Mirror In Every Tank? Myth?

When we look in the front of our tank at the side walls, we see a mirror. Is that what the fish see? I have seen pictures taken from inside the tank, with no mirroring affect. Can someone test this with a water proof camera? Do Bettas flare at there reflection? do corrys school with there own reflection? These are all reasons given to people who ask. I think fish can see out as well as we can see in. Mabee there is a mirror depending on room lighting? Can we test this?
In the attached photo there is only 1 fish. I can see her reflection, but can she?

 

This is so interesting! I've never thought about that

 

Its always given as the answer to the question" why is my betta flaring" "He's flaring at the mirror"

 

I'll go dig up my GoPro camera and and see what it does in one of the tanks. It may take a little while, I was getting ready to head out to town to run an errand.

 

I’ve always wondered about this while looking at my 29 gallon. I may have a waterproof go pro, but then again I may not. We will find out once it gets in the water lol

 

You won't believe a reflection IS seen until there is a study done with underwater photos with light coming from all sorts of different directions. Room lights, window lights whatever may be.

I will believe they can NOT see a reflection if anyone can explain who my angelfish are attacking in the glass behind their eggs. HAHA!!

I'll go dig up my GoPro camera and and see what it does in one of the tanks. It may take a little while, I was getting ready to head out to town to run an errand.

Awesome! When you do it, make sure you do it with room lights off and room lights on. Every panel of the tank etc.

Thanks!!

I’ve always wondered about this while looking at my 29 gallon. I may have a waterproof go pro, but then again I may not. We will find out once it gets in the water lol

Awesome!! Thanks!
Again, if you try it, make sure to alter the room lighting and get pics of all sides!!

 

I was just thinking about this. i've seen conflicting stuff. with one of my bettas, it almost seems like he does see his reflection -- or some other kind of refections -- in his tank, because he'll go crazy and glass surf when I turn on his moonlights or turn off the tank light completely. but i've seen underwater cameras in a tank and there are no reflections. idk what his deal is

 

We know are fish can see us. My cichlids follow me. There always hungry, the pigs Lol. I would like to know if they can see a reflection or not. Or Mabee a partial reflection. bizaliz3 you get pretty deep into the science on your breeding threads. I would think you would want this tested. You can't pose a theory and believe it to be fact without a test. That would be called junk science. This is one quite easily tested.

 

. bizaliz3 you get pretty deep into the science on your breeding threads. I would think you would want this tested. You can't pose a theory and believe it to be fact without a test. That would be called junk science. This is one quite easily tested.

I do want it tested. That's why I was excited that two people are offering to use their go-pros! lol

But still...if it is proven that there is no reflection whatsoever, even after trying different lighting....then I am seriously lost as to why my angels would be flaring and lip locking a ghost angelfish behind the glass (and this is even with a background, so they aren't seeing anything outside the tank when doing it) Oooh, maybe we have to test it with backgrounds too!

Yes. We have to test with backgrounds and different ambient lighting. Even try with the tank lights off and room lights on. We need lots of tests!! haha

Dave, I am totally being lighthearted here. I hope you know that.

 

Easy, put your goggles on and take a dip with your head! Tell us what you see.
Lol, they can't see there reflection... or maybe they do and that's why bettas flare a lot. Hmmm

 

I have a background on my tank too And windows around it. And a light on the ceiling in front of it. Perfect for testing. I should get home in about half an hour or so. Then I can test!

 

I do want it tested. That's why I was excited that two people are offering to use their go-pros! lol

But still...if it is proven that there is no reflection whatsoever, even after trying different lighting....then I am seriously lost as to why my angels would be flaring and lip locking a ghost angelfish behind the glass (and this is even with a background, so they aren't seeing anything outside the tank when doing it) Oooh, maybe we have to test it with backgrounds too!

Yes. We have to test with backgrounds and different ambient lighting. Even try with the tank lights off and room lights on. We need lots of tests!! haha

Dave, I am totally being lighthearted here. I hope you know that.

I do know know that now.

