substrate color

[Justme68]

I'm having an extremely hard time deciding between black and natural colored sand. I've read that the plants and fish color "pop" much better with the black. I know its a personal preferance but I've never seen a tank with black substrate. Do the fish look a lot less colorful on a natural color substrate? Does a lighter color stress them more? And how much should I use....1.5 inches in depth? Its a 29 gallon. All opinions and comments are welcome

 

[joejeff]

I say 2 inches at least. And black looks best to me. But natural will not stress. A lot of people go w black blasting sand from hardware stores.

 

[TheCrazyFishLady]

It depends on the fish. If you have darker fish, black substrate makes your fish look darker. So, it depends on what you have/want in there. If darker fish, go natural. If lighter fish, go with black.

 

[Justme68]

Thanks guys! I'd like to have RCS for sure and tetra and or rasbora. I'm thinking black..... i think? Lol

 

[librarygirl]

I had black sand before I just changed over to natural. Here are some pics (sorry not the best lol): http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/members/37718-albums2408.html I found the black substrate does make the plants and fish pop but fish food and waste shows up a lot sooner with it as well so if you're OCD like me you'll be doing a lot of vacuuming to keep it looking clean.

I just changed over to natural sand and while I do like it as well some of my fish's coloring looks washed-out compared to when the sand was black but it looks cleaner. Can't win I guess.

 

[Talvari]

I changed from netural colored gravel to black sand... Its like night and day. The black REALLY makes everything stand out!

Before

After

 

[iadubber]

I love black over all colors!


IMG_0947 by iadubber, on Flickr


IMG_0713 by iadubber, on Flickr

 

[Justme68]

Talvari that is a MAJOR difference! The tank is gorgeous!!!! Thanks for the pics and iadubber, your tank is beautiful as well! What kind of fish are those in the close up shot? They look awesome against the black substrate. Is that just regular black sand?

 

[iadubber]

Talvari that is a MAJOR difference! The tank is gorgeous!!!! Thanks for the pics and iadubber, your tank is beautiful as well! What kind of fish are those in the close up shot? They look awesome against the black substrate. Is that just regular black sand?

Thanks. Those are boeseman rainbows. Yep just plain petco black sand.