Whats the best colour gravel for a tropical aquarium

Question

i want to make the bottom of my fish tank look like a tropical sea bed i have black gravel at the moment but what other colour would look good and what are the disadvantages of certain colours would white gravel keep getting dirty and be hard to clean or would it be ok

Answer 1

hey, going with all variations of browns (light to dark) always helps make a more natural appearance (that is if you have natural or real decor), but my personal favorite are whites or lighter colors, because they can really bring out ot the colours of your fish. the only downside to white gravel is that it can get really dirty and it is very visible, so it doesnt look good when its dirty....and black (what you have) depending on your fish, can really take away f rom all the colors of your fish, and set the mood level really low (im not sayin its bad, because u can usually make it work well), thats just what ive noticed....good luck with it

Answer 2

Aquamarine or that Mauve-ish color....you could even mix those two

Answer 3

I don't really prefer all white gravel because it does get really dirty. I regularly clean my tanks but have not ever been able to keep white gravel white. What I usually do for my natural looking tanks is add some natural brown and whites together. If you put in more brown to white it will look really cool. The amount I use is usually 3 lbs. brown gravel to every 1 lb. white gravel and 1/2 lb. gray (or black).

Another idea is you could use sand that would also work out quite nicely.

Answer 4

We've got a tropical and a marine tank, the tropical has a pale brown type gravel, which is fine.  The marine has white sand, which is just like the sea bed.  We bought one of those hand-pumps to use when doing water changes and its great coz you can move the gravel / sand with one end and it takes all the cr*p from of the bottom.

Invest in one of the cleaning magnets if you haven't already done so!!

Good luck x

Answer 5

I had mixed gravel when I kept tropical fish,always looked good.White gravel is likely to go green fairly quickly...you will need some good loaches.

Answer 6

As a Kid my Father had an absolutely breathtakingly beautiful Tropical Tank in his Doctors Office...the gravel was a deep Royal Blue that along with the Brightly colored fish,especially the yellow Tropical Fish was mesmerizing, I remember just sitting and looking at this tank being completely enthralled and soothed, to this day even as an adult I love the look and feeling of blue gravel in tanks.

Answer 7

Yes white will get filthy!! brown and green is what you would end up with, even with syphoning it'd get stained!!

i think you should stick with the black, i've found it really enhances all the colours. tropical eh? well try dark brown fine gravel or red brown then put java moss and bog wood with sandstone rocks and tetras  :D