Why are they doing this?

[NewbyReefer]

Just wondering why my clowns are kicking up the sand around there rock. Its getting pretty annoying because they're starting to cover my lower corals. Seeing if theres a purpose behind it or if they just feel like kicking up sand.

 

[nikon187]

Its what clowns do, burnouts in the sand. Mine will dig down to the glass.

 

[BonsaiNut]

Larger clowns will sometimes clean an area when they are getting ready to spawn. If you really want to **** them off, stick a shell down there. They will often get mad and toss the shell aside. Just as a warning - they may start biting, too, if they haven't already.

 

[Leena2674]

My larger (4") female cleared sand away and kept covering my corals. So I put a fist size rock where she kept piling up the sand as a "dam". She pushed the rock halfway across the tank. My smaller clowns all move sand around too... it's a clown thing.

 

[xCry0x]

Move the sand back and watch them rage on your hand/whatever you use to push it.

 

[nikon187]

If the OP manages to find a way to convince them to stop let the rest of us know ! They do seem to stop almost completly if they host in a rock dwelling anemone ( bubble tip, magnificent ) i dont think my male has went anywhere near the sand in over a year, my female is another story.

 

[NewbyReefer]

If the OP manages to find a way to convince them to stop let the rest of us know ! They do seem to stop almost completly if they host in a rock dwelling anemone ( bubble tip, magnificent ) i dont think my male has went anywhere near the sand in over a year, my female is another story.

I did have a GBTA that recently tried to kill itself(disappeared off the rock it was on and ended up mouth down in the sand almost inside out:mad2don't worry, I saved the anemone:fun4), so they nolonger have it to host until I feel its 100% again. That is roughly when they started to do "burnouts". The other thing that has me worried is the rock they are slowly covering is where my pistol shrimp is at. Hopefully he can keep up.
Maybe I'll get another anemone and see if that helps.