I do think there will be a bit of a mirror with room lighting lower then the tank light and the less room light the more of a mirror there will be.

I think if the room light is as bright or brighter then the tank there will be absolutely no mirror.

Background, great question. No idea on that one Lol.

 

Wait a minute, my 20 gallon sits against a half wall. I can look through the top not covered by the wall but the bottom has a reflection sometimes.
This is the day I set it up, but the plant refection goes past the wall in the tank... IM confused now.

 

Here's some pictures from inside the tank sorry about the quality some it's hard to shoot completely free hand. But the shot angled from the front glass to the side glass shows a mirror on the front glass. Shooting directly through the side glass no mirror. Now one of the other shots is down the length of the tank towards the heavily planted end, you can see the 100 gallon through the front glass without a mirror effect.

You won't believe a reflection IS seen until there is a study done with underwater photos with light coming from all sorts of different directions. Room lights, window lights whatever may be.

I will believe they can NOT see a reflection if anyone can explain who my angelfish are attacking in the glass behind their eggs. HAHA!!



Awesome! When you do it, make sure you do it with room lights off and room lights on. Every panel of the tank etc.

Thanks!!



Awesome!! Thanks!
Again, if you try it, make sure to alter the room lighting and get pics of all sides!!

I don't have the room lights on at all where the 2 tanks are, my LED's put out more light then the ceiling fan. I can't do much about the light coming thruogh the window, and my backglass is painted black. It's mainly covered with plants and driftwood.

 

Wait a minute, my 20 gallon sits against a half wall. I can look through the top not covered by the wall but the bottom has a reflection sometimes.
This is the day I set it up, but the plant refection goes past the wall in the tank... IM confused now.
View attachment 490899

Were talking about what it looks like from inside the tank looking out.

Here's some pictures from inside the tank sorry about the quality some it's hard to shoot completely free hand. But the shot angled from the front glass to the side glass shows a mirror on the front glass. Shooting directly through the side glass no mirror. Now one of the other shots is down the length of the tank towards the heavily planted end, you can see the 100 gallon through the front glass without a mirror effect.View attachment 490905View attachment 490906View attachment 490907View attachment 490909

The first and last picture is tough to make out. The side pics are clearly no mirror. And definitely a mirror in the corner there of the front glass. Interesting. Was the room dark or brightly lit?

 

@Dave125 the only lights on are the tank lights. The first picture isn't the best, it's slightly angled up. I did get the Bottom of my mule deer and pig mount pretty good. The last picture is looking down the length of the tank, through the front glass you can see the 100 gallon on the other wall.

 

I found my GoPro but it will not connect to my phone unfortunately.

 

I found my GoPro but it will not connect to my phone unfortunately.

They don't connect very well under water either on WiFi.

 

I would think it would be similar to when we look through glass windows. Depending on the lighting, which side you're on, how clean it is, etc., there may or may not be a reflection. And how well you can see.

 

It appears it has more to do with angle then anything. Looking straight at the glass there's no mirror. Looking at it on an angle there is. Wow not quite as simple as I thought. There is definitely a mirror from an angle.

 

I found my GoPro but it will not connect to my phone unfortunately.

Can't swap out the memory card?

 

I'm thinking at certain angles it's the prism effect.

 

It appears it has more to do with angle then anything. Looking straight at the glass there's no mirror. Looking at it on an angle there is. Wow not quite as simple as I thought. There is definitely a mirror from an angle.

Id say so. And that totally explains the angelfish attacking the wall. They usually catch a glimpse out of the corner of their eye while they are tending to their eggs (not looking directly at the glass) and then when they are flashing at this fake angel in the glass, they are turning their heads back and forth making them see the glass at all sorts of different angels. I bet its super confusing to them!

 

Can't swap out the memory card?

I don’t have an extra one on hand right now. I wish I did.

