aquarium substrate

[oliver moggridge]

the light in the pics isnt from my tank they are from the flash of the camera so it might not tbe the correct lighting! what would you recomend to be the best light to use?

 

[colematthewmalaka]

sand is by far the most natural substrate. Fish like it better too. Also if you get sand you should probably get a darker shade, fishes colors are more bright because if it's a light color the go dull while trying to blend in with their environment.

 

[WhiteDevil]

Im not sure thats always the case,cole.

My fish are alot more vibrant then when they were in the black gravel substrate tank. If you add in natural colors ( not those hot pink things) they tend to blend with the structure and not the substrate.

 

[colematthewmalaka]

I meant dark sand it works better like i said be4.

 

[severum mama]

White Devil is right. Fishes' coloration would look exactly the same on black gravel or black sand.

It depends on the species whether dark or light substrate would look better. The fish in our 120 look incredible against natural (light) colored sand. I wouldn't dream of using black substrate again with the particular species I have (yes, I've had the same fish with both dark and light substrate).

oliver: look for bulbs in the 6700K to 10000K range for your plants.

 

[colematthewmalaka]

My bettas look dull on light substrate and colorful on dark so thats what i think, they can change their shade to match there environment.

 

[WhiteDevil]

Not all of them can, especially heavily pigmented ones like bettas. the more color in a fish the less likely if at all it will try and blend, I dont think their bodies are big enough or strong enough to accomplish such a feat. Many wild fish have evolved over time to become something that closely resembles their background.

I know none of my bettas every changed for their environment be it black substrate or brilliant white. The human mind is a magnificent manipulator, its called matrixing.

 

[severum mama]

My bettas look dull on light substrate and colorful on dark so thats what i think, they can change their shade to match there environment.

If you'd like to make broad sweeping generalizations based on experiences with a few specimens of one species, by all means do so. My point was that brightness of color on light or dark substrate is species-dependent, and probably has a lot to do with the individual specimen as well. More importantly, the judgment of whether the individual fish looks better against light or dark substrate just boils down to personal preference.

 

[mgamer20o0]

plus many other factors such as background lighting and others.

 

[WhiteDevil]

^^^ I concur.

 

[oliver moggridge]

is this bulb any good?
HAGEN FLORA GLO 20w 24" 61cm AQUARIUM BULB TANK TUBE on eBay (end time 10-Jul-09 01:00:30 BST)

 

[Wizardndog]

OK...so I have some similar questions. I have a 135 gal that I am putting back together after a 5 year hiatus. I used to use an under gravel filter and had a single fluorescent 48" tube light. I had some type of sword grass that grew like a weed, but nothing else grew well. So now I am hearing about substrate. I bought a large Eheim canister filter (up 160 gal) and a new 72" three bulb light hood (65w). I envision substrate as being like "mud" on the bottom of my tank. My question really is, what is substrate, when do you need it and how much? I don't want a lot of plants...I still want to see my fish. Is this substrate used in conjunction with gravel?

 

[FishEggs]

substrate actually just means what ever is covering the bottom of the tank. it can be dirt, sand, gravel, or some synthetic man made substance. you can even mix them up or layer them. for plants it is generally suggested 2-3 inches of substrate. you would be dealing with a low light tank so you could grow anubias, java ferns, crypts, java moss.

 

[Wizardndog]

Great! Thanks for the input!

 

[Wizardndog]

Opps...I screwed this up. I have three bulbs in my 72" hood, 65w each...so 195w's. I should be able to get some nice plants. 8*)