will all clowns move the sand?

[catera]

i had a large maroon clown and he constantly moved the sand with his tail. i cant stand it do all clowns do that?

[Scuba_Dave]

I have maroons & Tomato's, both move large volumes of sand all the time (usually just in their corner tho).

[karl wagner]

I don't think the percula/ocellaris do very much of that digging.

That's the only one that I can think of. All the others do for sure. Saddlebacks probably do less than say clarkiis, tomato, or maroons, all of which do a lot of excavation.

[Brimarbio]

Isn't that related to nesting? I'm not 100% on this but I think I've heard the best way to stop them from doing that is to put a flat ceramic tile in near their spot. Could be wrong...?

[Scuba_Dave]

I believe it is to do with their mating ritual. Not sure on the tile, I know the usual reason for the tile is to be able to easily remove the eggs. But maybe if they have a nice clean "nest" they won't dig

[ellisd]

I have a maroon and two perculas, they never mess with it.....maybe they are not "beach" fish.......

[jciwlsn]

I have two tomato clowns that are doing the same thing constantly with the female in one corner of the tank, and the male in the other corner.

Try these two threads below which have some excellent info.

http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=215098

http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=210672

Sorry, that first thread went to "no mans land" so I fixed it. :)

[JustDavidP]

My false percs do this all the time. It really ticks off my open brain as it gets covered in silt. It is neat to watch it expand itself to dust itself off. Silly Clowns!!

<D>

[jciwlsn]

The clowns are a riot. My male clown, I think, is either switching to a female, or he's just completely lost it. Last night I watched him clean out his corner - he picked up a tiny shell in his mouth and spit it at the female who was getting close to his den. Yes, one for the poor, dejected males..........

[Reef-lite]

Yeah, my maroon kicked sand like crazy. Ended up killing my clam with silt. I had to give it up. Greg H says that it's their way of staking their territory and keeping other corals away from their anemone/home. Best thing to do is lay rock rubble in that spot. They'll usually move to another spot and start again, but sometimes you get lucky and they stop.

[denvig]

My two ocellaris do this some time but no too much. They are fun to watch.