digging damsel

[saxerphoner]

I have a blue damsel that can't seem to stop digging through by crushed coral bed in my tank. He's currently digging around some LR and I'm afraid it's gonna become unstable. Has anyone ever heard of this or anything like it?? He picks up one piece of crushed coral at a time and moves to another part of the tank (about three to four inches away). Any comments would be great!!!!

thanks!

 

[ColeBC]

Mine used to do that too. She collected all the bigger pieces and piled them up in one of the corners.
I had to take my rocks out and put them directly on the bottom on the tank and the put the sand/crushed coral around the rocks.
At first I thought she was trying to build a cave or a hiding place but then she ended up using one of the existing caves.

Cole

 

[ACBlinky]

All my damsels root around in the substrate, it's just something they do IME. My tiny little Talbot's once rolled a 3" shell from one side of the tank to the other. Watching a 1.5" fish move something several times her size nearly three feet was pretty amazing! My fourstripe dascyllus will dive headfirst into the sand and bite the hermits if they're in 'his' territory, and will sometimes carry them to a spot he finds acceptable before flinging them onto the sand or rocks. The South Seas damsel (C. tapou) digs holes in the sand with her tail and then feasts on any goodies she stirs up, she can make quite a mess if she puts her mind to it. We used to have a pair of saddleback clowns that were absolutely vicious, but hilarious to watch. The female absolutely hated hermits, and would shake them like a terrier with a rat. She bashed them, bit them and threw them all over the tank, and every time they came wandering back she would get more and more frustrated. I guess she wondered why the pesky shells she kept moving wouldn't stay put

I would definitely secure your rockwork before the damsel causes a rockslide. IMO rockwork should always be in place before the substrate goes in.