What Colour Substrate And Background?

[Gurglar]

What colour substrate would look the most natural in a tank and still show the colours of the fish off?

Also what type of background would be best to show the colours of the fish off more, a dark or a light background?

The fish that will be in the tank are:
Neon tetras
red flame dwarf gourami
platies
cories

Thanks for any suggestions.

 

[sussexgirl]

What colour substrate would look the most natural in a tank and still show the colours of the fish off?

Also what type of background would be best to show the colours of the fish off more, a dark or a light background?

The fish that will be in the tank are:
Neon tetras
red flame dwarf gourami
platies
cories

Thanks for any suggestions.

Well I have the same inhabitants in my tank as you and my plain black background shows my fish up beautifully and gives the tank the appearance of being bigger. I have a natural gravel in mine. My small nursery tank has a plain blue background but I don't like it so I'll be changing it at some point.

 

[annka5]

I reckon a black background is best as it doesn't detract from the tank and shows up fish colours well. As to substrate, I've sand; I had a very dark substrate in a smaller tank which I found made it look smaller than it was.

 

[Iron Man]

I've painted both a black and a blue on the backs of my tanks at different times and must say that while the black grew old and bland over the years it did show the fishes' color better. If you're keeping neons and platies black just may be the way to go.

Also...cories really need sand IMO because of their strong digging instinct. I hate to see them in a tank with regular gravel....they look so sad.

 

[Griz]

I like black backgrounds, especially in a planted tank. My shelldweller tank has a background that fades from black on the botom to a dark blue at the top. I like this look in a tank that has mainly rocks and sand.