A
Anonymous
Guest
Lawdawg":2dzd0xah said:Awesome CJ...what are they
Pseudomogil cyanodorsalis, another small (1" or so) species of australian blue eye. They're euryhaline, tolerating everything from pure freshwater all the way up to hypersaline conditions significantly more salty than regular strength sea water. In nature they tend to prefer to hang out in mangrove-lined creeks in brackish conditions (around 1.007 SG), so that's what I'm going to try to give them. They can be kept in a pure freshwater tank or even a reef tank (just need to be gradually acclimated to the salinity level), but anecdotal reports are that they live longer and breed more readily in brackish conditions.
There's a guy out in California breeding them and offering them for sale. I've been drooling over them for nearly a year now and finally caved. Most commercially grown freshwater plants can't tolerate as much salt as is recommended for this fish, but I'm going to try slowly acclimating a few that might (valisneria, java fern, java moss, water sprite) over a month or so and see how they do.
Eventually, I'd like to do a real mangrove tank with them. Something where the tank is only half full of water, there are lots of mangrove seedlings, and maybe even a variable water level to mimic the tidal fluctuations. For now, though, it's going to be a much more simple set up. Tank should be up and running with them by mid-october or so.