Mirrored backgrounds, Bad?

Jtfortune3 · Jan 12, 2020

So i’m new to the salty side! (I have 5 freshwater tanks) So my grandma had an old 29 gallon bowfront tank that has a painted on mirror background.. while it is kind of ugly it was free so I cycled the tank (which takes way more patience than freshwater) and I added two snow onyx clownfish.. they seem to sit in the back and surf up and down the mirror looking at their reflection.. i’ve read where this can become a problem with them fighting the reflection and constantly rubbing on the glass.. so now that I have the tank set up I was thinking about covering the top very well and sanding off the mirror paint and painting black? Do you think this could work?
Any other suggestions would help!

Cory · Jan 13, 2020

No idea. Try it anyway! I would! Bump

Fishingandreefing · Jan 13, 2020

It can cause stress to certain fish, not a good idea.

ZoWhat · Jan 13, 2020

If you're ugly.... yeah

ScottR · Jan 13, 2020

Eventually as your tank ages, it’ll be covered in algae and other stuff. I’d imagine it’d be hidden after awhile.

SuncrestReef · Jan 13, 2020

If you get them an anemone they might adopt it as their new home and totally ignore the reflection. My clowns will only leave their anemone at feeding time, then race right back to it for safety. They literally ignore everything else in the tank.

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zalick · Jan 13, 2020

I had the same thing. Drove one of my clowns nuts. Never again.

It needs to go IMO.. mirrors are a bad idea.

Mine was an actual mirror. I sanded it in tank to scuff enough. That worked.

If I were you, I'd just get a new tank if you have the money. A 20 long is a fantastic first tank.
Or a 40 breeder.

SuncrestReef · Jan 13, 2020

Please don't double-post. You posted the exact same question in two different subforums, so people are not going to see consistent replies.

Kriz · Jan 13, 2020

A mirror is a good way to distract aggressive fish from new fish in the aquarium.
A mirror on a regular basis is a bad idea.

Jtfortune3 · Jan 13, 2020

SuncrestReef said:
Please don't double-post. You posted the exact same question in two different subforums, so people are not going to see consistent replies.

Sorry I’m new to forums in general and couldn’t find where i had posted it originally and thought it didn’t post. Still learning how to navigate the site

ZoWhat · Jan 13, 2020

Mirrors are no different than your glass reflecting at night with the actinic lights on.

Fish will "do the dance " thinking its facing off with another fish....

Is that stressful to the point where the fish will stress out and die? Highly doubtful

After about a month of reflections.... most fish accept it saying, "hey theres my dumbarce neighbor following me around again, what!ever!"

.

Admann · Jan 13, 2020

If I had to look at myself all day, I would leave. Kidding aside, I believe it will cause a problem with certain territorial fish but not all of them.

Reefer Reboot · Jan 13, 2020

I've done this to give the tank a more spacious look. All the fish gave up looking at themselves after about a week. But then again, the coralline algae eventually ended the spacious look.

zalick · Jan 13, 2020

skimjim said:
Is that stressful to the point where the fish will stress out and die? Highly doubtful

After about a month of reflections.... most fish accept it saying, "hey theres my dumbarce neighbor following me around again, what!ever!"

It's highly dependent on the type of fish. Will they die directly due to stress? Probably not. But stress causes other issues to pop up which may kill them.

I transferred my 5 yr old paired clowns to a tank with a mirrored overflow. The female was attacking her reflection non-stop for months. She would have continued had I not scuffed it up.

catfishbully · Nov 19, 2022

zalick said:
It's highly dependent on the type of fish. Will they die directly due to stress? Probably not. But stress causes other issues to pop up which may kill them.

I transferred my 5 yr old paired clowns to a tank with a mirrored overflow. The female was attacking her reflection non-stop for months. She would have continued had I not scuffed it up.

What about Gar Fish.
I've. Got a spotted, Florida and alligator gar with 2 ,,,ummmmm, ah, red belly pacu... The red bellys are going nuts, the gar don't pay too much into it..
ANY Feedbac???
THANK YOU