[Staghorn]

I have a condy and a Clark Clown that have been mates for almost 2 years. A couple of weeks ago the condy left his home (a show spot in the center of the tank) and wedged its self into a hole in the rocks. It shrinks well into the hole at night and expands maybe 1/4 size, outside the hole, in the day. What's going on? The clown has really gotten big (4"-5"). Do you think the condy had enough and want's to be left alone?

[Rin]

Maybe the Condy is upset that the clown is too big to eat.

How big is the condy normally? If it isn't 3 or 4 times bigger than the clown, then that certainly is a possibility. You may want to consider that something else made the condy move. Has anything changed in the tank recently? Params? Lighting? New additions?

[Staghorn]

The tank community has not changed for over a year. Only the lights are probably changing in spectrum. The condy acts like any other animal getting to much light but I ruled that out. I think the Clark has gotten to big for the condy. You know, I just thought of something. It probably is the lights. They are 2 -96w compacts split up 50-50 with A3 actinics and 10K daylight. They are approching the one year mark. The condy started to shrink in size a couple of months ago to the point that it looked out of place with the Clark. I have had the pair for years and obviously have not noticed the effects on the condy due to the lighting degrading over time. Duh--I bet that is it. I was about to get new lights. I normally change them out every 12 months. They would have been due in April. I feel stupid not to have caught that.

[Rin]

You should be able counter the lighting problem by feeding the Condy a little more heavily. At least until you update your lighting.