# My fish wont stop Chasing his reflecton



## AVN (Oct 3, 2012)

He's more than likely lonely. If he's interested in his reflection, perhaps he'd be more interested in a couple of ladies.


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## ADJAquariums (Jul 5, 2012)

Alright, i might do that, ill see if anyone else has any ideas too


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## AVN (Oct 3, 2012)

In my experiences with fish that keep chasing their reflections, it's usually because they're accustomed to having a school to follow around, without fellow species members I'm sure your dwarf is stressed and seeking the comfort of his reflection.


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## ADJAquariums (Jul 5, 2012)

alright, ill have to go see if good ol Petsmart has a female for him. thanks


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## Knotyoureality (Aug 3, 2012)

While certain lighting conditions can allow a fish to see something of a reflection of themselves, the affect of fish having "reflections" is mostly an optical illusion--look thru parallel sides (side to side/front to back) and you'll see straight thru the tank--that's what a fish sees. Look thru perpendicular sides (side/front, side/back) and you get the optical illusion. 

Or, if you've got a big enough tank--just stick your head in.  

Fish who pace their tank edges are stressed, no different than a tiger pacing along the front of his cage--helped along by fish not being smart enough to necessarily "get" that a clear view isn't just more water it's somehow not able to swim thru to. The why of it is all over the place, and mostly speculation on our part---being bullied, over-crowded, maybe it's not satisfied with the current layout in terms of providing adequate shelter... or some fishy thing we'll never entirely understand. 

If it's always the same section of tank, it often helps to tape some paper up along that section--the solid surface keeps the fish from thinking it can swim thru and prompts it to move around the rest of the tank. After a couple of days to a week, take the paper away.


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## AVN (Oct 3, 2012)

^ This also.

I don't have that problem though cause I line the sides of my tank with reflective sheeting. It bounces all light from the back and sides of my tank into the center. Only the front is visible to my fish.


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## ADJAquariums (Jul 5, 2012)

Hes all around the tank and i couldnt get another petsmarts tanks were nasty and 50% of the gouramis had what looked to be ich or Columnaris, i guess ill just wait, i dont think he's stressed, theres nothing to make him stressed in the tank, hes the absolute largest fish in the tank at the moment and theres adequit places for him to hide, he did come from a heavily stocked tank which could be the issue present, he might think its another fish on the other side and is trying to swim to get to it


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## Adri. (Sep 6, 2012)

ADJAquariums said:


> Hes all around the tank and i couldnt get another petsmarts tanks were nasty and 50% of the gouramis had what looked to be ich or Columnaris, i guess ill just wait, i dont think he's stressed, theres nothing to make him stressed in the tank, hes the absolute largest fish in the tank at the moment and theres adequit places for him to hide, he did come from a heavily stocked tank which could be the issue present, he might think its another fish on the other side and is trying to swim to get to it


You won't find a female at Petsmart. If you want a female Gourami, you'll have to probably special order it from a LFS. They aren't usually imported because they're dull and ugly compared to males. And I'm sure you know, you shouldn't get a second male. Sometimes two males will get along, but they are from the same family as Bettas so there's a good chance that two males would kill each other. It's really a hit/miss thing but you may be able to pull it off if you have territories established and just get plain old lucky with two males that'll get along.


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