# JD w/ white gravel?



## Ali1 (Apr 7, 2005)

I currently have some JDs that were placed in a 90G with white gravel. They are pretty small(1"inch), so it's too early to tell whether they willd develop good coloration. I know that stress/dominance/environment have an impact on the coloration of Dempseys as well, but i chose these cichlids because they have some outstanding colors when full grown. I was reading a short description that stated JDs will have bleached colors if placed in light substrate and a darker image with dark substrate. Has anyone had a JD with beautiful colors, that stays in a tank with light substrate? If so, can you provide pics?

I already put the white gravel in, and I dont intend on taking out the gravel and starting over....


----------



## SinisterKisses (Feb 24, 2004)

Well, I don't have any pics of my male over white gravel, but I previously had him over a natural-coloured, lighter gravel, and now have him over black. The difference is pretty obvious:



















It's common knowledge that a lighter substrate will cause a fish to lighten up while a darker substrate will darken in up.


----------



## gage (Feb 7, 2007)

common knowledge to some, saying anything is common knowledge is kind of incorrect, it is common knowledge to an experienced hobbiest yes, but probably not to someone who hasnt had fish very long, or someone who isnt obsessed about the hobby, or simply someone who hasnt been told this before, saying something is common knowledge is completely relative to how long they have been in the hobby...

but, with that, white gravel does tend to lighten up the colors of your fish, as vice versa with black, really depends on how you want the fish to look. IMO JD's look best over dark, however this is just an opinion.


----------



## LJ (Sep 12, 2007)

gage said:


> common knowledge to some, saying anything is common knowledge is kind of incorrect, it is common knowledge to an experienced hobbiest yes, but probably not to someone who hasnt had fish very long, or someone who isnt obsessed about the hobby, or simply someone who hasnt been told this before, saying something is common knowledge is completely relative to how long they have been in the hobby...


 :thumb:

Yeah, dark substrate for those bright blues and greens, it all depends on what you want.


----------



## cichlidfeesh (Apr 6, 2009)

I switched my substrate from pure white to pure black and WOW what a difference. Both my firemouth and 6'' JD looked like new and improved fish!


----------



## Toby_H (Apr 15, 2005)

While I agree that darker substrate will encourage darker colors... I have had very dark Dempseys in tanks with light tan sand on many occasions...

I'm currently out of town and do not have access to my tanks or computer, but if this thread is still alive Monday when I get home I'll post pictures...

If you end up with a breeding pair of Dempseys as the dominant fish in a 90 gallon with white sand it is very possible that they will have the extremely dark colors you are looking for... no promises naturally...


----------



## salukicichlids (Apr 16, 2009)

Common knowledge...Well I just learned it.


----------



## Riceburner (Sep 3, 2008)

Yep, my alpha male has vivid colours and the sub way less(almost like the OPs first shot on light gravel). The sub sometimes darkens up similar to the 2nd shot though....in black gravel.

This is my sub...


----------



## illy-d (Nov 6, 2005)

I kept a JD in a tank with black sand and then in a tank with white sand. It made no difference as I rarely saw the **** thing anyway.

Now I just keep pictures of JD's - that way I can look at them whenever I want.


----------



## 810Aaron (Apr 19, 2009)

My JD is 2" and I use white sand, this fish is always very dark black with blue speckles.


----------



## gage (Feb 7, 2007)

a lot of juvis will display dark black coloring, when he grows his color will change, not to say that he will go light, but it will change.


----------



## lil mama (Nov 24, 2007)

I wonder if you mix the white and black gravel together if this would give a more "even" color. Not too dark and not too light?


----------



## Norse76 (Jul 20, 2008)

lil mama said:


> I wonder if you mix the white and black gravel together if this would give a more "even" color. Not too dark and not too light?


Now that is an interesting thought.


----------



## Bkeen (Mar 13, 2009)

I have seen a tank with a dark substrate, and a lighter colored background. The jacks he had in there were dark, and camoflagued well in the substrate. Then, at feeding time and when swimming around, they really "popped" in contrast to the light gray background.


----------



## Toby_H (Apr 15, 2005)

Here is an example of darker Dempseys on very light sand. It's not white but it's extremely light tan.

Also notice that the Dempseys are, on average, a bit smaller than the Geos, on average... and are far smaller than the Adult Blue Dempseys in the tank. Yet they are very strong, confident, â€˜dominantâ€™ fish. You may also be able to notice that the larger female Dempseys in this tank have long/pointy fins.

The reasons, I believe, this group looks so good is because both of their parents were hand selected from a large group... And both of the motherâ€™s parents were hand selected from a large groupâ€¦ and these fish are the nicest 10% of their brood. Genetics plays a MASSIVE role in the quality/appearance of our fish...

Through 'survival of the fittest' natural selection decides who will grow on to breed and who will parish... preserving the vast majority of a brood and using fish at random from this brood to breed is the biggest reason (I believe) that our fish are often not as nice as they could be... Of course my hand selecting is not â€˜natural selectionâ€™ it is still a far better way of selecting breeders than â€˜randomâ€™.

PS - These Dempseys are Blue Gene Dempseys through Ormedâ€™s #1 lineâ€¦


----------



## illy-d (Nov 6, 2005)

Nice Steinies :wink:


----------

