Mirror backgrounds

I saw a tank in a store the other day with a mirror look background. It made a relatively small, sparsely stocked tank look much larger and packed full of vibrant fish. Has anyone here tried this? Does it have any negative impact on the fish? I'd guess it would not be a great idea with an aggressive fish that could injure themselves trying to attack their reflection but how about schooling fish? Last thing I'd want is to have a bunch of fish that hover in one spot confused by the "other" fish. I've got enough animals that aren't all there right now. Any fish that are simply not bright enough to try this with? Any that would be particularly cute trying to play with their reflection without becoming mentally scarred? Lastly, how difficult is it to keep a back glass clean? I know, silly sounding question. But I've always gone with very natural looking tanks so I've never in my life scraped a back glass and I generally don't scrape the sides. I like how, over time, the tank begins to look like one of the dioramas we used to make back in school sciences classes growing up. Any ideas or suggestions? I'm guessing it wouldn't be wise to wrap it around the sides of the tank as well? I can see it now. Schools of fish swimming aimlessly into the side of the tank all day because they think it keeps going!

I dont think the fish would like it would probably stress them and they wouldnt show very great colors and some may try and hide from it

I thought about the problem with colors but the rest of the decor would be very dark so that wouldn't be an issue. I'd go with coffee brown gravel and lots of driftwood and plants. I also have considered running blackwater extract in it if the driftwood didn't contain tannins. That was one of my first thoughts and is a problem that is easily overcome. I run all almost all of my freshwater tanks with dark decor for that very reason.

the back glass in my aquariums is always the most neglected cause its a little bit harder to scrape then the sides and front

I would agree with maybe it being a little stressful but I would bet more color would be displayed. With cichlids its all about having the best color. If one sees its reflection it will get more colored up b/c they think its another fish.

I had a polit in my show tank that use to do that at night. It would get all colored up and stare at himself all night long.

seems to be a good idea, its about to try it and watch lol, maybe other fish will get stressed.

We have a hex with three panes mirrored. We have it well planted and stocked with angels, serpae tetras, and bichirs and have no problems with the fish becoming "stressed" in any way. They always come to the front of the tank for feeding and greet us every time we walk in. I believe they have enough depth perception or sensors to realize there is something there that they cannot swim through.

I would not try this with "skittish" fish such as Pacu and Silver Dollars, but for most community and schooling fish, I don't see any issue with them.

Aggressive fish, I think, would be a hit and miss. You won't know until you try, which fish would handle it well, and which would not.

Just my 2 pennies...

Thanks, guys! I think I'm going to try it and see how they do. I haven't yet decided which tank I'll do it with. I'm thinking maybe the dwarf puffers as they tend to be elusive at times so it would help a lot with actually being able to see them. I'll keep you posted on how it goes!

Good Luck!!