Tomato Clown Digging up a storm!

[loosbrew]

Hello everyone...

I've had an A. Frenatus for over 12 years now, along with her host LTA. Shes been through a few moves including a cross country FedEx adventure from CT to FL. Well, I've had her here in FL for over a year now and shes and the LTA have been doing great. Well, after all of these years and knowing that she is definitely a female I decided to try and mate her with a good looking captive bred male. I looked for a few years, not whole heartedly, but finally a few months ago I found a great looking captive bred male. He took to the LTA right away and she didnt fuss at all. One thing I noticed...I didnt realise how huge she was after introducing a smaller male! wow! But anyway... within the last month or so shes taken to really digging up a storm, nearly burying my corals and clams and essentially disrupting the sand bed pretty good. Shes now taken to hiding in a cave with a huge hole underneath her. This started very close to the LTA, an dI found the two of them hanging out in the cave and such but recently she decided to go across the tank and start another hole! The two never fight, the female will sometimes get a little hyper during feeding time, but no torn fins or genuine aggressive behavior. Any idea short of restructuring the aquascaping that can perhaps convince her not to dig and fan the sand so much?

TIA

Luis

 

[TOURKID]

*looking at my 15 inch sand bed next to my barebottom* I donno.... Ive tried alot of things... my maroon even moved the floor tile i laid down. those arent light!

It drives me crazy and concerned about the disruption of all the sand bed stuff too....

 

[seaduck]

Did she start the digging after u added the male??? if so then she might be preparing a nest sight??? My single t-clown digs all the time too all around and under its LTA. Might just be a t-clown thing cause my f-percs never dig???

 

[loosbrew]

yeah, shes been digging under the LTA for years, I just never noticed it away from the host!

 

[Ovuel]

Right now I have a pair of true percs and just paired my tomato tonight and I can tell you that both of my sandbeds have been rearranged. The tomato was alone when she dug her hole, but the perc were introduced together so it is hard to say if this behavior is nesting related or not. I have noticed that both my holes are directly behind my stick on thermometers. That may just be an ironic coincidence though.

 

[loosbrew]

I'm gathering this is normal behavior then

Well, I am planning a move into a larger tank soon, currently theyre all in a 65 gal and I'm thinking of moving to a 90 gal or larger so hopefully that will help. I didn't realise how large she has grown in the past year or so. It seems with the introduction of the male shes grown another inch or more! sheesh... youd think they wouldnt grow anymore after 12 years... ce la vie...



Luis