So your fish look exactly the same with white gravel and cool blue antic lights, as they do with black substrate and warm yellow lights?
Nope, I have never once said that, quite the opposite.
Most members on here use black for a more natural look, rather than to effect the color of their fish.
We will have to agree to disagree on that note, as IME the vast majority of people who use a black backgrounds in aquariums do so for the effect that it has on the color of their fish, not because black is more natural looking, than blue, green, tan, etc.
Honestly Im not a huge supported of backround colors anyway. Im not painting, and backrounds dont fit on my oceanic tanks with FH and they look fine. They might be a bit washed out from bright lights, light sand, and a green wall behind them.
I agree, in the pics I have seen of your 2 tanks the fish do appear to be washed out, and IMO would look much better with a darker substrate, and a black background.
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=364035
So I do agree with you when you state:
But environment does have an impact on coloration. Just like any other cichlid they will match their surroundings.
Darker tones in substrate & background helps intensify most colors, including blue, red, yellow, orange, where bright lights over light/white substrate, and a light background, will cause some fish to appear somewhat washed out.
My pink Fenestratus looks much more vibrant in a blue tank with blue gravel than he did in my black backround tank with white sand. I dont need to own 100's of fish to know this.
You mean these little guys?
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=359898
The background color wasn't your problem, your "white" sand was the problem. Take a look at Mo's photo in the following link, that male has every color in the rainbow - and I don't see any color being "washed out" by the dark background.
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=286152&page=2
Having lost count how many large adult male CA cichlids I've seen in tanks with a black background, this doesn't come as any surprise to me. Black backgrounds DO NOT wash out color in a fish, if anytihng it intensifies the color, even in very light colored cichlids such as V. argentea.
http://media.photobucket.com/image/vieja%20argentea/miguel_brass/1bWhtFishA.jpg
And you're right, it does all boil down to personal preference.
My only issue with this entire topic is that many FH keepers have never even experimented with various backgrounds, substrate, or even lighting combos, yet they keep repeating the same old same old, just because way back when someome somewhere decided that black backgrounds & FH don't mix. Some of the finest male CA cichlids that I have ever seen are swimming around in tanks with black backgrounds, and their colors & the overall contrast is amazing.
BTW - I agree that Petsmart uses blue backgrounds for contrast (they sell a lot of different species of fish) AND they use that color because it gives & bright clean look to their tanks. Many other LFS use black, including some of the big box stores such as Petland (at least here in Canada) for the same reason that I do.
