Moorish Idol attacking reflection

[Vested]

Added a Moorish Idol into my tank maybe 3 months ago now, knock on wood he's been great so far and made it through QT like a champ. In the last 2 days though I noticed he's starting to constantly attack the left side of my tank, like adamantly fighting with what I assume is his reflection. I know supposedly fish can't see their reflection but he definitely is I can't think of any other reason.

This just started happening in the last couple days though, will he get over it? Hard to watch him stressing out all day, he is still eating but will go straight back to fighting the glass when he's done. I really don't want to cover the glass.

 

[KrisReef]

Shut the lights out?

 

[Vested]

Shut the lights out?

Need a permanent solution

 

[Miami Reef]

Added a Moorish Idol into my tank maybe 3 months ago now, knock on wood he's been great so far and made it through QT like a champ. In the last 2 days though I noticed he's starting to constantly attack the left side of my tank, like adamantly fighting with what I assume is his reflection. I know supposedly fish can't see their reflection but he definitely is I can't think of any other reason.

This just started happening in the last couple days though, will he get over it? Hard to watch him stressing out all day, he is still eating but will go straight back to fighting the glass when he's done. I really don't want to cover the glass.

Fish can definitely see their reflection, but I don’t think they understand it’s them looking back.

People commonly use mirrors to distract tangs from attacking newcomers.

 

[JNalley]

Fish can definitely see their reflection, but I don’t think they understand it’s them looking back.

People commonly use mirrors to distract tangs from attacking newcomers.

Not sure that's what he meant by "can't see their reflection" like, they look in the mirror like a vampire. I think he meant that they aren't supposed to see their reflection in the tank glass while the lights are on or off... I've never stuck my head in the tank to verify but I think they can see out of the tank without a reflection in the glass...

To the OP, is that side of your tank "dirty" or is the view obstructed by a close wall or something? It's possible that something close to or on the glass is causing a reflection...

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Not sure that's what he meant by "can't see their reflection" like, they look in the mirror like a vampire. I think he meant that they aren't supposed to see their reflection in the tank glass while the lights are on or off... I've never stuck my head in the tank to verify but I think they can see out of the tank without a reflection in the glass...

To the OP, is that side of your tank "dirty" or is the view obstructed by a close wall or something? It's possible that something close to or on the glass is causing a reflection...

Assuming this is what they mean, glass shows reflections when there's a substantial difference in the amount of light on both sides (i.e. when one side is light and the other dark, the side with more light will start reflecting). If this is the case here, OP, you could in theory just light up the dark side and the reflection would go away, or you could block the light from hitting the light side and that should get rid of the reflection as well.

 

[Vested]

Not sure that's what he meant by "can't see their reflection" like, they look in the mirror like a vampire. I think he meant that they aren't supposed to see their reflection in the tank glass while the lights are on or off... I've never stuck my head in the tank to verify but I think they can see out of the tank without a reflection in the glass...

To the OP, is that side of your tank "dirty" or is the view obstructed by a close wall or something? It's possible that something close to or on the glass is causing a reflection...

Not dirty at all, cleaned with a magnet yesterday was thinking the same. And yeah meant the later, arnt suppost to see their reflection.

 

[Vested]

Assuming this is what they mean, glass shows reflections when there's a substantial difference in the amount of light on both sides (i.e. when one side is light and the other dark, the side with more light will start reflecting). If this is the case here, OP, you could in theory just light up the dark side and the reflection would go away, or you could block the light from hitting the light side and that should get rid of the reflection as well.

Hmmm this could be it, attaching a picture i wonder if the wall facing the glass was white instead of black that would help?

 

[JNalley]

Not dirty at all, cleaned with a magnet yesterday was thinking the same. And yeah meant the later, arnt suppost to see their reflection.

is the room/location significantly darker on that side of the tank? Because like @ISpeakForTheSeas has pointed out, that definitely causes reflection in glass. Think of an office building at night... I can never see out of the windows :-D

 

[JNalley]

Hmmm this could be it, attaching a picture i wonder if the wall facing the glass was white instead of black that would help?

yes, that would probably help a great deal... you could also just put an LED strip light over there or something so that the disparity isn't as much.

 

[Vested]

yes, that would probably help a great deal... you could also just put an LED strip light over there or something so that the disparity isn't as much.

Ooo the light strip is a great idea, would also look great I think

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Hmmm this could be it, attaching a picture i wonder if the wall facing the glass was white instead of black that would help?

White reflects light way better than black does, so this should help. Whether or not it would be enough, I'm not sure, but it's a great place to start. The LED is a great idea too.

 

[Vested]

is the room/location significantly darker on that side of the tank? Because like @ISpeakForTheSeas has pointed out, that definitely causes reflection in glass. Think of an office building at night... I can never see out of the windows :-D

I really dont think so? And if I turn other lights on seems to have no effect.

 

[Vested]

White reflects light way better than black does, so this should help. Whether or not it would be enough, I'm not sure, but it's a great place to start. The LED is a great idea too.

white is easy to test real quick, will tape some paper to it and let you know

 

[Vested]

White reflects light way better than black does, so this should help. Whether or not it would be enough, I'm not sure, but it's a great place to start. The LED is a great idea too.

WORKED first time in a days ive seen him swim around like normal again, thank you guys! @ISpeakForTheSeas @JNalley