Why do fish freak out when you're cleaning the glass?

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Floyd R Turbo

Aquarium Advice Addict
Joined
Feb 7, 2009
Messages
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Location
West Des Moines, Iowa
I just wanted to get some opinions on this one. Does anyone else notice that when you're cleaning the OUTSIDE of your aquarium to wipe off fingerprints, drips, etc, that the fish inside completely freak out and dart all over the tank?

Whenever I do this (using a paper towel or a microfiber cloth and Windex), while I am wiping back and forth, no matter how gently, they whip around, kicking up gravel, hiding in corners, it's like the wiping motion produces a vibration of some kind that makes them go bonkers.

Just an observation.
 
I find some of my smaller cichlids do that also. Just make sure that you aren't banging on the glass and I am sure it won't be a problem, just more entertainment lol.
 
none of mine do that... your fish must be wimps lol... jk... mine dont seem to mind anything, except if i move the rocks around in my mbuna tank, then they get kind of skittish for a few
 
My fish do the same thing, when the algae magent is on my big 7" male angel turns into a flounder and buries himself in the substrate, kidna worried cause its flourite and not his usual sand.

Even pounding on the glass doesnt do much but spook the fish, once they receive through their lateral line confirmation that there is truly nothing there they go back to normal, fight or flight is what is going on.
 
Again, I am not talking about the inside of the tank, I leave my Magfloat in 24/7 and do that once a week before PWCs and they could care less. It's when I clean the OUTSIDE of the glass, which can be as frequently as once a week to as infrequently as once every 2 months, depending on how messy things get. And it only really happens when I'm wiping the glass with a cleaner or even a damp cloth going back and forth along the front or up and down along the sides, it's doesn't seem to matter, but they just hate it. My SAE darts all over and sometimes slams into the gravel and makes it spray against the glass like a little meteorite hitting.
 
Mine ignore me when I clean the front. When I use the magnet to clean the inside of the tank, my Mbuna actually follow it to see what I am doing, taking nibbles at it LOL. They ignore the thing if its just hanging out in a corner, but as soon as I start moving it along the glass they all come running hahaha.
 
Floyd, I just put myself in their shoes, im a fish and that rag is pretty big and moving fast........
 
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