Bizzare Livebearer Sand Behavior

[Frank the Tank]

set up and cycled new tank and filled it with 5 sunset platys and 5 guppies, used silica sand as subtrate and they seem to like it.

soooo i switch light off and go to sleep and get up in middle of night to get a drink and have a quick look in tank and the majority of the fish are diving belly first into the sand and swimming back up to do it again, they seem to enjoying themselves. has anyone else ever seen this?

 

[lefty07603]

I haven't heard of this before but I've heard many stories of platy playing games. Some include going into the filters outtake stream and riding it over and over

 

[PrairieSunflower]

I've had sand for about a week in one tank and not noticed any weird behavior... only one of the adults have been in that tank so far though (nursery tank so the regular inhabitants are all babies).

 

[FishBlast]

set up and cycled new tank and filled it with 5 sunset platys and 5 guppies, used silica sand as subtrate and they seem to like it.

soooo i switch light off and go to sleep and get up in middle of night to get a drink and have a quick look in tank and the majority of the fish are diving belly first into the sand and swimming back up to do it again, they seem to enjoying themselves. has anyone else ever seen this?

My swordtails do this ever since I've had them. It's funny how if the female dives into a certain spot into the sand, the male will quickly do this, then their fry (which are in a cage in the same tank with them) also do the same thing at once after seeing their parents doing this. Might be some kind of communication since it seems to be a chain reaction.

But if your fish do this excessively, you might want to check water parameters and see if anything is off scales. Or prepare of stuff such as ich or gill flukes if they keep rubbing against everything in the tank non-stop.

 

[Akasha72]

not seen anything like that but my platies like to try and outrun the filter current. Reminds me of the turtles in Finding Nemo

 

[FishBlast]

not seen anything like that but my platies like to try and outrun the filter current. Reminds me of the turtles in Finding Nemo

It's basically fish flashing. Only that they do this in the sand and usually when another one of theirs is present (if they are not ill or irritated). It's contagious like a yawn.