black substrate/background

[hohm44]

Looking for opinions here. Would black background and black gravel actually stress discus, or would they just not show their color as well?

[Eddie]

They'll just be darker. My tank had a white bottom and a sky blue backround. Every time the fish hovered over the sponge filter (black and 7inches in diameter), they'd turn totally black. I think the black substrate will have a greater affect on them turning dark.

HTH
Eddie

[tonythediscus]

that is true and it make them have more peppering(depending on what kind of strain you have) i have just peeled off my black tint for my 100gal and was going to put a planted background but when i looked at it clear it really showed the fishes color better then the planted and black tint so i'am keeping it clear

[Don Trinko]

Same here; I moved some fish from a tank with white gravel and a light blue background to a tank with normal gravel and a dark blue background. They are definatly darker now and show their bars more offten. Don T.

[thebigone]

I agree with Eddie on this one and IMO if you are keeping discus you want to enjoy the color of them been that there are many different color/strains. I have a darker back ground and setting up my new tank to have a lighter one so I can enjoy the colors of my fish better. Hope this helps.

[Darrell Ward]

Looking for opinions here. Would black background and black gravel actually stress discus, or would they just not show their color as well?

Black looks good, but makes discus look like s--t, well, you know, dark. Remember, "Light makes discus look right".

[Patr1ck]

No extra stress, just darker colors, trying to blend in.

P

[brewmaster15]

Its not going to stress them at all... but depending on the strain they will take on a different appearence than in a lighter color tank..

I think a group of albinos or snow whites would look great in a tank with black background and substrate... Its on my to do list in 2009

However..PB based strains will show pepper if they have it to show, many of the newer PBs have so little pepper its probably negliable... Blues will darken.


hth,
al


-al

[mmorris]

s--t,

Yup, that's what my friends say when they see my tank for the first time.

The turqs do darken up, and bd as well. These blue ones are blue sapphires and they do not darken up. Albinos look great with a black background.

[mmorris]

An albino:

[Darrell Ward]

Seriously, I had turqs with a black background. The fish were very dark. Some goldens in the same tank didn't darken at all. Guess it depends on the strain. I just use light colors these days, in case I need to move fish around, to help prevent these shifts in color.

[Eddie]

The turqs do darken up, and bd as well. These blue ones are blue sapphires and they do not darken up. Albinos look great with a black background.

Wow, gorgeous discus! The background is black but what about the bottom? It looks like the bottom is light....

Eddie

[mmorris]

Wow, gorgeous discus! The background is black but what about the bottom? It looks like the bottom is light....

Eddie

Thanks Eddie, I sprayed the outside bottom with sandstone paint. It needs to be re-done, though. I should have added that my blue turq didn't darken up in this tank and it shows up vividly. There may be few hard and fast rules about which discus will look great with a black background and which will darken up.

[rerdragon1977]

if you look to the next section planted biotopes it apears that in 80% of the pictures of all the backgrounds are black with dark substrate and those fish look good. it is possible that overhead light is also a contributor rather than background colour?

[Patr1ck]

if you look to the next section planted biotopes it apears that in 80% of the pictures of all the backgrounds are black with dark substrate and those fish look good. it is possible that overhead light is also a contributor rather than background colour?

I agree with having bright lights and them influencing the discus to be more vivid.

P