les

So what do you people think is the best colour combination for substrate ?

I have seen lots of nice combinations, mainly at the fish shops.

1) Fine lighter coloured gravel with tank full of plants
2) Fine redish coloured gravel with tank full of plants
3) Sand for saltwater tanks - these just look great !

What are your preferences ?

I started with the larger redish coloured gravel and was not happy ... ended up getting finer redish coloured substrate and I am very happy with the results!

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inuyasha_lover_21

3)sand

its my fave!

Isabella

I have the same-colored gravel in my 30 gallon tank I like it a lot, but I now like darker substrates more. I like black and dark brown substrates that imitate bottom of a lake/river as closely as possible. Another reason why I like dark substrates is that they contrast nicely with green plants (and I love planted tanks). I don't really like substrates that have a lot of red color in them. And I really don't like those colorful fluorescent gravels! Like I said ... the closer the look to nature, the more beautiful it is to me.

les

Good stuff Isabella !

NO FLOURO FOR ME EITHER !!!!

schiz

I have black moonlight sand with some white gravel that I used to seed the tank from my established 10g. Once the corys spead out the few spots of gravel and buried it partially it looks great. Sand was more of a pain for me than gravel to get set up and was quite messy for some time but the look of it is very pleasing.

shollia

So long as it's not neon... I like it.
Black is ok, but I'm finding that I really don't like it all that much for some reason.. which is a surprise to me.
I am really liking red gravel though. I think it brightens up the tank without bringing that neon look.

I also really like natural looking pebbles/gravel as well. Sand would be very cool to use but not sure if I'd like having to clean it heh.
I'd also like getting white gravel, but would be an eyesore eventually when it started to get dirty.. bleh..

Jim

I like a natural looking substrate, and smaller pebbles mixed with larger rocks for a natural looking bottom!

Richard

I'm with you on that Jim.. the more natural looking a tank is, the better IMO.. my fish hate neon or brightly colored gravel as much as I do. As much as possible, I try to match my substrate with the natural habitat my fish come from, and they continuously thank me for it by singing Guns n' Roses- 'Sweet Child O' Mine'.. well ok, no they can't sing, but if they could, they would!

les

GUYS !!!

I need some PICS !!!!

Come on, show off your gravel combo.

inuyasha_lover_21

this pic is also posted in the saltwater photo area. its boring substrate but I like it.

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Neville

the common gravel color is black and white in my city. but i personally like sand color.

shollia

Here is a pic of the tiny quarantine/hospital tank... It had that cheap black and pink gravel from walmart in it, some hedge in it (i know it's not true aquatic) and a plastic plant. But after one of the fish we had gotten brought something nasty with it. I threw all of that gravel away and the fake plant as well.
This is the old pic of it with our sweet little guppies and my sweet little finrot danio gal in it.. sigh... RIP...


And here is a new pic with left over red gravel. Just love the red stuff.. it really brightens it up.



Here is a pic of my 10gallon divided. Red side holds my male betta, Raj. Black side female, Afia.


And here is a pic of our 28 gallon bow? front. All of the rocks were gotten from the dollar general.
They look nice but they're a tad on the larger side... think I MIGHT add in some smaller gravel to try to fill it in some more.




I think if we ever get a larger tank, we're gonna go with sand.. cause I'm gonna want my clown loaches lol. MAYBE black sand since pics I've seen of tanks with it look nice, but if we can only find regular, then that will be just as peachy

Hazcop

When I set up our 75g I used 3 25 lb. bags of natural color all 3 different sizes, and 1 25 lb. bag of mixed blue colors.* Mixed them up in an old rubbermaid tub with small holes on the sides while rinsing it in the downstairs shower.* (side note...clean up the mess before your significant other comes home.* Trust me on that one.* * )* I think it looks good.* Will post a pic soon.

atmmachine816

1. old planted tank with natural gravel
2. side view of 29 with blue gravel

I like them both equally, though I don't like black gravel, too dark, I like the natural with all planted tanks but the blue with dark blue background gives a nice look

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IheartmyOscars

well, one of my 10 gallons has black gravel with lots of colored glass stones bought from a craft store. the other 10 gallon has dark and light blue gravel with colored glass stones. and the 55 has dark blue gravel with different shades of colored glass. I really like the colored glass stones. None of my petstores ever have nice "natural" looking substrate, so i just went with the darkest ones. as for the colored glass, I just love the way it looks, and I feel it helps bring out the colors of the fish. My oscars like to carry the glass around in their mouths and spit it out.