I'd like to go sand in my new native tank,and wondering if there's any color of sand that would really bring out the bluegills, and the sunfish's colors?
substrate color
- Thread starter mriversinco
- Start date
I like black sand, I use Tahitian Moon Sand, it's black, very fine, heavy (doesn't stay suspended), and inert. most natural fresh water bottoms are dark. In my area the mud is black almost everywhere. In creeks the light sand substrate is usually covered with a layer of diatoms and other films to make it appear dark. I've scuba'd in freshwater and in most areas the substrate is not clean white or tan sand. this sand is often under an inch or so of dark detritus, fish like sunfish will take up residence over these dark bottoms and often display their best colors. Swimming areas (human) are often striped of this detritus layer by the swimming activities of people. Fish tend to hang out at the outer perimeter where they can dash out of the dark zone into the lighter zone to catch food particles.
That makes sense in the wild. When fishing, you always look for the dark spots.
Isn't the tahitian moon sand a silica based though? Would that be ok with natives? I understand the gills and such probably won't rub against it, but would a bullhead if I decided to get one of those?
Isn't the tahitian moon sand a silica based though? Would that be ok with natives? I understand the gills and such probably won't rub against it, but would a bullhead if I decided to get one of those?
mriversinco;3036689; said:
Yes Tahitian moon sand is silica based, what would you expect it to be made of? Nearly all sand in freshwater is basically silica sand. (as are most rocks) TMS is just the right consistency, fish like to pump it through their gills, dig in it, eat it, and other wise utilize it the same way they do white or tan sands. TMS just happens to be black, possibly basalt but still just silica sand. Only in marine environments would you expect to find a lot of sand not based on silica, then it's calcium carbonates.