Will Ingesting Sand Harm My Fish?!

[Spishkey]

a few times this week i have moved very heavily pregnant looking fish into birthing tanks ready for birth, only to get up the following morning and finding the 'was' bare floor covered in sand and the fish looking very much slimmer! ive had 4 fish do it to me this week.

any idea why they would be eating sand, and is it going to harm them??

 

[Spishkey]

no idea anyone?

 

[Truck]

i wouldnt have thought so, my rams (earth eaters) sift the sand and my cories have sand pass through there gills

 

[Spishkey]

any ideas why they might be doing it? it is a very sudden thing not seen it before. all 4 fish were platys

 

[foley69]

well platys always suck up thinsg off any obnject weather its the bottom or decor might have just become a habit thats just my guess

 

[saz326]

Im wondering whether their food is sinking too fast, so they end up sucking in sand with the food sitting on the bottom.

Maybe try preventing the food from sinking too quickly. Turn the water flow down on the filter for a secondto let the surface settle before using flakes for example.

I do know that some animals including fish "eat" stones, gravel and sand to help pummel the food in their stomachs. Birds for example eat grit to help both with egg development and to rub against grain in their stomachs and break the food down - wonder if your fish is doing the same.

Anything that is too big to pass out easily remains in the stomach of these other species until they are ground down enough to pass through.