does the color of the substrate matter with how the the fish act? i was thinking of getting red substrate i heard people say not to get orange why is that?
substrate color
- Thread starter RudeLou
- Start date
I've heard that color of substrate effects fish behavior. I personally use natural looking gravels and sands. Currently I only have freshwater tanks and I use dark natural gravel that I buy at home depot. When I run salt I always get the white sandy looking substate you see in all the pics and documenataries. Occasionally I use a pale natural gravel in freshwater tanks. When I first started in the hobby I used that bright Dayglo stuff (plants, gravel, ornaments,etc), but that was a long time ago and now I prefer to have my tanks look as natural and realistic as possible.
go natural, its the best for the fish imo. sandbottoms are really easy to clean and look awesome. what type of fish are you looking to get? or have? some colors in the fish come out over a darker subsrate, some over a lighter.
I have blue gravel in one of my tanks but i really don't like it. All my other tanks have a more natural color gravel in them. I prefer this. When i take down the tank with the blue gravel to rehouse the fish i am going to replace the blue with a natural colored sand or gravel. I have never heard not to use orange.
well i just bought a 40gal breeder and i plan on going with a green terror. yea i saw some of the colors at my lfs and they were just too bright i think i might go with either black, white, or a natural substrate. do you guys know of any colors or type of light that might help bring out the color of a GT even more?
When it comes to colours, aqua glo, although not the brightest out there, can often look the best on a fish. Especially one like a gt with that firey orange. There is a lot of red/orange spectrum in aqua glo's....looks great on a midas, or some africans like red zebra's too. It's a good all around light, fairly broad spectrum. It's what I would recommend, especially if you decide to go with a lighter substrate. When it comes to light gravel affecting behaviouir, it can happen. Usually it just affects the color of the fish, but shy cave dwellers like dempseys may be less sociable under bright lights with light gravel.
i think its pretty much trial and error to see what bulb looks the best on your fish. look on th box the bulb comes in and find the one that has the most of the color you are looking for.
thanks for all the info. i have some more questions about GT's the one i plan on getting is about 1.5in what would be the best food to feed him and how often should i feed him? what brands would you consider the best? i plan on spoiling my GT 
Aside from live/frozen foods, for a staple diet I usually use Omega One and Hikari cichlid gold and have had great success with both. Of course, there is a lot of hype about New Life Spectrum. I have yet to use it, but I've known folks who swear by it.
fish coloration is the only difference i've noticed when using different sand colors. my cichlids have gone real deep and dark with black tms, and got 'brighter' when in a tank with normal play sand (target brand).
only the barebottom setups have ever really gotten my fish noticeably messed up at times.
good luck with your setup
only the barebottom setups have ever really gotten my fish noticeably messed up at times.
good luck with your setup