Seing own reflection - how smart are the fish ?

P

pszemol

Member
I have a problem... in my endless wisom I have covered a side wall of the fishtank with a mirror-foil. Just to cover the unpleasant view behind of the tank... and to get some more light reflected back. Today I let the fish in this new tank...

A pair of maroon clowns and a hepatus tang get crazy seeing their own reflection in the tank wall.

Now my title question: will they realize this is just a mirror soon or they will continue to fight the other fish in the mirror?
How smart are they ?

It is difficult to take the foil off since it is in a tight space between the tank and room wall... First day I turned off the lights sooner and wonder what will the group advice be...
Should I go trough the trouble of removing the foil or the fish will eventually get used to this reflection soon ? If so, how soon will it be ?
 
Dolphins and Chimps are the only animals that I have heard that can recognize themselves in mirrors...other then humans(most human).
 
yea.. they are going to beat themselves up trying to kill those "other" fish... plus the reflecting light doesnt work the way you want it to... it actually stretches out the light waves as they pass through the glass and since the mirror is on the outside it stretches 2x, once on the way out and once on the way in. you are effectively taking 10K light (or whatever spectrum you have) and turning it into a more algae useful spectrum, like 6700, and you will probably get some serious algae wherever the reflected light hits...
 
yea.. they are going to beat themselves up trying to kill those "other" fish... plus the reflecting light doesnt work the way you want it to... it actually stretches out the light waves as they pass through the glass and since the mirror is on the outside it stretches 2x, once on the way out and once on the way in. you are effectively taking 10K light (or whatever spectrum you have) and turning it into a more algae useful spectrum, like 6700, and you will probably get some serious algae wherever the reflected light hits...
 
Some people will have a small mirror to put up for a few hours at a time in tanks with flasher wrasses. The fish will posture at the "new" intruder, and it helps them maintain their bright colors. The effect weakens if you leave it up full time (and it's more stress on the fish, so may shorten its lifespan anyway).

Dave
 
Wolverine is right, fairy and flasher wrasses display for the mirrored image of themselves. Be careful, however, that some of the fairy wrasses e.g. Lineatus don't damage their mouth.
 
I have a fourstripe damsel in my BB 65g, he spends hours each day attacking his own reflection in the bottom glass. Coralline is starting to cover the bottom, but for the time being it's pitiful watching the poor little guy wasting his energy. I'd definitely remove the foil, give your fish a rest :)
 
my YWG sees his reflection and charges at it with his mouth wide open... it is so funny to see him being sooo brave....
 
I used to have a mirror cut to fit my 20g and didnt have a problem. The damsel would occassionally fight, but I think it was like shadowboxing after a little getting used to. He'd swim away when he had enough

you figure they have to look at eachother on the reef everyday ... what are they going to do fight to the death everytime they look at eachother and they def wouldnt leave their territory just because of some aggression. I think they get used to seeing eachother around but like to establish dominance once in a while
 
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