Fish Acclimation with Mirror

[ReefGrammie]

After much frustration over getting a Kole tang to leave my new Coral Beauty angelfish alone, I tried taping a mirror to the outside wall. This has worked beautifully, as the tang only cares about the imaginary tang in his reflection. The Coral Beauty now has full tank access (90 gal), after only being "allowed" a small section without tang attack. They are even passing each other in the tank/swimming near each other without tang attack. I'm very encouraged, but I don't want to take the mirror away too soon. Any recommendations for now long I should leave the mirror? I was thinking about a few more days, but I don't want to take it off too soon and be dealing with tang aggression again!

 

[Peace River]

Interesting! I have had success with this in the past as well. IMO the trick is to leave it on their long enough to be an established distraction but not too long that the fish figures it out. Some fish loose interest in the mirror sooner than later. You can always bring the mirrored "friend" back if necessary. A few more days seems right to me, but you are there and have a better sense of all the details. Good luck!

 

[Should I]

leave the mirror till the tang has no more interest in it they do get bored of it

 

[ReefGrammie]

Thanks for the responses! I actually bought mirrored tiles off Amazon several years ago to protect the Kole tang (how ironic) from being attacked. The tang was the new fish at the time. I had forgotten I had the tiles! I like the mirrored tiles as opposed to a regular mirror because you can cut them with scissors to the size/shape needed. This morning, the tang is still going after his reflection/imaginary friend and the Coral Beauty is doing well, swimming all over the tank without being attacked.

 

[Troylee]

I typically use one for 2 days and then let them go lol..

 

[ReefGrammie]

I hope this thread will be useful! I tried searching and couldn't find much, at least all the way through to the end.

I took the mirrored tiles off the outside of the glass yesterday evening. The Kole tang kept looking for his tang "friend" reflection, but finally gave up and left. This morning, the tang was taking a few swipes at the Coral Beauty, but not excessively so. I did notice the angelfish hiding more, so I put one of the tiles back on the outside of the tank again. I might just keep putting on the tile every so often to keep the tang occupied, at least for a while. Plan B is to trap the tang in my acclimation box/fish trap for a few days if needed. That has worked very well for me in the past. I'm hoping the mirror will be enough, though.

I'm not about to let them just "duke it out." After 17 years of saltwater fishkeeping, I know how that ends.

 

[Lavey29]

I kept my mirror up for 3 days and fish were fine after that.

 

[ReefGrammie]

Final thoughts. Fish are doing great. Tang and Coral Beauty are completely ignoring each other. They will even pick at the same rock without any aggression from the tang. All is good.

I will say it took TWO cycles with the mirror to get the result I wanted. The first time when I took the mirror down, the tang went right back to chasing the angelfish, who went right back to hiding. I put the mirror back up for a few more days and that time worked! I took the mirror down several days ago and everything has been fine between the two fish since then. :)

 

[Should I]

I kept my mirror up for 3 days and fish were fine after that.

and they were interested in it for 3 days :hushed-face:? i use to put a mirror up for tangs after 2 hours they were bored of the mirror and paid it no attention

 

[Lavey29]

and they were interested in it for 3 days :hushed-face:? i use to put a mirror up for tangs after 2 hours they were bored of the mirror and paid it no attention

Quite a few hovered around it for 3 days. I was only concerned with the coral beauty and he focused entirely on the mirror and left the flame angel completely alone.

 

[Should I]

Quite a few hovered around it for 3 days. I was only concerned with the coral beauty and he focused entirely on the mirror and left the flame angel completely alone.

my lemonpeel (the actual aggressive 1 not the tangs) paid 0 attention to the mirror was more interested in harassing my baby goldflake lol