background and gravel color
- Thread starter ryan ny
- Start date
there was a study done with some species of catfish, and it showed that red stresses fish out the worst, but blue makes them feel most comfortable, and then black. a stressed fish looks terrible, but a comfortable fish looks awesome
I had black sand and a black background on one of the smaller tanks I used to have and it made the fish look pretty awesome. Sand was 3M Color Quartz T Grade.
In general a darker subtrate with dark background lit from toward the front will bring out color.
Not always,my lelupi turned a muddy brown on black sand but with white subtrate they are a bright orange,so some experimentation can pay off.
Not always,my lelupi turned a muddy brown on black sand but with white subtrate they are a bright orange,so some experimentation can pay off.
Im using black gravel, with a dark blue backround. When I moved my green terror from his old tank, which had natural gravel and a light blue backround, his clolors just Popped right out! 
One of my tanks has red gravel and a maroon background. The fish are really happy and not stressed at all. I have a large hybrid, a CATFISH, and a pleco in the tank.
My other tanks are like everyone elses, dark gravel and dark background.
My other tanks are like everyone elses, dark gravel and dark background.
I use dark blue background and black gravel. All my cichlids colors are better and seem less stressed. And an added benifit for me was that my catfish really like it. Makes the tank seem a bit darker. Before that I used "river rock" style some brown, tan and earthy tones in color on that mix. And using that all but the dominant fish(s) only showed traces of very faint color.