i know its been discussed before but here we go. im wanting to pic up a delhezi for my 55g which currently has white/beige pool filter sand, about 40lbs i think. ive been reading that they colors would come out better with darker substrate. i just set the tank up and dont really feel like completely changing my substrate. the substrate is about an inch deep. could i add about 40lb of black or darker sand and just mix it together and have a black white/beige mix?
substrate color
- Thread starter HiImSean
- Start date
dark substrate seems to bring about more contrast. and red seems to do something to the bichir but im not too sure what. to me a 50-50 black n white mix looks quite weird though. cause the white will be completly outdone by the black so it just looks uncomfortable. a white with black sprinkled around here n there might look cool though
Just take the time to remove your lighter sand. What will likely happen is that it mixes poorly with the darker stuff and you have a harder time removing all of it later.
it really won't be that hard to remove all the sand, use your fish net, and you will be much happier you did in the long run!
its the opposite. red brings out the contrast by darkening the stripes while keeping the fish's natural base color looking bright and nice. black generally reduces contrast since it darkens up the whole fish too much, base color and all.xander13;1260821; said:
BUT the extent of the effect will depend on the species of bichir (some may not even be affected at all), and to a lesser extent the individual fish and the rest of the environment (how bright the lightings are, black background or not etc...)
Mmmm I *HAD* black and only black sand in all my tanks.... It's been a long time but I'm down to one last tank with black in it. DONT go dark... all my fish look the same. No color variations to notice in the laps, subdued colors in my endlis... YUCK. Just saw a few pics with red substrate and it looked amazing... i'm just taking mine down to none until I make up my mind lol
Jessie*
KOTR
'ETA: White is no bueno too. It's way too fine and when the fish move around, they kick it up and it gets all over them and sticks. Also gets sucked up into filters and on and on and on.
Jessie*
KOTR
'ETA: White is no bueno too. It's way too fine and when the fish move around, they kick it up and it gets all over them and sticks. Also gets sucked up into filters and on and on and on.
My senegal is on a black and white gravel mix, and I love his color. He's got a nice dark gray upper and real light belly. I am contemplating a black /red mix for my next tank. Still undecided.
What kind of substate is red? Do you mean a bright fire engine red or a australian outback sand sort of red???
I went with a blackish grey substrate and so far so good. Its made my bland looking senegal turn sort of a greenish color on top with a light belly. I doubt it will have any affect at all on my albino but I'm interested to see what it will do to my del when he's big enough to go it that tank in a few weeks.