GRAVEL OR BARE GLASS FOR GROWING OUT RED DRAGON FLOWERHORNS??

[Oscar Mike]

I am growing out 7 SuperRed Dragon FH fry in a 100gal and I was wondering if bare glass or gravel would help bring out their color better? I thought red/black gravel would be better but my breeder told me to take out all the gravel...What do you guys think?

 

[Chrisplosion]

You did do a big water change right before you added them? Bare bottom is easier to clean.

 

[GhostShrimpMan]

If you want better less washed out colors go for black gravel. but you can grow them out in a bare bottom to make cleaning easier.

Whenever you have dark gravel the fish get less washed out and turn darker because in the wild big fish from the top look down and see darker colors instead of a washed out pale fish.

 

[Oscar Mike]

yeah that was actually the tank my flowerhorns died in last week so i cleaned it out and let it run for a few days before I added them. I have ammonia remover in the carbon canister filter and a few pieces of driftwood to lower ph, but Im still not sure if the bio will be ok without gravel. it has definitely been a lot easier to clean, but what do u think about the coloring of the fry? do u think gravel or bare glass would bring out the colors more? theyre looking a little faded with bare glass but sometimes i check them and they're dark red and blue

 

[Chrisplosion]

Bare bottom, white grave/sand can dull the colors. So you completely cleaned out the tank?

 

[Oscar Mike]

If you want better less washed out colors go for black gravel.

what do you guys think about using red/black gravel? my breeder said a mixed color substrate will mix their colors but i was hoping red and black would darken them up and bring out the red

 

[Oscarum monstruoso]

what do you guys think about using red/black gravel? my breeder said a mixed color substrate will mix their colors but i was hoping red and black would darken them up and bring out the red

Relax, youre trying to push on a rope. Keep the diet varied, the water clean and keep the fish occupied, then just wait.

 

[Oscar Mike]

So you completely cleaned out the tank?

yeah bro it was a bummer i went on vacation and when I came back my whole tank was wiped out. I cleaned the tank and filter pretty good tho but im still not sure about going back to gravel or leaving it glass bottom. their diet consists of a mix of floating and sinking pellets and meal worms, but i dont know how much nutritional value they have...

 

[Oscar Mike]

So I'm thinking about adding the red/black gravel, any last words of advice? I added bio rings to the sponge filter and the flowerhorns look great but still a little pale

 

[hamfist]

IMO, pretty much all cichlids like a substrate of some sort. FLowerhorns are "natural" (lol !) substrate foragers and it will allow them more of their instinctual behaviour to give them a substrate to look through and move around. OK, it might be slightly harder to keep clean but the benefits are possibly that your fish will be happier, grow better and may even show better colour.
Personally I'd always go with a substrate of some sort.