The effect of your aquarium back ground on fish coloration

[Prince]

What if any is the effect of your aquarium back ground on fish coloration? I have a black back ground on my African Cichlid tank and my daughters 10 gallon tank. I have noticed that some of my P. Neyeri Igombe Island will darken and try to blend in with the background when the daily sparring starts ( nothing major and up until the Metriaclima started breeding no one was nipped up, injured or killed). The rest keep up a black and silver tiger stripe patteren. My Metriaclima have darkened also. Occasionally the big male shows his blue stripe pattern but most times he goes black. My Ruby Green male stays in orange and black breeding colors. He looks great but lately I have been wondering what would happen with their coloration if I switched to the white wall behind the white wall behind the tank or a light blue or natural background.

 

[emartin]

I've never had fish try to camouflage themselves with it. I personally think it helps the fish's color contrast really well and look great, and make it easier to photograph them.

I'm going to spray paint one of my smaller tanks with a dark green background to see how that looks as I have had people tell me it looks even better and more natural than a navy blue or black background.

 

[Prince]

The sunk cories in my daughters tank hide along the background too. I should have a colorful tank but it's looking drab. I know the water parameters are good. The one change is I just realized that my Vics and Mbuna's a plant eaters more than anything else so I bought a spirulina based food Hikari Cichlid excel to feed them instead on Cichlid gold and NLS which a fish based.

 

[Tony]

I think fish definitely darken up to match the background/substrate. At least Africans imo.... I mean think about it. You're either a predator or prey. Either way, you're going to want to blend in with your surroundings. It's especially apparent with Altolamprologus.

 

[UNCLERUCKUS]

I THINK BLACK BACKGROUNDS OR SUBSTRATES BRING OUT THE COLORATION IN FISH LIKE THE WHITE OR LIGHTER COLORS SOMETIMES WASH OUT THE COLORS. THATS JUST MY OPINION.

 

[dlfn1]

i initially put my daffodils in a tank w/ a black background and white sand. it was awful, the white sand washed them out terribly. had to put in some black sand on top, now they've kind of mixed it up in various layers. they don't looked washed out anymore even w/ some of the white sand showing.

 

[Andrewtfw]

I think the dark substrate plays more of a role than the background. However, many smaller fish seem more stressed without a background of some sort.