Black sand or Light sand

[haddock]

I am so indecisive!

I have been to the lfs twice and almost bought a sack of black sand and then almost bought a sack of white sand instead!

In your opinion what will look best in a 40G lightly planted tank with driftwood and a black background. I am going to stock various tetras and rasbosas.


So whats it to be - black or white?

 

[DeadlyMixer]

Black.... hold on....

White.... no no wait....

Black.... er maybe....

White... or better still....

BOTH?

On Second thoughts... Maybe Grey is the way to go then its neither black or white!

 

[Bloo]

well I prefer the look of white sand, but then again with black sand the dirt will be less noticeable - so just depend on YOU ! LOL I'm not much help either

 

[keane]

if you are having a black background then i would go for the white sand .

will break up the overwhelming darkness of the background and driftwood

just MO though

 

[bunjiweb]

I reckon black sand looks brilliant in a planted setup... Especially if you have bright lighting, it really sets off itself brilliantly.

Ben

 

[rdd1952]

I have play sand (whitish) in my 29 gallon and black sand in my 75 gallon. I love the black sand. I don't know if I will ever use anything else again. This, however, is just my preferences so it's probably of little help to you. You and you alone will have to make that decision.

 

[haddock]

you lot are as bad as me!!

swaying towards black now - although I'm bit worried, like you say, that black sand and a black background might be a bit opressive. On the other had it might look great and show off the colours really well!

Hmmmph.

 

[haddock]

Don't suppose anyone has piccies of tanks with black sand and black backgrounds?
And possibly of black sand with a blue background?

 

[Jer-]

Black definately

Tetras in my opinion depend VERY strongly on the environment for their color. If they are in a tank with White sand, their colors will look ALOT more faded compared to the color they can achieve when they are in a Dark bottomed tank.

i used to have darkish grey gravel in my tank holding some cardinal tetras and my cockatoos. but then i put covered half of the gravel with white sand and later on found that the cradinals, when in the white substrate area are not as pretty! I dunno if it was becos the colors on the fish actually faded or that the color contrast of the fish compared to the bottom is too low, the fish jus didnt seem as...brilliant.

i think the fish itself would prefer a darker substrate for security.

HTH

 

[Macracantha]

Black.... hold on....

White.... no no wait....

Black.... er maybe....

White... or better still....

BOTH?

On Second thoughts... Maybe Grey is the way to go then its neither black or white!

Never used black myself but I bet it would look stunning so.....

I'd go with black!!!

 

[CFC]

Black sand will show the colours of the fish better and makes photographing tanks easier as there is less glare from the substrate.

Light sand has a more natural appearence (black sand is quite uncommon in nature) and will reflect light which makes keeping planted tanks easier but will also wash the colours out of fish and make photography difficult.

 

[keane]

*places self in a corner, holds head in his hands and feels rather out numbered and deeply ashamed at his suggestion to go for white sand *

steve

 

[Annastasia]

Well, I have black sand in 1 tank, and white in 2. I have to say I like the black sand better. It shows off the plants and fish much better. I have it with a lightish blue backround, and I think it looks pretty good.

 

[SarahBravo]

Yep, black sand, especially for tetras. I have a black background and black gravel for mine and they look sooooo bright and colourful. Left my camera at work otherwise I'd take a pic.

 

[Macracantha]

*places self in a corner, holds head in his hands and feels rather out numbered and deeply ashamed at his suggestion to go for white sand *

steve

One man's meat is another man's poison...don't worry about it!