Interesting thing I just learned about my pipefish

[AlwaysHatingNathan]

Hey so I just started a nano tank for my blue stripe pipefish and when I first added him to the tank. He started acting odd. Like sitting against glass and doing jerking motions to the glass and going back and forth. First I thought dam prob something wrong with him but when he was in main display he was perfectly fine. So I tested something turn lights only blue and put white back ground. He immediately started acting normal and swimming around hunting for pods. So he was ticked he see his own reflection and thinks it’s another male pipefish haha. This nano tank glass is very reflective from inside so I think it’s real possibility.

 

[ichthyogeek]

Has the behavior continued?

 

[AlwaysHatingNathan]

Has the behavior continued?

He has finally calmed down with the white light on. I’ve only seen him rarely do it now thankfully. He eating baby brine shrimp and pods in tank.

 

[nastronaut]

He has finally calmed down with the white light on. I’ve only seen him rarely do it now thankfully. He eating baby brine shrimp and pods in tank.

My pipes (dragonfaced) sometimes do this right when the lights go out, they'll swim against the glass - like /into/ the glass for a little bit, or a few minutes. I assume they have to reorient as the transparent background looks different. Also noticed they do this if in a clear bag and they can't see the ground. Almost like they're scared of falling through the bag, they'll flail at the bottom. A visual barrier seems to help.

Generally they use the glass to hunt for pods, swimming along it all the time and nipping off pods when the lights are on.