black gravel is grey in my tank???

[QueenBee]

Hi, i got gravel that promised to be "intense black" once in the water. it is grey. I thought it was false advertising, until i went to remove it from my tanks - its black! but in my tank, it look grey!

is it the lights I'm using? its a jewel rio tank, has built in natural and day lights, you either have them on, or off, cant change them unless you get a new LED string for the tank.

Is it cos the water in the tank is cloudy still? it does look black as i bring it up to the surface, and when i turn the light off ... just all very weird!

 

[CaptainBarnicles]

Shouldn't think it's the lights, probably the cloudy water

 

[PheonixKingZ]

It’s possible it’s the light.

A lot of decor/plants looks darker/lighter once you add them to the tank.

 

[Sgooosh]

visual stuff. depends on the comaprison, decoration, fish
maybe if you put a pure black molly in there it would seem even more grey

 

[Slaphppy7]

It's your lighting, all black gravel (and sand) is that way...

 

[Byron]

I agree with others about the light and the water. I had the same issue several years ago when I tried black. Light waves alter going through water compared to air, and as all light is "white" the colours we see as it strikes a surface are due to how the light reflects off the surface of what it strikes. I've no idea how people get the substrate so "black" in photos, it must have something to do with their lighting.

Personally I don't really like black, preferring a more natural mix of sand in the grey/tan range, as most fish do look better over this provided the light is close to natural daylight in colour tone. The substrate colour does impact fish health, just as the light intensity does, so worth keeping in mind that the substrate colour should be their preference, not the aquarists'.

 

[StevenF]

is it the lights I'm using?

A thin layer of water on a rock can work as a filter prevent certain color of light from reaching your eye. making the rock look very black. However when you put the rock in the tank the filtering effect goes away and you see its acual color.