If I want to give my gars the best chance to develop good markings and coloration, should the water be crystal clear? The water they are in currently is a nice pea green.
How dependent is gar markings on water clarity?
- Thread starter RedDwarf
- Start date
I think the more important question is why is the water "a nice pea green"? If this is the case, then the water quality is very bad and that needs to be rectified immediately.
Gar colors/spotting does vary due to water clarity, as well as substrate color. If you have them over very bright colored gravel or sand, then they will probably have a lighter, more bleached out coloring. Over darker gravel/sand, they will have a darker base coloring and very bold spots.
Gar colors/spotting does vary due to water clarity, as well as substrate color. If you have them over very bright colored gravel or sand, then they will probably have a lighter, more bleached out coloring. Over darker gravel/sand, they will have a darker base coloring and very bold spots.
The water is pea green because it get full sun for almost the entire day. Those little single cell algae that just love to float in water is to blame. I could put a uv sterilizer on the tank but if it's not critical then I would rather not.
I would do something to block the sunlight then, if possible, or move the tank. It's not good for it in the sense that if something goes wrong, and all the algae die off for some reason, then it would really upset the balance of the tank. Plus I just can't stand looking at green water.
yes, the general rule is not to have an aquarium in direct sunlight. i would definitely work on blocking the sunlight.
clear water/dark substrate will bring out the boldest colors in most species of gars (and many other fishes)--
--solomon
clear water/dark substrate will bring out the boldest colors in most species of gars (and many other fishes)--
--solomon
Well it's more of an outdoor pond than an aquarium, so moving it would be quite difficult, I could just run a diatom filter to get rid of the floating algae. Now would the dark substrate produce a permanent pattern in the growing fish or would it just help to highlight the pattern that would already be there? The two Florida gars have doubled in size from about 3" to 6" in about a months time.
RedDwarf;3643387; said:
so this tank is outside? if that is the case, i would just put some plants in it to help handle the nutrients and utilize the sunlight over the algae. water hyacinth and other floating plants should work well.
as for the dark substrate, it will just highlight/change the pattern on the fish due to the substrate...nearly all fishes can change color to some extent, so the change won't be permanent...if it's on dark substrate the pattern will be bolder, on light substrate the pattern will be lighter. in more turbid water the pattern will also be lighter compared to clear water--
--solomon