Doing what comes naturally

[The Kapenta Kid]

Here's a sandsifter doin' what he's good at--shiftin' sand.
I'm no biologist but maybe the peculiar shape of the inside of its mouth is part of the mechanism that allows it to sift and strain food out of sand.

 

[reefman23]

Great picture! I've never seen the inside of their mouth like that... interesting.

Jesse

 

[The Kapenta Kid]

Glad you liked it. It is spoiled a bit by the green diagonal line over the left cheek of the fish. Algae growing in a scratch line. Lots of scratches in the glass, but I can't complain, my son found the tank in the street awaiting rubbish collection, the price was right :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

 

[Trogdor]

Great pic...if you want to send me the original I can take out that green line. PM me for my email address.

 

[The Kapenta Kid]

Done

 

[The Kapenta Kid]

Further to this guy. In the evening I turn off the low-level powerheads in the tank to reduce water agitation. By the morning he has always excavated a hole under the plexi base that supports a certain rock. That's where he is looking out of in the pic. When the pumps go on again in the morning sand drifts over and blocks his work of the graveyard shift.
Tonight when I turned off the pumps he dived head first into sand over the hidden location of his hole and disappeared. The hole was still there and only the entrance was blocked. I was quite amazed.
They are fascinating fish if you can put up with their enthusiasm for civil engineering projects.

 

[reefman23]

Just wondering why you turn off the powerheads at night? This is when many corals feed and adequate flow is just as necessary at night as it is during the day.

Jesse

 

[Trogdor]

just so that you know the ocean doesn't stop moving at night. like jesse said, many creatures and coral come out at night and need the flow for feeding and propagation.

 

[The Kapenta Kid]

I don't turn it all off. In my 15 gal I have a couple of Maxi 900s that blow opposed across the bottom to create swirl and a couple of Mini 600s that blow across the top of the rocks. Apart from the Ritz HOB skilter that turns over water through its empty 2 gal filter chamber, with some live rock rubble in it.
I just turn off the two bottom pumps. I read somewhere that the sea surge lessens by night and that has indeed been my experience swimming after dark in tropical or sub-tropical seas.
Maybe it ain't so, but the awful truth is that I don't have any corals in my tank other than a couple of zoa hitchikers. Since it has only been set up since February I thought it best to give it maximum time to stabilize before introducing corals.
Does that get me thrown off the site :mrgreen: