Mudfish colony // breeding project Phractolaemus ansorgii

[mountaintoppufferkeeper]

New roomates for the african butterfly fish have arrived. A group of 6 mudfish by far the craziest and most intriguing fish ive ever seen in person.

The reaction from my wife, despite knowing they were coming, was as you would expect when I opened a box containing what can only be adequatly described as a bag of 6" jumping dinosaurs at our telework desks. . 

Not the best photo in the water but we will get plenty more to post in the coming years. I can only imagine what the first feeding will be like once they get all settled. 

[Fish Folk]

You keep some crazy-cool fish! 

[mountaintoppufferkeeper]

@Fish Folk thanks much. I say the same about your selections as well. These are going to be some challenge they are way cooler in person than t b e few videos on youtube. I can only imagine when they start interacting with each other as they mature. 

My butterfly fish group formed two pairs and started dancing immediately when i swapped these in for the moliwe kribs and adjusted the decor slightly. Male in trail with the longer anal fin ray, female out front with the even anal fin. . Moliwe to a 20 also fired up immediately i think it has worked well for all groups. Not the best resolution but will upload better as anything noteworthy happens 

[MAC]

I'm excited to see how the mudfish do. Intriguing fish. Looks like a crazy experiment between a wild type Betta mixing with a loach. 

[mountaintoppufferkeeper]

@MAC yes they remind me of the fish version of a platypus with the mouth / trunk you dont expect to see on a fish.

The knowledge gained either on how to keep them and breed them or ill how to not keep them will be a fun journey to document for me. Id prefer success over hard learning but both make me a better fishkeeper in the future. 

I will update the process milestones here whichever way they go for me. Guess its about time for a 2nd security camera in the fishroom to document that tank.  

Edited August 11, 2021 by mountaintoppufferkeeper

[mountaintoppufferkeeper]

Still working on the feeding photos. They are nocturnal at the moment and still pretty reclusive but juat as intersting as they were on arrival.

[eatyourpeas]

Loving this journal! Those fish look incredible! I hope all goes well with the breeding project. 🙂

Thanks so much for sharing!

[mountaintoppufferkeeper]

A decent shot of the mudfish feeding on live baby brine tonight. Their mouth is wild to see in action.

 

[Steph’s Fish and Plants]

What a crazy cool fish to keep. I first heard of em from watching a CoOp unboxing semi recently but had forgotten about em till I was scrolling the forum and the coop local announcements and Robert had brought more in. I’m super excited to see how things play out, and I’m jealous for sure. I hope things go well!