You know what... my phone is water resistant. Not waterproof but water resistant. Good enough for me lol

 

Id say so. And that totally explains the angelfish attacking the wall. They usually catch a glimpse out of the corner of their eye while they are tending to their eggs (not looking directly at the glass) and then when they are flashing at this fake angel in the glass, they are turning their heads back and forth making them see the glass at all sorts of different angels. I bet its super confusing to them!

Agree. It must drive them nuts.

I don’t have an extra one on hand right now. I wish I did.

You know what... my phone is water resistant. Not waterproof but water resistant. Good enough for me lol

Nooooo, don't kill your phone. Lol

 

Agree. It must drive them nuts.

I had one pair that was doing it particularly bad. So I tried to make a "busy" background so it would be harder to make out their reflection clearly. I ended up putting pages from my baseball calendar behind the glass. It helped a little bit. But not much.

 

The things fish people think about lol this thread is too funny

 

I had one pair that was doing it particularly bad. So I tried to make a "busy" background so it would be harder to make out their reflection clearly. I ended up putting pages from my baseball calendar behind the glass. It helped a little bit. But not much.

Now to answer the question of backgrounds. Lol I suspect the same results. On an angel = mirror.

 

I had one pair that was doing it particularly bad. So I tried to make a "busy" background so it would be harder to make out their reflection clearly. I ended up putting pages from my baseball calendar behind the glass. It helped a little bit. But not much.

Would it help to actually stick the background to the tank with water? I accidentally spilled water on my background once and it made it stick to the glass. The background appeared brighter and when I looked inside the tank I could not see a reflection where the water was spilled.

 

Would it help to actually stick the background to the tank with water? I accidentally spilled water on my background once and it made it stick to the glass. The background appeared brighter and when I looked inside the tank I could not see a reflection where the water was spilled.

Air pockets in the background look unsightly from outside the tank. That's why I pant the back of my tanks. Good question though. Which way would minimize the mirror?

 

The things fish people think about lol this thread is too funny

Dave got tired of Betta Fin Rot posts, so he came up with something to really make people think.

 

Air pockets in the background look unsightly from outside the tank. That's why I pant the back of my tanks. Good question though. Which way would minimize the mirror?

Would the air pockets be minimized if someone were to mist the tank and then stick the background to it? This is interesting. I may spill water again to see.

It would be awesome if we were somehow able to design a tank where the fish can’t see their reflections. The fish would be a lot less stressed and they might venture away from the glass more often.

 

I don’t have an extra one on hand right now. I wish I did.

You know what... my phone is water resistant. Not waterproof but water resistant. Good enough for me lol

Mine's water resistant too, but I'm far to nervous to test it! lol

 

Would the air pockets be minimized if someone were to mist the tank and then stick the background to it? This is interesting. I may spill water again to see.

Body lotion works for that. Use a Crédit card to get the air bubbles out.

It would be awesome if we were somehow able to design a tank where the fish can’t see their reflections. The fish would be a lot less stressed and they might venture away from the glass more often.

I'm wondering if that's the purpose of bowfront aquariums. Yet another interesting question.

 

Anybody here have a bow front? lol

 

Anybody here have a bow front? lol

Lol we need pictures of backgrounds, both with and without air bubbles, and bowfront pictures. Lol this experiment is posing more and more questions. What a can of worms we opened.

 

I dared and I stuck my phone into my tank (my phone is water proof for up to 30 minutes in water) As mentioned before, the glass can be clearly seen through when looked at straight ahead. At an angle a reflection begins to appear. A reflection can be seen against a taped on background. This was with the tank lights on. The same has been observed with tank lights off. With tank lights off and outside light on a slight reflection is visible on all sides when viewing from straight ahead.

EDIT: My tank glass has just been cleaned too

 

So Dave125g do you feel confident enough to change your opinion on this one? Lol

 

I should mention that the reflection isn’t opaque enough to fully look like a mirror. A figure can clearly be seen outside of the tank. Unless you’re a dumb little fish I guess lol My tetras sure aren’t the smartest

 

So Dave125g do you feel confident enough to change your opinion on this one? Lol

Yea no opinion matters now lol. It is a fact there is a mirror in there. I was wrong.