeping some one day.


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## tortoisechap (Aug 15, 2007)

How much would the whole set up cost including the mud skippers for two of these guys oh and how big is your tank?


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## Forestjewel (Aug 16, 2007)

Didnt cost me much at all, i had the 2ft tank the playsand and a filter, so just neded to buy marine salt for the brackish water. I would recommend these to anybody, they are very entertaining and love small crix to munch on, i think the skippers were about 8 or 9 quid each.


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## tortoisechap (Aug 15, 2007)

Awsome, now the persuation of the rest of my family and i'll be away but in a 2ft tank doesnt sound they need much room and there cheap themeselves so awsome.


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## bosshogg (Nov 19, 2006)

we kept mudskippers we had them in a 5ft x2ft x2ft take 90% land in the water we kept archer fish as well there cleaned up an food the mudskippers left, we lost the last one to due age eraly in the year will deff gget some more in the new year as there are great to watch


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## Mez (Feb 19, 2007)

does anyone realise mudskippers naturally live on brackish MUD? not sand?...


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## MattStyles (Feb 9, 2011)

My research is on mudskippers. Specifically the west african mudskipper. If anyone needs any information then feel free to message. I have alot of experience with them and will be pulishing my latest research later on in the year. also, if anyone is interested, feel free to message me and ill let you know what im up to with the little guys!


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## igmillichip (Feb 7, 2010)

I have 2 species of mudskipper at present...._Periophthalmus barbarus _and 
_Periophthalmodon septemradiatus.
_
If I didn't have so many other tanks and vivs, I'd go for having a good few other species again.

Fascinating fish that show a nice little bit of 'intelligence'.

I don't know what prices these go for in the UK anymore, but in Ireland they are pretty cheap.

Aggression can be a problem with these fish....so careful decor or gender mix is required. A large barbarus can take a chunk out of another quite easily.

I would recommend that the viv is set-up as a single species system....don't add bumble bee gobies! 

These can become very hand-feed-friendly...but watch your fingers as they can bite (of all the years I've had a zoo of animals, these are the only animal to ever draw blood).

@MattStyles....what research are you doing on these?

ian


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## XBexs123 (Jun 13, 2010)

Wow these look amazing!


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## daftlassieEmma (Oct 23, 2008)

ye olde thread :gasp:



MattStyles said:


> My research is on mudskippers. Specifically the west african mudskipper. If anyone needs any information then feel free to message. I have alot of experience with them and will be pulishing my latest research later on in the year. also, if anyone is interested, feel free to message me and ill let you know what im up to with the little guys!


 oooh! what kind of research?


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## gartergoon (Feb 2, 2011)

Forestjewel said:


> I keep them they are great to keep
> image
> image
> image
> ...



:2thumb: awh wow there so ace !


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## MattStyles (Feb 9, 2011)

im looking into dominance and territorial construction at the minute. future research is going to be on chemical and pheremone signalling etc.

it should reveal some light on the barbarus species, not much behavioural research has been conducted as of yet. 


on a different note, has anyone been successful at breeding barbarus in captivity?? would be interesting to know if anyone has had any success.


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## MattStyles (Feb 9, 2011)

here are a couple of pic of the skips im looking at...

http://i1233.photobucket.com/albums/ff386/matthewpstyles/mudskips1.jpg

http://i1233.photobucket.com/albums/ff386/matthewpstyles/DSCF0294.jpg


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## goldie1212 (Mar 5, 2010)

gorgeous fish, ive always loved mudskippers, but dont like the live food idea. one day maybe.


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## adamntitch (Jun 17, 2007)

not the best place but exotic pets now have 
_Periophthalmus barbarus in stock altho they have them as amphibs_


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## igmillichip (Feb 7, 2010)

MattStyles said:


> im looking into dominance and territorial construction at the minute. future research is going to be on chemical and pheremone signalling etc.
> 
> it should reveal some light on the barbarus species, not much behavioural research has been conducted as of yet.
> 
> ...


That's cool work, MattStyles. 
A fascinating study example they are. 
I would be more interested in the body and brain biochemistry (the method of ammonia excretion and brain chemistry is quite fascinating to us olde worlde toxicologists)

I have a few ambitions that I want to fulfill in fish keeping.....one of them is to breed mudskippers in captivity (ie in a tank in a house as opposed to a massive outdoor pool in a warm country  ).
(my other ambition is to breed red-hook pacus). 

My barbarus are at about 8 to 9 inches, so will be building some stimulants (or guessed at stimulants eg UV, lighting periods, wave periods).

