Want to figure this out? ;-) video

[wasserscheu]

If you feel like, please take a guess (for fun) what´s going on with this Sewellia male here.

I´ll post a little video later (need to cut and convert, but couldn´t wait to post this ), I´m curious what you are thinking … I found it fascinating

[Graeme Robson]

I think your wishing you where in Austrialia....

I'd call it a food source, them filters catch some mighty fine foods.

[NancyD]

My first thought--the latest in stealth technology (too much History channel)
Then-- Who flipped my algae stone?

[Thomas]

I've no idea but I'm waiting for your video

[crazy loaches]

It looks to me like there is a whole bunch of crud on the water surface? And he is upside down riding on the waterline? probably way off but I had to come up with something

[Emma Turner]

Is he grazing upside down on algae growing on the underside of the glass strapping bars of the tank

Emma

[Mark in Vancouver]

I'm in. I think it's upside-down.

[chefkeith]

I've seen my ramshorn snails do something like this. They'll stay upside down on the water's surface and suck up the thin layer of algae that is blooming.

[wasserscheu]

… I made it back, …I was held up by some other thread I needed to get done, as one of my oti´s showed a big belly and something moving under the skin in the vent area. In case you are interested, pictures and video of the moving “egg-vent” (“the pipe the eggs pass through” - did not find it in the dictionary, …)…I still don´t know what it is…

http://www.aquaristikimdetail.de/wbb-3/ ... adID=20024

Many thanks for your participation of the quiz, we have a lot of winners, like Thomas, he joined the right forum “Gut gemacht Thomas” , or Grame who handeld it (very ) superb, Emma, Nancy and Mark were professionally too polite to address the fact of floating crap on my water … Chefkeith and Tristan were right on the money CONGRATULATIONS!

… as I was back home in Austria for 7 days (btw no feeding was done during that time), some floating stuff exploded on the water. Checking it under the microscope, I think its diatoms (algae with silicon-shells). There are not enough algae of other kind to produce such a mass of algae-bloom. It smells not too bad, has algae smell, and feels very soft rubbed on the skin (propably a perfect skin lotion, for a 3US$ donation from you to L.O.L - I´ll rub it into my face and post a picture – its quite black (the dried powder appears olive). But inform me quickly; I´ll get rid of it within days). It dries to powder, or film, depending on collection method. When lights are off for a few days it disappears without a trace, but comes back after lights on. Most interesting is the fact, that there is another tank in the same watercercuit, which does not show any at all (before leaving, the other tank showed a film of “iron-bacteria” though, which is gone by now, which looks similar to an oil-film).

Here the little video, showing the sewellia sticking on the watersurface. A Stiphodon (Goby) did the same thing first, but took off, when I got the camera. It´s unbelievable that the surface holds their weight, or with other words, that the “suckers” can balance it so skilfully. Stiphodons feed at it all the time, that´s why I am not in a hurry getting rid of it.



P.S.: never mind the heavy breathing Stiphodon, they are doing some chasing each other occasionally.

[mickthefish]

great video wolfram, thats something you don't see every day.

mick

[chefkeith]

Great video. I never knew they were such excellent swimmers.

[Jim Powers]

How bizarre!!
I never would have expected this behavior from Sewellia.

[Keith Wolcott]

Very, very cool. Such speed and control!

[crazy loaches]

Chefkeith and Tristan were right on the money CONGRATULATIONS!

Yay!

chefkeith - it was actually ramshorn that I've seen do that as well

The reason I thought it was the water line instead of glass is if you look at the first pic and see the green tube and wire you can see the water slightly warp up around them due to the surface tension were they break through the waterline.

That is a lot of algae though! But I agree, sounds like diatoms. I wonder what would have triggered them?

[Graeme Robson]

Fascinating video.