concept tank… white fish in dark tank…

[Magnum Man68 183]

so in my cray fish tank ( I’m experimenting, it’s a darker tank, with good back lighting through a scene back ground… the substrate is black river rock… a hard water tank, so I’m playing with some African cichlids in with the crays, and they seem to be thriving… there are now 4 albino cichlids, and I’m really liking the look of the dark tank, and the bright white fish…

I have 3 slabs of limestone in my the tank, to break thinks up… to complete this effect I’m getting off the tank, I think I’ll replace the limestone, with slabs of black slate the albino fish just pop against the black… look for pictures of this tank later, after I replace the limestone…

anyone else ever do anything similar???

 

[Magnum Man68 183]

the smallest fish in front of a piece of wood…

 

[gimme301]

I was a scrappy kid and used to fight this older kid who was melanin challenged and much bigger than me so I got beat every time. So not too fond of albinos, but I think your plan sounds good. I did the same with silver congo tetras and silver kuhlis against a black background and substrate to pretty cool effect.

 

[GaryE28 26]

In my teenage years I had a book on concept tanks. It was a big thing back then - tanks that were as far removed from nature as could be. Geometric shapes, big blocks of solid colours, tubes and submerged lighting... no concern for the needs or natural histories of the fish. They were disposable design elements.

So people have done similar things. It was a popular approach in the early 1970s, for about 5 years. They weren't working tanks like you have, with the fish well cared for but chosen for effect. Those tanks looked like White Stripes album covers.

Like striped flared pants, we don't always want to talk about them now.

 

[Magnum Man68 183]

my large slate slabs are here, but I’ve yet to exchange them for the limestone slabs…

I caught one of the ghost crays out for an evening stroll… I think it would really pop against the slate that will replace the limestone in this picture… all black tank, with all white inhabitants…

 

[Magnum Man68 183]

I got the limestone out at this week’s water change… the slate is smooth with natural edges, but rectangular, I’m waiting for some smaller chunks , then will break up these pieces to make them irregular… the white fish, against the black slate… the water is not crystal, as I vacuumed after the limestone was removed, and before adding the slate ( sorry about the ugly guy reflection )

 

[Magnum Man68 183]

my “ common” hoya growing out of this covered tank…

 

[Magnum Man68 183]

a few more pictures… the smaller slate chunks will be here early next week…

 

[Magnum Man68 183]

today at feeding time…

 

[Magnum Man68 183]

this young, white, full sized cray, has come to recognize the food comes from me, and has started coming out when I feed…

 

[Magnum Man68 183]

10 minutes later, and he’s back to king of the

the foam filter

 

[Magnum Man68 183]

I’m really liking the looks of this…

 

[Magnum Man68 183]

several of my tanks are getting reworked, while being fully stocked… this one I’ve been picking up medium sized pieces of slate, and building small caves intended for the cray fish… I didn’t have my phone handy, when I turned off the main light, this picture is with only the sunset light on… I saw one of the ghost crays in one of the caves I just made, they have all hidden in the past, where I could never find them, so it was rewarding to see, even though I didn’t have my camera… another batch of slate came today, so more caves along the back, at the next water change… I love the look of these rift lake cichlids in the black tank… this is how it looks today… the cray I saw tonight, was, and is still in the lowest cave to the right…