mirror as background?

[KashAlp]

anyone tried using a miror as a background behind the tank or have any links to some pictures?

I have a 125g long (6') that im thinking about doing this with and jsut wondered how it would work out? think as long as it didnt pi$$ off the fish it would look amazing.

thoughts and/or pics please

 

[HippieSmell]

I was going to say it might pi$$ off the fish.

 

[lars on live]

In my experience you are going to have a very hostile environment by doing that. The last fish I added was getting picked on by a wrasse and a Chromis so sometimes during the normal daylight cycle I would tape a small mirror on the oppsite side of the tank than the new fish was hanging out in. Most of the fish I have are most aggressive toward fish that look like themself, especially when the fish that looks like themself never backs down and "mirrors" everything they do to show dominiance. Itook the miror down pretty quick and went back to turning off the lights due to the constant aggression towards the mirror. It allowed the new addition to join the tank, but was probably not the best solution.

 

[HippieSmell]

That is a very clever way to introduce new fish lars, I will remember that.

 

[agreeive?fish]

as already mentioned , the mirror trick has been used to distract agressive fish from attacking new comers and works well with angels,and tangs in my experience so a mirror back ground would be constant irritant to an fish that dosent like same colored or same body shaped fish..yes it would look neat and i have seen many freshwater set ups with the mirrored back ground that looked fantastic but in saltwater i just dont think it would be benificialto the fish as i personaly believe that it will increase agression and stress levels within the tank, which inturn will decrease a fish's ability to fight off illness and basicly make for an unhappy tank of fish and an even unhappier hobbist... just my 2 cents worth wich is only worth 1/2 a cent

 

[KashAlp]

makes perfect sense and honestly i didnt put much thought until posting. Will avoid the mirror background even though it would look pretty great.

 

[Mike31154]

There are some other options out there, other than the standard paint job or just letting stuff grow. Check out the following thread, it's about a somewhat artistic dude that created a 3D background. You need some room behind your tank though.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1575370

 

[noahm]

I did a similar thing to keep my pseudochromis from attacking some new snails. Ultimately, he got over it and just didn't care. A lot of aggressive fish get over it after a few days with new fish as long as nobody is seriously hurt, I would imagine that they would do the same with a big mirror. Not saying you should try it, but imo, they would likely decide to just 'get along' with their reflection. The bigger issue, I think, would be keeping the back spotless so the mirror didn't look crummy. It also might make for some weird viewing at some angles.

 

[Untamed12]

I wonder if you could place the mirror at an angle so that the fish were never able to see their own reflection directly.... It might still create the effect you were looking for without driving your fish insane.

 

[noahm]

just draw little tiny mustaches and beards and weird hairstyles all over the mirror so the don't recognize themselves and you get to take funny pictures.

 

[reefermad619]

Sounds like an easy way to double your realestate.

 

[HippieSmell]

just draw little tiny mustaches and beards and weird hairstyles all over the mirror so the don't recognize themselves and you get to take funny pictures.

:jester: Do it!

 

[Steve175]

Thinking about doing this (the mirror backing, not the mustaches).

Anyone done it? (Pics?)

 

[williamjhitchcock]

man i have no fish and have been wondering how the coral growth would alter if i did this.

 

[travis32]

I would think the positive benefits to the tank would be that more light would be reflected into the tank. Some obviously "spills" out the sides, so reflecting it back in might help otherwise "shaded" areas to receive more light.

The downside is: My lawnmower blenny constantly attacks himself in the glas. I swear he see his reflection and attacks the glass. I'm sure he's eating off it too, but, there's times when you just know he must see something.

Then there's the time I tried having 2 marine bettas. Fric & Frac... Wow did that not go over so well.. Now, the one I have constantly flashes his fins at himself in the glass... Threatening the other to stay away...

He'll do that several times a day... If I actually had a mirror up... Wow.. There might be violence.

Probably not a good idea. if they can't handle the reflection in the glass how would they handle a much better reflection in a mirror?