Best Background Colour To Make Fish Stand Out?

[Raticataticus]

Hi everyone, I am just wondering what the optimal colour of background and/or substrate would be to best compliment the colour of a fish?
 
Do lighter surroundings cause the fish to be less vibrant?
 
I would really like to do white sand and a background in this colour.
 
The type of fish I am looking at getting is a large cichlid, probably a Super Green Texas. I am worried that having such light surroundings might wash the fish out. 
 
Should I do black gravel and a black background instead?

 

[the_lock_man]

Yes, do black. It seems to me that most fish stand out better on a dark background and substrate.

 

[508]

Black.

 

[Lillefishy]

Dark blue or black

 

[Raticataticus]

Yes, do black. It seems to me that most fish stand out better on a dark background and substrate.

 
 

Black.

 
 

Dark blue or black

 
Hmm… what about this colour? 
 

 
To match my couches

 .. kind of.
 

 

[nic1]

I have an aqua blue background, it's painted on but I wish I had the patience to remove the stuff so i could paint it black!
I find that i can't see my plants too well with blue!
Nice sofa btw

 

[DreamertK]

I have a red background, it really brings out the green of the plants. But black does well if you have vibrantly colored fish. It really depends on your fish/plants. If you're more into the planted tank, red would be best. If you have a lot of blue colored fish, orange would bring out the blue in the fish (and draw the eye to the tank in your room). If you have a lot of white tetras, black would be best. Some fish with black highlights might look not very good with a black background. Most fish though prefer if the lighting was minimal, so white is almost never suggested since it reflects light.

 

[daizeUK]

I think the best background colour depends on taste, lighting, whether the tank is planted and what type of fish you have.
 
For the Super Green Texas you mentioned I would definitely go black.  A fish like that should let its colours speak for itself and take centre stage.
 
On the other hand I don't think that black suits every tank.  It can make a tank look too dark, especially if there is light reflecting off the glass from nearby windows etc.

 

[Byron]

For the background, I recommend plain flat (meaning, non-shiny) black.  It will add depth, as the back is almost invisible.  Look at daize's platy jungle photo above to see exactly what I mean.  That is ideal (nice tank too, daize).
 
For substrate, black can work but I found that every spec of detritus was visible, something I never see with my mixed gravel or sand substrates.  I am currently using Quikrete Play Sand in all but one tank, and that one has a fine gravel that is also a mix (black/white/gray/buff).  With cichlids which are substrate feeders that like to pick up mouthfuls of substrate and sift out food, sand or a very fine gravel, provided they are smooth, is better.  Whatever you get, avoid pure white; fish can be stressed by this as it is completely un-natural--no fish lives over a pure white substrate, and they can feel vulnerable.  Fish colours are often washed out over white, and it reflects the tank light which can be hard not only on fish but on the aquarist's eyes too.
 
Byron.

 

[Gruntle]

I had a dark blue, almost black background.  I removed it because my Crimson Spotted Rainbows have black on the edge of their fins and the background made this all but invisible. Still investigating other options...

 

[Alasse]

Most of my tanks are black background with one of either grey, white sand, black gravel/eco complete or reddish flourite.
 
I prefer the white in most of my tanks, it brings the fish out beautifully, and better than the previous all black substrates i had

 

[stanleo]

I have an underwater background that looks like it goes on forever. It gives the illusion of depth that I like. If I didn't have it I would probably have a black one

This is before I put all the plants in

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This is after

 

[DreamertK]

That looks really good. You should enter it into TotM.

 
I have one tank with white sand and one with black sand (and black background). I cant ever decide which I like better, but waste on the sand is a lot easier to see on white than black.
 
Maybe OP can paint some pieces of paper and tape it to the back of the tank to see which they would prefer.

 

[daizeUK]

For the background, I recommend plain flat (meaning, non-shiny) black.  It will add depth, as the back is almost invisible.  Look at daize's platy jungle photo above to see exactly what I mean.  That is ideal (nice tank too, daize).

 
Thanks very much Byron.
 
In total contrast I have white substrate and a white backlit background in my other tank.  However only about 10% of that tank has visible substrate, the rest is either planted or hardscaped and the white substrate is only visible at the very front and sides of the tank.  The tank is also very heavily planted with plenty of hiding places and populated with fish that like to move through the plants, so I think white can be appropriate when applied with proper consideration to the fish's needs.
Stanleo - love that background!