A
Anonymous
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So, after seeing them on one dealer's availability list for a year now, I decided to take the plunge and set up a tank especially for pseudomugil cyanodorsalis. Due to a dealer mix-up I won't have my fish for another few days yet, but I thought I'd get the thread started.
First, a few photos of the fish taken from other websites. It's an uncommon enough species that most people don't know what it looks like, so...
Nice, huh?
Pseudomugil cyanodorsalis are euryhaline and tolerate a wide range of ecological conditions. Although more commonly found in marine and brackish water environments they also inhabit freshwater, especially during the wet season. However, habitat preference appears to be mangrove-lined muddy creeks that may be highly saline. During the wet season their habitat turns essentially freshwater. During the dry season, their habitat often becomes hyper-saline, reaching a SG of up to 1.040.
The dealer I'm getting mine from keeps his at 1.007, so that's what I'm mimicing to start off with. Most other reports I've read from folks who've kept them say they've done so with SGs in the range of 1.010-1.017, so I may gradually increase the salinity levels of the tank.
The Tank:
20 gallon AGA tank
Eclipse 2 hood
15 lbs of aragonite sand (enough for a ½”- ¾” deep substrate)
Assorted driftwood and truly hideous plastic plants (temporary, I hope)
SG of 1.007
I’ve seen photos of some specific habitats the species has been collected from, and it’s nothing but mangrove roots and white sand. So that’s what the tank is designed around.
(That said, the current ‘aquascaping’ is kind of cobbled together. I’ve used some branchy, bark-y Indonesian wood and some artificial hairgrass for the moment, but both are hopefully temporary. OSI makes some great, huge artificial tree roots that sort of mimic the branching growth of mangrove roots, which are what I want to get my hands on… unfortunately, the only four dealers I could find who sell them are all out of stock at the moment. I’m going to try to gradually acclimate a few species of salt-tolerant freshwater plants (vals, java fern, java moss, water sprite) to the tank’s salinity levels in a spare tank I have laying around. May not work, though – 1.007 may be beyond what these plants can handle, salt wise.)
Depending on which, if any, of the live plants can be successfully acclimated to 1.007 SG will kind of determine what planting options I have. Java moss would be tied to small pebbles scattered around, java fern would be attached to the wood work. Vals would probably end up where the fake plants are now. Watersprite, though… if the water sprite is successful, I may get a bit creative. Hopefully in a month or so I’ll know, and have at least one species I can work with.
I should have the fish by the end of the week and will put up some photos of my tank once I do. In the meantime, here's another piece of eye candy pulled from the web....
First, a few photos of the fish taken from other websites. It's an uncommon enough species that most people don't know what it looks like, so...
Nice, huh?
Pseudomugil cyanodorsalis are euryhaline and tolerate a wide range of ecological conditions. Although more commonly found in marine and brackish water environments they also inhabit freshwater, especially during the wet season. However, habitat preference appears to be mangrove-lined muddy creeks that may be highly saline. During the wet season their habitat turns essentially freshwater. During the dry season, their habitat often becomes hyper-saline, reaching a SG of up to 1.040.
The dealer I'm getting mine from keeps his at 1.007, so that's what I'm mimicing to start off with. Most other reports I've read from folks who've kept them say they've done so with SGs in the range of 1.010-1.017, so I may gradually increase the salinity levels of the tank.
The Tank:
20 gallon AGA tank
Eclipse 2 hood
15 lbs of aragonite sand (enough for a ½”- ¾” deep substrate)
Assorted driftwood and truly hideous plastic plants (temporary, I hope)
SG of 1.007
I’ve seen photos of some specific habitats the species has been collected from, and it’s nothing but mangrove roots and white sand. So that’s what the tank is designed around.
(That said, the current ‘aquascaping’ is kind of cobbled together. I’ve used some branchy, bark-y Indonesian wood and some artificial hairgrass for the moment, but both are hopefully temporary. OSI makes some great, huge artificial tree roots that sort of mimic the branching growth of mangrove roots, which are what I want to get my hands on… unfortunately, the only four dealers I could find who sell them are all out of stock at the moment. I’m going to try to gradually acclimate a few species of salt-tolerant freshwater plants (vals, java fern, java moss, water sprite) to the tank’s salinity levels in a spare tank I have laying around. May not work, though – 1.007 may be beyond what these plants can handle, salt wise.)
Depending on which, if any, of the live plants can be successfully acclimated to 1.007 SG will kind of determine what planting options I have. Java moss would be tied to small pebbles scattered around, java fern would be attached to the wood work. Vals would probably end up where the fake plants are now. Watersprite, though… if the water sprite is successful, I may get a bit creative. Hopefully in a month or so I’ll know, and have at least one species I can work with.
I should have the fish by the end of the week and will put up some photos of my tank once I do. In the meantime, here's another piece of eye candy pulled from the web....
