Mudskipper Emergency please help

[MudSkipFlip]

Mudskipper emergency please help

I have a 55 gallon tank with 3 Nigerian Mud Skippers in it. They are aprox 4.5",3",2.5" long i have had them for almost 3 months now i'm using a Fluval 304 canister filter and i did a 25% water change 2 days ago and the last time i vacuum the gravel was about 10 days ago the temp in my tank stays between 27-29 degrees C. Yesterday they began behaving oddly they swim towards the glass full speed and as soon as they reach it they begin to frantically attempt to swim up the the glass after a few seconds they stop completely vertical with their belly against the glass like a catfish or algae eater from this point on the larger ones push themselves off the glass and swim back and forth the entire length of the tank for a minute or 2 before becoming completely rigid and dropping to the bottom of the tank and the little one stays against the glass for a few more seconds then he also becomes rigid but instead of dropping like the other 2 he floats belly up ........ every time he does that i grab a small eye dropper similar to the one i use to test the amonia and nitrate i fill the dropper with a few drops of water from the tank and i drip them on the little guys head while he is floating belly up and by some weird miracle he comes back from the dead and starts swimming around as if nothing even happened.When the other 2 see him swimming around they all of a sudden lose their rigidness and join him swimming around the tank this has been happening aprox once every 2 hours and I'm afraid to go up to bed in case the little one goes belly up and I'm not by the tank to save him .Does anyone know what I'm talking about or has anyone experienced this or something similar to this please let me know i really need all the help i can get . thank you

 

[HN1]

Is the tank set up so that there is a small land / semi-aquatic area for them?

 

[dskidmore]

A sudden change in behavior may be a water quality issue. Consider a 50% water change.

 

[MudSkipFlip]

Hi thxs 4 the replies. My bf 1st posted this while I was sleeping. He's discription of whats happening is a lil off, so I'll try 2 explain it a bit better.

As for the 2 responses... Yes they have plenty of land to get up on. I've got 2 magnetic floating islands called Turtle Banks, a fake rock hut thats submerged they can go in or climb on top and theres also sum land for them I made out of rocks and slate rock. And for the suggestion of a 50% water change... At the beginging of July I did the 1st "big water change" and I replaced 100% of the water (at the time, not realizing that wasnt the best thing to do). Other then that big water change I did at the beginging of the month, approx. once a week I have to add 1 4L ice cream pale full of water to the tank so that the water stays high enough for my skippers to get on thier land masses with ease. As for the water quality, I do weekly tests for amonia, ph and nitrate. And everything seems to be at normal levels.

Back to what my bf was talking about... sometimes my skippers do something I find a little weird.. they put themselves against the glass in the water so basically we see their intire belly/stomach, they use their tails in the rocks on the floor of tank to hold themselves up and just the tip of their mouth and eyes are out of the water. Also they are usually using thier hands and feet (I call them) for support as well. Hands being the fins on the sides they use for swiming and feet being the fins on their bellys they use to hold themselves up on rocks and whatnot. I've seen other mudskippers do it at the fish store where we got ours. does any1 know why they do this?

 

[dskidmore]

If you're always adding water and never taking any out, some minerals will build up in the water. Under normal circumstances, a 10% water change every or every other week is a good idea. The big water changes are for emergency situations where something has made the water toxic, and should always be done with plenty of dechlorinator.

 

[MudSkipFlip]

So other then the fishies... um.. number 2 we'll call it. Theres other stuff that will build up in the water? I wasn't aware of that. Thanks 4 the fyi =)
I'll have to take sum water out b4 I go and add more next week.

 

[HN1]

Good call ds... the TDS is probably way up.

 

[MudSkipFlip]

What is TDS? And is there anyway 2 test 4 it?

 

[RazorbacksFan]

What is TDS? And is there anyway 2 test 4 it?

Total dissolved solids, and as far as I know it is not easily tested but then again I am a noob at this stuff. As far as I know it is mainly only tested in a lab.

 

[HN1]

They do have fairly inexpensive meters out there (~ $15), but it's pretty certain if all you've been doing is top offs. The water is the only thing that evaporates. Everything that's in the water is left behind. Water changes will help.

 

[dskidmore]

If you used distilled or RO/DI water for topoffs, you shouldn't see the TDS go up much over time, but there's still traces of stuff in the food and artificial decorations. It's just safer to do the partial water changes.

Use a declorinator to treat the new water. I like Prime, but there's plenty of alternatives out there.