Strange Question - Colour Of Gravel

[schmee]

Hi

i'm setting up a new home for my black orchid CT betta who is currently living in my community. Tank is on the way and although i have some sand, i want to use gravel for this tank. i naturally would pick black but i'm thinking as he is black orchid, it might not be the best choice to show him off. Any thoughts on the best colour gravel to show off a black fish? i previously had black and white. Maybe brown?
Also, for backing, do you think i should use blue? i lose him a lot of the time with the black backing on his current tank but i'm not sure how well blue goes in a natural looking tank (plants, bogwood etc.).

Any thoughts? i know it's purely aesthetic but it's good to be able to spot your fish!

 

[Athena]

Well, depends on whether you want to go dramatic with a coloured gravel like blue or red (or multicoloured even!) or stick to the natural coloured (rounded) gravel. Don't go for anything with sharp edges though as it might tear his long fins.

As for backing, black backing apparently stresses new fish for some reason...no idea why but that's what I've read. So what about a sea blue colour that's widely available - he'd show up against that. Or even a 3-D poster cut to size that has a mix of blue and plants/rocks?

I'd give the white gravel a miss - I made that mistake - it just looks dirty/stained after a while, despite regular gravel vacs.

Regards - Athena

 

[SJ2K]

Personally I find no matter what colour the fish a dark background and substrate will always show them at their best, if its too bright there colours wash out a bit. Id go with black back and substrate with lots of vibrant green plants. Its a contrast tried, tested and proven on many occasions. Your call, post pics

 

[fluttermoth]

Pink! Pink gravel and pink plastic plants!










(I'll get my coat...)

 

[SJ2K]

Pink! Pink gravel and pink plastic plants!










(I'll get my coat...)

Haha, yeh best leave while the going is good

 

[schmee]

Yeuch pink!!

Thanks for the ideas. Sand probably would have been best but for some reason i want to go back to gravel for this tank. Maybe because i want to plant some vallis and have it actually stay planted! i've decided on brown gravel...so we'll see. i have black/blue background so at least i can try both. i lose him on the black i currently have and i'm doing three sides w/ backing on his new tank but then i can't imagine what blue would look like with plants etc. surely not great...

i'm excited for him, he's going to love having all that space to himself, i hope.

 

[dipsydoodlenoodle]

My boyfriend has brown gravel and it's fairly difficult to see his fish (zebra danios).

I'd personally go for a light colour; but the brown does look good once you get used to it.

 

[alex.wardle]

why not try white roman gravel. have a google for it. may show him of nicely but would be a b**ch to keep clean. i would go for black gravel or a light gray.

 

[Athena]

Agree - the white roman gravel is the one I used and had to change it after a while.

There are lot of other Roman gravel colours though - e.g. natural cobra (that's unusual) aqua, sonic blue, natural highland (I quite like the natural one).

Athena