Sand hills in my reef...

[DaBird]

Good morning all, I have been waking up to a new site in my tank lately. a sand hill, this is the sort of hill that my old Gulf shrimp got moved out of my tank for, LOL...I put in a new large Zoo rock about a week ago and now this sand hill, always in the same spot by that zoo rock...any guesses as to the culprit?

 

[lcstorc]

Very odd. I don't see anything in your fish list that would be doing it. If you have any sand sifter gobies or jawfish that would be my first guess since they do that to my tank all the time. If not that particularly since it is in the same place all the time I would suspect a power head. Have you tried leveling it out? Does it come back? How quickly?

 

[DaBird]

This is the strange thing, no power head (that is exactly what it looks like), no gobies or jawfish, and every morning I fix the sand and when I wake up the hill is back...

 

[bluespotjawfish]

You need to wake up in the middle of the night and check out your tank with a flashlight. Maybe someone else's Bluespot jumped into your tank - hehe!

 

[sasquatch]

could one of you tangs be nesting??

 

[DaBird]

I did get a new Powder Blue...Do they do this?...

 

[Raf]

maybe you gots a pistol shrimp in there.

 

[sasquatch]

not the dreaded pistol:bouncebox better to have a nesting tang than a pistol

 

[DaBird]

I've never studied up on a pistol, is it something to be nervous about?

 

[BoomerD]

I'd bet on water current causing that...it's just what it looks like to me...

 

[KimPossible]

ditto on the current

 

[DaBird]

Well, Thats the weird thing BoomerD (and Kim), and thats why I turned to my RS friends, Thats in a slow flow area, no high flow in that area at all...Any more Ideas?...This one's a head scratcher...

 

[sasquatch]

do you sleep walk??

 

[DaBird]

haha, good one...I do wake up with wet feet sometimes...LOL

 

[goldenmean]

I like the hill effect.
it showcases those new Zoas

I would be watching with a red light late at nite.
Have you heard any clicking or popping noises?
You would probably hear a pistol shrimp before you see it

 

[michael_cb_125]

I have a powder Blue tang that moves sand around a little bit. But he has never made his own mountain.LOL

 

[Raf]

I've never studied up on a pistol, is it something to be nervous about?

nervous? no. We have one in our 90 reef and it does minimal damage. We see hills from time to time but usually all we here is a loud clicking sound to announce his presence.

They are great hitchikers, so you may have one....

 

[DaBird]

ok, well I guess it's snooping around in the middle of the night, if I find anything I'll post it...(we got a new camera so ya never know :zzz: ...darn I'm supposed to stay awake... time)...

 

[dragonladylea]

I'm with the Pistol shrimp crew, I smooth out the hills and he has them back by morning. I would watch to and see if there are small pieces of coral or debris around any cave openings. Pistols like to decorate their burrows.

 

[KimPossible]

Good luck on the camp out! Tie a string to a small piece of shrimp ... put it in the valley ... tie that string to bell and your big toe. Keep the camera on your stomach and a red light in your mouth while you sleep. You can have a pillow too if you must