MuddSkippers

[SoCal]

One of my LFS has Musddskippers. Every time I go to this store I am tempted to buy some because they look so cool, but I resist because they also look like they are hard to take care of. Has anyone owned one or had any experience with them?

 

[crocodylus]

You must be talking about Pet Kingdom over on Sports Arena Blvd!!

was there yesterday and bought some Otos, saw the mudskippers, i think they would make an interesting addition, but what do they eat?... If you meant PK, did you see the crawfish on sale also?

 

[cdawson]

Mudskippers are brackishwater fish that require ALOT of land, less so than water as they spend 90% of their time on land. They feed on land only and as far as I can tell with mine, I rarely see them actually go into the water. They mostly just hang out around on the beach area in the shallow water flipping over to wet themselves from time to time. They are probably the most personable pets I've ever had and don't recommend them to anyone not willing to put in a full time effort to take care of these fish. You pretty much need to change the water three times a week in my setup (I've got 2 in a 15g long, they'll be getting a 40l soon). If you're serious about getting mudskippers (which again, I don't recommend if you're not going to put in a full time effort. They are live caught and when they die on your hands that's one more mudskipper that disappears from the wild), go to this site
http://members.ozemail.com.au/~thebobo/goby.htm

 

[SoCal]

YES!!!!! P.K.

Didn't see the crawfish, friend of mine has a bunch of them...We use them to catch large mouth bass. You should buy your fish from P.K. on wednesdays they give 15% off all fish except feeders. Also FYI the PetSmart right around the corner is like $2 cheaper on just about everything fish related, although their selection of fish is limited. I buy all my chemicals and food from P.S.

 

[SoCal]

cdawson

Thanks for the info. I think I will hold off on the muddskippers, they are just soooo cool looking.

 

[crocodylus]

The Crawfish where way over in the back, on the same aisle as the mudskippers. didnt know about the Wednesday sales, just might have a look some of these days, and yes i've been to the Petsmart around the corner, mostly buy frozen food from them

 

[Dragon77]

Mudskippers!

The degree of difficulty with Mudskippers depends entirely on the specific species! I have had two WONDERFUL Elongatus Mudskippers -- Pseudapocryptes elongatus (http://homepage2.nifty.com/PhD-mukai/Laboratory/Pseudapocryptes/Pseudapocryptes.html)

They were ENTIRELY aquatic - I used to have Fire-Bellied Toads in the tank, so I had s couple of large floating islands, but the Mudskippers NEVER came on land. I just got two more of a VERY similar species (body striping is a bit different), and they were sold as Candy-Striped Gobys. Though some Mudskippers can be aggressive, mine were completely non-aggressive, eating only brine, bloodworms, and reptile sticks (their favorite!) - I couldn't even get them interested in red wigglers or NightCrawlers.

Unfortunately, my current Mudskipper has fallen victim to a virus particular to brackish fish, and it's doubtful he will survive

Make sure of the needs of the breed before you purchase! Many Mudskippers also require a LOT of their namesake - mud.

--- Dragon77

 

[cdawson]

They don't NEED mud, they just need to be able to roll over and get themselves wet from time to time. Muddy banks are just their natural habitat, if you can simulate that then good on ya. However, they don't NEED mud.
Dragon77 is right though, the degree of difficulty depends on the species. However 99 percent of the time you're going to only find nigerian mudskippers as the many other species are too rare and delicate to collect.

 

[SoCal]

I am going to the store tomorrow. I will ask what species they are. Right now (I'm sure just for sales purposes) they are in a tank half filled with water and drift wood.

As for taking care of them, I have no problems tending to them on a daily basis as I am currently managing several tanks and do daily rounds already. I also have several empty tanks not in use ranging from 20 long to 55 gal.