Clownfish glass surfing

[KendonI]

I’ve recently got 2 juvenile clownfish about 4 days ago. I have a 16g fluval tank and I added the fish in but the larger one will not stop glass surfing. For the last 4 days the second the lights go on she goes BANANAS and glass surfs the entire right side of the aquarium and a little out in front. I have HAD to keep the lights off in my room and the aquarium for the past 4 days or else she goes even more nuts. I have now taped the entire tank with white printer paper for the past 24h because the black was making it worse and even moved my magnetic algae scrubber in the way which has done nothing. Does ANYONE know how to stop this behaviour???

My tank stats are

Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 25

 

[JumboShrimp]

Greetings, and welcome to R2R!

Personally I have found that assuming we are dealing with a healthy fish, glass surfing is a manifestation of either reflection(s) of light, or too small of a tank (inducing stress). I once had a small (Dwarf) Pygmy Angel as the only inhabitant in a 20-gallon tank. He would occasionally surf, and/or repetitively loop in a pattern through the rocks. Nothing major, but I felt the tank was in fact too small for him. As soon as I dropped him into a 150 gallon tank, as you can guess, I never saw those behaviors again.

I know you have tried both black and white backdrops to cut down on glare, if that is the problem. Maybe see what else in the room might be contributing to reflection(s). Also try moving the power head, especially if the Clown is being blown around. But there is only so much you can do with 16 gallons. Best wishes!!

 

[KendonI]

Greetings, and welcome to R2R!

Personally I have found that assuming we are dealing with a healthy fish, glass surfing is a manifestation of either reflection(s) of light, or too small of a tank (inducing stress). I once had a small (Dwarf) Pygmy Angel as the only inhabitant in a 20-gallon tank. He would occasionally surf, and/or repetitively loop in a pattern through the rocks. Nothing major, but I felt the tank was in fact too small for him. As soon as I dropped him into a 150 gallon tank, as you can guess, I never saw those behaviors again.

I know you have tried both black and white backdrops to cut down on glare, if that is the problem. Maybe see what else in the room might be contributing to reflection(s). Also try moving the power head, especially if the Clown is being blown around. But there is only so much you can do with 16 gallons. Best wishes!!

Thanks man I appreciate it! I’m not against upgrading to a 25 gallon IM tank but seeing I just got this one my parents would probably flip.

I’m gunna add a smooth terracotta planter for extra spaces to hide and my flow is solid but maybe I’ll get something that I can control the flow with. The little guy is doing well and is eating normal and will be social with me and is still checking out the tank but isn’t glass surfing at all. Maybe this one’s got some special needs

 

[JumboShrimp]

Looking at the white covering you have in the movie clip, I can see that it's only partial-- he looks like he's still searching for light/reflection coming from underneath. I would throw a big black towel completely over that 1/3rd of the tank (front/back/side), just to see whether he gives up. Then you might know something you don't know now. It's worth a try.

 

[KendonI]

Looking at the white covering you have in the movie clip, I can see that it's only partial-- he looks like he's still searching for light/reflection coming from underneath. I would throw a big black towel completely over that 1/3rd of the tank (front/back/side), just to see whether he gives up. Then you might know something you don't know now. It's worth a try.

I agree