Clownfish mowing through the sand

[thankgod4fish]

I have 2 percs. One is slightly darker and just a tad bigger than the other. I was watching the tank for a bit yesterday and saw the bigger/darker one in one corner of the tank, swimming nose first into the sand, wriggling about in it, (and kicking up sand) coming back up and starting all over. It did this a few times until I went to get a closer look and it came up to the top to wait for food (greedy little perc ) Anyone know what it's doing?
Thanks
Lou
Oh, and the pair isn't a "mated pair." I did buy them at the same time from the same tank at the lfs a few months ago, but they weren't being sold as a pair.

 

[tallyho]

I have a large gold striped maroon clown and for the past 2.5 years he has contiunuously fanned the sand/gravel away from his area and from underneath his host(carpet anemone).He picks up shells and rearranges smaller pieces of artificial coral
away from his area. He is just marking his territory. In some places he has bare glass underneath him an 10 inches of gravel
next to it. I level it out and with in a few minutes he has it cleaned back to his tastes....GREAT FISH!!

 

[kreach]

Even if they weren't purchased as a mated pair, given time they will turn into a mated pair. The larger one will be the female and the smaller the male. It sounds like your female is showing spawning behavior...

 

[buzz]

Clowns dig. It's what they do. In the absence of a host, it will most likely continue. My tomato clown used to dig in the sand all the time, and slept in the holes it dug. Then I got an anemone (I have the right lighting, etc.) and it took to that and never dug again.

 

[thankgod4fish]

thanks for all the input guys! one of these days, I'll pick up that book on clownfish (or a book on clownfish)