It’s common knowledge that Julidochromis species are rock dwellers, but did you know they will also move sand?
If you follow the blog, you know that I have kept Julies for a long time. You also know that Julidochromis dickfeldi is one of my favorite species. In fact, I suspect there are more posts on my site about dickfeldi than any other cichlid species.
Dickfeldi not only occupy rocky areas, but they’ll happily displace sand if their territory is adjacent to it. In the photos above, you can see sand has been cleared and piled near the round, ceramic cave. I didn’t do that. They did. When I set that tank up for them, the sand was all level.
I haven’t personally witnessed them moving the sand but they’re in a species only tank. From a physics perspective, there are only two conceivable ways the sand could be moved – by the fish or by water movement. I know it isn’t the latter because the outflow is aimed toward the surface on the opposite end of the tank from the photos. It’s a 4′ tank. Furthermore, the outflow volume is too low at that distance to move sand like this.