Crazy female Gold stripe maroon

[BLKTANG]

Why does she roost sand all the time?

[gberry]

My maroons do this all the time. They seem to be diligent housekeepers, making sure that the anemone is clean and that the substrate is kept away from it, even to the point of having 4" tall mounts of sand around the anemone. I have 2 theories on this, first being that the more they dig out, the more room they have to retreat under their host for protection. Secondly, I think they may be digging for a suitable spot of deposit eggs that is under the protective umbrella of their host. Every few days I push the sand back to an even level, and they start the cycle anew.

[timrandlerv10]

hey gberry...do an experiment for us? the next time she digs out, dont level it--put a 4"x4" tile there, and she if she lays her eggs on it?

[BLKTANG]

Yup mine does the same with the piles of sand,i just leveled the sand 1 hour ago.

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n159/ttpimp/IMG_0168.jpg


http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n159/ttpimp/IMG_0167.jpg

[BLKTANG]

Anyone else wanna guess why she does this?It drives me crazy,i always have sand particles floating in my reef.

[gberry]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11840918#post11840918 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by timrandlerv10
hey gberry...do an experiment for us? the next time she digs out, dont level it--put a 4"x4" tile there, and she if she lays her eggs on it?

My pair haven't begun to spawn yet, they're still pretty young. I've had them for about a year now and to be honest, I'm not sure at what age they begin spawning.

[gberry]

I added a ceramic tile under one side of my LTA tonight, the maroons are keeping it cleaned off, guess we'll see over the next few days if they're ready to spawn or not.