Glass Surfing

[Bronco765]

Anyone know what causes a fish to glass surf and is there a way to calm them down? It’s a Vagabond Butterfly. It’s in with other Butterflies and no signs of aggression.

 

[Mickle]

I personally think its a sign a fish is not happy and wants more space, like they have no interest in their current environment and want to leave

 

[Bronco765]

I personally think its a sign a fish is not happy and wants more space, like they have no interest in their current environment and want to leave

It’s in a 125 with 5 other butterflies. I guess it’s like anything else some just adapt to captive life and some don’t.

 

[exnisstech]

I have a CBB in observation that started this a couple if weeks ago. I blacked out the back and ends with a trash bag and it stopped. I assume it was seeing it's reflection or possibly something outside the tank. It had been in for a couple of months when it started. I took the covering off the ends a few days ago and the fish is back to behaving normally. Maybe try covering the area it's surfing for a few days to see if it helps?

 

[Baldyreef]

i came from the freshwater side of the hobby and typically it glass surfing is associated with stress, could there be something stressing it out? maybe a bully?

 

[BryanM]

Blacking out the front/sides is a solid troubleshooting step.

Is the fish new to the tank?

What's the aquascape like, does everyone have hiding places/caves/etc they can retreat to?

 

[Bronco765]

Blacking out the front/sides is a solid troubleshooting step.

Is the fish new to the tank?

What's the aquascape like, does everyone have hiding places/caves/etc they can retreat to?

Yeah the fish has only been in there a few days. It eats fine. It was added with 3 other Butterflies at the same time. It didn’t surf in quarantine. The other 3 don’t surf. Plenty of rock and hiding places. The back of the tank is black so I just put black towels on the sides. I’ll see how that works. Thanks!

 

[Baldyreef]

good luck!

 

[Bronco765]

i came from the freshwater side of the hobby and typically it glass surfing is associated with stress, could there be something stressing it out? maybe a bully?

It’s in there with butterflies, a Firefish and a Royal Gramma.

 

[BryanM]

Hopefully it is just getting used to its new home.

 

[Baldyreef]

Hopefully it is just getting used to its new home.

yeah it doesn't seem to be anything aggression related probably just adjusting

 

[Privateye]

I feel like I've seen this for multiple reasons with various species. Here are the ones coming to mind:

1. It's a wild fish that isn't used to being in a clear box.
2. It's a territorial fish that sees its reflection (less common, may depend on tank shape).
3. It's a tame fish and it wants you to feed it (e.g. many cichlids).

It sounds like #1 is the most-likely in your situation. If that's the case I'd expect the blackout idea to work, as the fish can get used to where the walls are quicker if they don't look clear. I'd also expect the behavior to go away on its own eventually, but sooner is always better. Fish can get sores on their snouts if they rub them too much.