Color of fish
- Thread starter Leginess
- Start date
Dark substrate and background helps. The type of food your feeding him also changes a fish's coloration.
with some fish a 50/50 bulb will bring out the neon colors of malawians. Fish automatically "color up" when displaying for a female or claiming dominance.
Taking proper care... That means clean water, varied diet, proper size and decoration of tank for the species.
Most fish do appear more colorful against a dark substrate, others like Discus get their most colorful in completely bare tanks... I would say the vast majority look better against a dark substrate though.
Also if the fish is in water closer to their natural pH/GH it really helps as well. The fish can be perfectly healthy in nearly any stable pH/GH, but I've seen first hand the difference in coloration in a tank with the proper (in this case low Amazon) pH compared to LA's liquid rock-type water.
Most fish do appear more colorful against a dark substrate, others like Discus get their most colorful in completely bare tanks... I would say the vast majority look better against a dark substrate though.
Also if the fish is in water closer to their natural pH/GH it really helps as well. The fish can be perfectly healthy in nearly any stable pH/GH, but I've seen first hand the difference in coloration in a tank with the proper (in this case low Amazon) pH compared to LA's liquid rock-type water.
Different light bulbs can make a big difference, both color & intensity. Bright light with light color sand can wash out the colors, shade from plants can help. It depends on the fish too, some are solidly colored, like serpae tetras, & look ok in bright light. Some have irridescent stripes that need a more subdued lighting to bring that out.