Tomato clown making a sandy mess!!

[reefinnewb]

For the last few months my tomato clown has been making sand dunes in my tank. It will plant it's nose against a rock and swim frantically making the sand in the bottom of my tank become water born. When i do a water change I will refill that area with sand and within an hour its back to the way it was. I have had my fill of it and am curious if any one knows what it's doing and how it can be stopped.

BTW, I really don't think it is hosting the sand since it spends most of its time in other areas of the tank, Ill try to get a picture.

 

[reefinnewb]

 

[tgrove]

mine did this until i got them an anemone

then it was all happiness for me and them

 

[reefinnewb]

mmm... I had a bta but it loved it to death, literally. I had an LTA but it got way to big. SO really my only option to stop this madness now is to get rid of it.

 

[sugartooth]

I'm along for the ride. My clarkki does this too! Right next to the anemone, it's digging a huge hole and then some in the sand.

 

[55semireef]

Why not just let it have its hole? Does he do this in just one particular spot or around the whole tank. I can see why you would want to get rid of him if he dug holes throughout the whole tank but if its just this one area, there is really no damage done.

 

[TOURKID]

well i have an anemone (bta) and my maroon spends countless hours digging her hole.

It happens to be right under the anemone that she does it. and she also picks up gravel/sand with her mouth and spits it across the tank.. then waggs her tail in the sand some more.

As far as stopping it.. no one has ever been sucessful as far as we all know. I personaly think its done for 2 resons..
1. to find food laying on the floor...
2. Its cleaning its home
im pretty sure thats what my maroon is doing is cleaning. Its always in the same spot, and she works hard at it.

Id just leave the hole and stop filling it in and see what happens..

 

[55semireef]

I would not personally get rid of a fish just bc its going by its natural instincts.

 

[sugartooth]

hahaa...yep, mine does the same exact thing your maroon does. Spits out sand and does the tail wag. I never filled the hole back and it still keeps doing it. It doesn't bother me to the point where I would ever get rid of the fish, I would just like to know what it's all about.

 

[TOURKID]

I donno but im courious what she'll do when she hits glass lol

 

[reefinnewb]

nah im not getting rid of it, its been with me since the start. Im half tempted to buy another bta and see what it does to this one. Only thing keeping me from getting another one is that my tank is pretty stocked and would hate to see it moving around stinging other coral. I gues i can move whatever is in its way until it finds its "spot". Anyone have any ideas on what i should do? SHould i get another one and hope it doesnt demolish this one, or just move all the coral out of the way of the hole so it doesnt get totally buried under the sand and let it have its hole.

 

[TOURKID]

hmmm... my advice would be... make sure the bta is at lest 3-4 times bigger than the fish. My maroon got so excited at first that im pretty sure she was killing it. but she did learn to relax and take care of it.

I waas told recently not to move coral out of the way. to let them be and the bta should move around it... it stresses out the corals even more to be moved about. I cant say this is written in stone because ive never tried it... just more questionable lfs advice

 

[reefinnewb]

my last one was probably 6-7 inches across and it still killed it. The tomato right now is only at 2 inches, still pretty small.

 

[EmmaKB]

Spawning time!

Spawning time!

I have two tomatoe clowns, this is spawning behaviour, your fish is looking for a flat smooth surface to lay eggs on, doesn't matter if you only have one, she may lay eggs that will not be fertilized. Mine layed their first eggs this weekend after months of this behavior.

 

[Reefer421]

I also have heard that this is a spawning behavior...I have not seen any eggs yet, but I am waiting for the LFS to get small maroon clowns so I can see about getting her to pair with a male.

Wish me luck...I heard it can be difficult.

 

[reefinnewb]

Let me ask, if i find a juvy tomato clown and put it in the tank, will the larger one kill it? Its been in the tank now for about 8 months. I would love to have a pair.