@Goldie.....although these love live food, they can be kept on a good varied diet of frozen foods. 

ian


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## MattStyles (Feb 9, 2011)

@ Igmillichip 

ive got a good paper for you to read. its about _Periophthalmodon schlosseri:_

Wilson J.M., Kok T.W.K., Randall D.J., Vogl W., Ip K.Y., (1999), Fine Structure of the gill epithelium of the terrestrial mudskipper, _Periophthalmodon schlosseri_, _Cell and Tissue Research_, Vol.298, p.345-356

It talks about ammonia excretion through the gills in a section. quite interesting really. 

also, funny you should talk about pacus. the institute where my mudsipper tank is has just got 5 pacus. part of an amazonian exhibit.


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## igmillichip (Feb 7, 2010)

@MattStyles....there way too much good stuff about skippers to study. Where does one start?

I guess you would have papers by Clayton?, but in case you don't here's a few at the bottom of the post.

If you happen to be on a uni-library server, then these should be no problem to get.

Clayton D.A., 1987 – Why mudskippers build walls – _Behaviour_, 102: 185–195.
Clayton D.A., 1993 – Mudskippers – _Oceanogr. Mar. Bull. Annu. Rev. _A.D. Ansell, R.N. Gibson and Margaret Barnes (eds), UCL Press, 31: 507–577.
Clayton D.A. and Snowden R., 2000 – Surface activity in the mudskipper, _Periophthalmus waltoni_ in relation to prey activity and environmental factors – _Tropical Zoology_, 13(2): 239–249.
Clayton D.A. and Vaughan T.C., 1982 – Pentagonal Territories of the Mudskipper _Boleophthalmus boddaerti_ (Pisces, Gobiidae) – _Copeia_, 1: 232–234.
Clayton D.A. and Vaughan T.C., 1986 – Territorial acquisition in the mudskipper _Boleophthalmus boddarti _(Pisces: Gobiidae) on the mudflats of Kuwait – _Journ. Zool. (A),_ London, 209: 501–519.
Clayton D.A. and Vaughan T.C., 1988 – Ethogram of _Boleophthalmus boddarti_ (Pallas), a mudskipper found on the mudflats of Kuwait – _Journal of the University of Kuwait (Sciences)_, 15 (1): 115–138.
Clayton D.A. and Wright J.M., 1989 – Mud–walled territories and feeding behaviour of _Boleophthalmus boddarti _(Pisces, Gobiidae), on the mud flats of Kuwait – _Journal Ethol._, 7 (2): 91–95.


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## MattStyles (Feb 9, 2011)

Yeah ive got most of those papers. some good ones for sure. its interesting that the intra-species behaviour differences are quite large. also, would you agree that not much behavioural research is available? the studies i have seen show that only a few species have been categorized and examined.


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## igmillichip (Feb 7, 2010)

MattStyles said:


> Yeah ive got most of those papers. some good ones for sure. its interesting that the intra-species behaviour differences are quite large. also, would you agree that not much behavioural research is available? the studies i have seen show that only a few species have been categorized and examined.


I thought you might, but you never know.

Considering there are a more than one or two species, and considering the intriguing behaviour of mudskippers....yes, I'm a little amazed as to how little research there is on them.

That's why it'll be good for you to get your foot in the door now and be a key player in the game.

I was chatting to my OH last night. We have quite a mini-zoo at home of alsorts of animals. And I brought up the question of _"which type of animals do you think show an immense variety of behaviours?"_

Without a hesitation, my OH (who, I'll add was a Pomeranian dog keeper and all that sort of stuff) said....."FISH".....pointing to the various tanks including, of course, the mudskipper tanks.

I spend a good part of the 70s and 80 studying the behaviour of Cichlids....maybe I should have concentrated a bit more time on mudskipper behaviour.  

I look forward to seeing some your results MattStyles.

ian


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## MattStyles (Feb 9, 2011)

It should be good to get mudskippers more into the scientific community. there is so much info and research on cichlids for example (lots performed at hull expecially


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## nickcradd067 (Jan 27, 2010)

MattStyles said:


> It should be good to get mudskippers more into the scientific community. there is so much info and research on cichlids for example (lots performed at hull expecially


George Turner and Ole Seehausen were/are both at Hull for a long time and they did a lot of work on cichlids.

From an acedemic and evolutionary perspective however I think it would be fair to say that more work has been done on cichlids because they are a more interesting group of fish compared to mudskippers.


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## waterdragon555 (Nov 27, 2010)

i will be getting some hopefully :2thumb:


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