colors of the aquarium

[mikeydano3]

How come the water in my tank doesnt look blue, but rather clear? I've seen pictures of nice set ups where the water looks nice and blue sorta like the Carribean. How do I get that? Does it have to do with lighting? Backgrounds? Anything else?

 

[byrdman269]

I use a dark deep blue backround on my tank. You need huge amounts of water to see waters natural blue color. My backround really highlights the rocks and coral I have in the tank. Backrounds are fairly cheep, get a couple different ones and see how each one changes the atmosphere of the tank. I like to change my backround every other month. When my friends come over they all notice and think I got a new tank.

 

[mikeydano3]

Thanks Byrd.
My LFS has many kinds with patterns, reflections, just plain colors, etc. Any you prefer or think I should get?

 

[byrdman269]

My fav is my blue one. It looks black near the bottom and then fades into a nice "ocean" blue color at the top. I think the fish like it too

 

[sebae0]

generally lights can do it also if you use actinics or bulbs with a blue spectrum.

 

[krishj39]

yup, just to add to what byrdman said, the WATER will never be blue, but it can appear blue through actinic (blue) lighting and by the blue background. The water only gets that blue look naturally when it is really deep (for an aquarium anyway). It is blue because blue is the only light that will pass through the water, so when you see the bottom of the water, it looks blue. I can't say I know, but I'd think you'd need to look through at least 10 feet before you'd really notice it's blue color.