... as the females are getting settled in the temporary tank (for a few months), they start to confront each other about feeding places... I need to feed additionally onto the leafes as the male behaves too territorial...
As substrate is under male control, the girls have no problem on the leafes, even rocking in the stream. Some leaves are directly under the lamps and only 1" (if at all) below the watersurface... they don´t mind.
That gave me the idea, to create a temporary hillstream tank, just by hanging in a tray with flat stones about 2" below watersurface and post a filteroutlet or powerhaed above it. The rapid surface movement would also boost aer-absobtion of the water.
Surprisingly my Kid´s-camera, sometimes even makes a usable picture (1 out of 300)...
[/img]I forgot to mention, that the fresh "male guy", came close to my finger, when I was sticking fertiliser-pills under the plant roots. He was attracted by the stuff that came out of the sand/fine-gravel. he was not scared, even though I didi not hesitate to move. As he finally was 1/4" at hole I was digging - he jumped on my finger and moved up all the way to the end of the finger (knuckles?). I noticed allready when putting him into the tank, that he never was scared of my face and even came to the magnifying glass - as if he were interested inspecting me - rather than vice versa... what a cracy guy... if he just would let the ladies onto the substrate a little more. My sewellias are quit space demanding, 1.5´ x 1.5´ is almost not sufficient for one fish. The plants do a good job, even though, they may have seen the first ones in their life in my tank...
) the suction is amazing. When they are actively clinging I'm afraid to try to move them off cause I think I'd hurt them. 
When he still was in the bag, he crawled out of the water completely - slowly - without using his tail (still in the bag). I can also watch male and females, sticking their noses out of the water, slowly checking for food on the glass, above the water. 
). In the beginning he tried to move the sand like you described, he even turnes a little doing that, like drilling. He is searching the entire substrate very systematecally when he got into the tank, but ignored everything, until he caught his first bloodworm, now he eats pretty well. But where I have sand, I have 2 big Echinidorus on a fingerthick and almost a foot long rhizome, and their roots have networked through the sand so much, that it has become kind of solid with the roots and digging is even too hard for the aborichthys in that area. My Sewellia preferres the sand towards the gravel (about 3-4mm), Abor. - the powerdrill - has no preference, as the gravel is rounded.