black substrate experiment

[XRAYZ]

this is a small scale experiment that i tried on one of my endlicheri.
this specimen was in my quarantine tank with black gravel for approx.
3 weeks. in that time i noticed overall darkening of base color and stripes.

these are profile pics before and after.

 

[XRAYZ]

these are belly shots before and after....

 

[XRAYZ]

2 days later on lighter colored sand its back to normal

 

[Razman]

whoa that just 3 weeks. ive had my sengal in a tank with black gravel for about 25 days and ive noticed he has gotten a lot darker but that is crazy, congrats xrayz.

 

[lymiq]

hmmm interesting indeed ... wonder if longer exposure would have permanently improve on markings?? you need to carry on the same experiment with 2 (or 4) specimens ... half of which stays in substrate for about 1 month and half for about 3 months and record of how long would it take before it is fadding back to previous shade markings ...

 

[X24]

I've already noticed this in my firemouth coming from black gravel to light sand. The basic markings stay relatively unchanged, but the base color lightens up quite a bit. I wish i could have him darker, but stay in the light sand tank.

 

[elbeatch]

excellent experiment, fascinating. I changed to white sand a noticed especially in my ornates a colour change, its great you got pics to do a direct comparison, thanks for sharing!

 

[XRAYZ]

thank you all for the replies. i like the endlis and lapradei on the lighter colored substrates too. they just darken up too much in the black gravel.

 

[id10t]

Wonder what an albino senegal would do? Hrm... maybe the next tank...

 

[Burbotman]

Great idea to experiment with, good thought on the before and after. It looks like not only did he darken up but also packed on some size. Very nice fish.