Making Fish look the BEST??

[hghlndr85]

what substrate light combo would u guys go with to make the fish really stand out?
i have all smaller (2-3") cichlids, a jd,red terror,butterkoferi,convict,eb jd,flowehorn


i will be uisng black or darker natural color gravel, and a 8-10K color temp bulb(bright white)
or a power glo 18,000k bulb(more purple)

 

[poly-nomial]

The most versatile gravel color is brown for sure. I like black for yellow, red, green and blue fish, black and brown fish are better over brown. I really hate pink, green, yellow, purple etc gravel, so unnatural. I like a K'age of around 8-12K because it's once again very versatile.

 

[Krawnik]

I really hate pink, green, yellow, purple etc gravel, so unnatural.

 

[12 Volt Man]

I like a black substrate with a black background for everything but brown/dark coloured fish.

eg. a green severum would not look good on this colour but a gold one would look fantastic.

 

[mfgl]

I keep my Rhom in a 55 wit 30lbs natural stone, 20 lbs black river stone. Its nice and dark but not too dark. The back is painted black. I only light one side to keep the plants alive the other side it dark. He stays on the dark side, right outside the beam of light coming down. He is normally in a semi downward angle with his black top parts showing so even when you are looking right at him you dont even notice him there till he moves. Its pretty neat. I get lots of remarks on it.

 

[r3d]

what always worked for me is black background, dark sand and actinic(spelling) + 10k bulbs running together
actinic and 10k really make colors pop IMO

 

[bullwinkle]

I really don't like looking at brown gravel or river rocks. I don't care if it is the most natural. It keeps my eyes too busy or something and takes away from the fish, just like the crazy-colored gravels.

I prefer black or "white" (light-colored) sand, or a mix of black and white sand or bare bottom. Or gray/black rocks!

 

[Venom SS]

I just put an "Aqua-Glo" bulb on my Tiger Oscar and Firemouth tank and it really made the fish look good. The bulb is obviously way over in the red spectrum, and it makes the reds in the Oscar and Firemouth very vivid. Was using the "Power-Glo" before this one.

 

[studd muffin]

get like natural or dark substrate. those colors wll go well with a driftwood and a planted tank.

 

[bgcoop8784]

i use one cheap daylight bulb from lowes and one powerglo and colors look wonderful, gonna try a aqua glo and a power glo combo this weekend and see, but so far what i have has been the best so far. oh yeah, black gravel and background on my tanks.