The Puffer Forum

I have moved my filter to the other side of the tank and now my puffer is puffing up because he can see his self in the glass.
I was going to move some plants to cover the glass.
I don't fancy putting my hand a inch away from him while he is like this.
I have never took him out before and don't really want to but i can't leave him doing this. Should i see if he moves back where he was or will he keep doing this?


I got him to move with a worm but he returned to the glass do you think he will byte my hand if i put some plants next to him?

So you need the puffer to move out of that corner so you can put the filter back?

I would either use a net or a Tupperware container and gently chase him out of that corner. As long as you don't startle or cause him a large amount of stress he shouldn't inflate.

a plant would work well also, another option that may work is could you move the light further away from that corner so that it becomes harder for him to see his reflection?

I was going to put some plants there so he can't see his reflection in the glass. I tried with my net first thing but the puffer won't move for anything. It never has moved away from me since ive had him. i have to vac right around him when cleaning up.

Fish do not see their reflections - the reflections you see are due to looking through one glass at another glass at right angles to the first glass. If you have a periscope you could prove it to yourself. Otherwise,you could ask a a physics professor.

For some reason this is one of the harder myths to dispel.

I would use a Tuppleware container and get him out and either put the filter back or cover the glass area with plants or a tree root decor etc. Having him freak out at his own reflection is bad for him and is causing him stress, if you can't get him to move out of the spot you may just have to get him out.


does he sleep in that corner? a less stressful thing to do is wait for him to go to sleep wherever he does and then decorate the area, it'd be less stressful. Or you could try and coarse him out of the corner in the night, when he's sleepy he might be more agreeable.

RTR wrote:Fish do not see their reflections - the reflections you see are due to looking through one glass at another glass at right angles to the first glass. If you have a periscope you could prove it to yourself. Otherwise,you could ask a a physics professor.

For some reason this is one of the harder myths to dispel.

Well he thinks it's a puffer i have never seen him act like that before, it is like a mirror though on the sides of the tank. I have sorted it out now i got him to move after awhile and put some plants there

lol thanks good to know about the reflection thing. = D

The puffer might not think he can see himself but he does think it's a different puffer then.

There is no reflection visible to the fish unless you put a mirror up against the glass. With water in between the two glasses at right angles. That is an optical illusion from looking diagonally through air through one glass at a second glass at right angles to the first with water in betweenm the two pieces of glass. It is all a function of the refraction of light through glass, air, water interfaces. The fish does not, repeat does not, see another puffer.

Hang a mirror against one end glass and the fish will see his own reflection. That is used to get male Bettas and male Cichlids to display.

The light angle effects are used in Monaco-style aquariums to make the side walls disappear when you look through the front glass.

RTR wrote:Fish do not see their reflections - the reflections you see are due to looking through one glass at another glass at right angles to the first glass. If you have a periscope you could prove it to yourself. Otherwise,you could ask a a physics professor.

For some reason this is one of the harder myths to dispel.

Imo, I would think otherwise .. a glass against a dark background would be extremely reflective. I believe everyone would have experience with dropping a piece of food into the tank and the puffer going crazy trying to chase the mirrored image on the glass. Only to realize the food is behind him when he gives up and turn around.

scpion wrote:

RTR wrote:Fish do not see their reflections - the reflections you see are due to looking through one glass at another glass at right angles to the first glass. If you have a periscope you could prove it to yourself. Otherwise,you could ask a a physics professor.

For some reason this is one of the harder myths to dispel.

Imo, I would think otherwise .. a glass against a dark background would be extremely reflective. I believe everyone would have experience with dropping a piece of food into the tank and the puffer going crazy trying to chase the mirrored image on the glass. Only to realize the food is behind him when he gives up and turn around.

I've noticed my puffer do this aswell

Suvatti, what I do is this- I have a big net...BIG net, big enough to block my puffer and that's really the only thing I use it for. I put it between me and her when I need to do something in the tank and I don't want to get bitten, hold her back with one hand on the net and plant/clean/whatever with the other. It helps to have an extra set of hands, but it's not too hard to do it alone, especially if you have to!

My two cents- I don't know if my Fahaka can see exactly what I see, but I know she sees something...I recently changed her background (posterboard on the outside back glass) from a slate color to black- and all the sudden, she was constantly pacing and biting at the back glass...when she wasn't flushed and burying herself. It stressed her out for some reason. She'd come up to swim, something would catch her eye, and boom- she'd rush over there, bitebitebite! From my perspective, it was because she could see herself. I swapped it for a light blue for a few hours just to see if it was the change itself that was bothering her...completely different reaction. She eyeballed it for a few minutes, curious, then back to normal. So I know it wasn't just the color change. I didn't like the blue, so we went back to slate. No problems anymore. I could be wrong, but I don't know what else would cause her to react that way.

I know if I stand in front of my sliding-glass doors, or a window- I can see myself or my shadow if the light is right. I don't see what would be different about being inside a fish tank. Maybe it just depends on the specs...bowfront vs curved corners vs standard, and how the lights are oriented...I'd be interested to try the periscope experiment, now just to get a hold of one!! Haha.

I think rtr's point was missed.

Or, we wait for someone who's brave enough to dip his/her head into the tank..

It is all ok now guys he moved after a few worms then dug into the sand i have placed plants there. I caught him puff up fully on video. Tapping on the glass and worms calmed him down after awhile. I will post the video in 30 mins or so. I got him to swim across the tank to eat a worm, after he finished he slowly swam back to the side of the tank and wanted to fight again.
Thanks.