black substrate

[tropicfishman]

I'm considering doing an all black substrate in my 90 gallon I started to setup. maybe black with some dark blue mixed in. I'm sure some of you know how different colored substrates can sorta alter the way your tank looks when it comes to lighting. so how do you think the black gravel will effect my tank? will it make it seem like the water is darker? possibly brighter some how? any opinions?

 

[h8z2luze]

I did a 10G tetra tank with black and blue substrate with a black background it was awesome!

 

[theotheragentm]

I know fish waste shows up pretty well on dark substrates.

 

[h8z2luze]

ya i dont know about that I didnt have the tank very long.

 

[tropicfishman]

didn't tthink about pooh showing up so well........hmmmmm maybe I can camoflauge it with plenty of nice green plants lol

 

[h8z2luze]

Sounds like a plan!

 

[tropicfishman]

I just gotta get my 90 gallon up and going before mom and dad sell it while I'm at work lol

 

[JustOneMore20]

Poop shows up more on light colored substrates.......especially white sand. It blends in with black substrates IME.

Black substrates make the fish's colors stand out alot more and doesn't wash them out. Its the way to go!

 

[tropicfishman]

thats exactly what I was hoping it would do, I plan on having some bosemani rainbows and I want every ounce of color to shine

 

[Atl300zx]

I agree with poop showing up more. Any substrate that is 1 color will cause poop to show up more. If you have something like Seachem Flourite or Eco Complete where everything is a different shade of brown, grey, or black, then poop blends in.

 

[Devilishturtles]

I have black tahitian moon sand in my 10 gallon planted tank and I love it. Easy to care for (just rinse REALLY well first) and is relatively cheap. IME, poop and waste does show up quite well on the black sand but it's not like in your face noticeable.

 

[bra_van_drakh]

dark substrates gives more effort on fish's colourings rather than covering it's poop, i think every fish would have much nicer colour on it. ..
i put my clown loaches in a white sand tank and they got pale, but they were awesome in a gravel tank. ..

IME... .dark substrate covers poop better than bright one.. .i can barely see any waste in my cardinal tank. ..

 

[johnny1073]

Heh You all know the saying once You go black...... But yeah I love the black substrates, The first time I used it I stepped back and was like ooh wow that's nice looking.

 

[severum mama]

I like black substrate, and trust me, pool filter sand shows fish waste better than anything lol. However, I have a few words of caution:

I used Top Fin black gravel in a 29 gallon and had it set up for a couple of years. In that time, the black sort of wore off and left me looking at washed-out gray gravel.

Recently, I used Estes black sand in my 5 gallon Eclipse sparkling gourami tank. I literally thought that IT WOULD NEVER STOP FLOATING. rofl. Finally it did, but it took the better part of 3 weeks! I highly suggest covering your filter intake if you go this route- if it is that light than it will easily get into the impeller. Once it finally settles, it looks awesome, much better than the black gravel that turns gray lol.

 

[Karackle]

I recently added black substrate to my blue and purple substrate so that it's now 50-60% black with blue and purple mixed in and the colors of the fish really do seem to pop more! I haven't noticed the poop showing up more than it used to... granted, my tank doesn't have a solid color substrate....but i do think it makes the colors stand out more! that just my 2cents

 

[kaoshavoc]

I love my black substrate. Put it in my 29g when I set it up, Much better than any other colour I have tried. Next time I may go with some black sand