Gravel color question

[Vizja13]

I currently have white gravel in Alexei's tank, however I've been told that some bettas with purposefully fade their color to blend into the tank. Is this true? Would it be worth getting different colored (black?) gravel in the tank? It's only been set up for a week, so will changing the gravel throw the cycle?

Thanks for putting up with all my questions on the new guy <3

If anyone's been keeping up with him, he flared today for the first time, and he is a HM :) I'd been thinking he was a super delta

[Kithy]

It's not going to throw the cycle really or anything like that but taking gravel out can be annoying. You don't actually need gravel, most of the time it's just for looks. It gives some fish places to dig or things like that but you don't really need it at all. I went bare bottom on my tanks for awhile.

I'm not sure about the fading thing, plenty of people keep their bettas with white sand so I dunno. Mine have more brown/earthy colors and no fading or really anything noticeable.

Most of your BB are in your filter as compared to your decor and gravel so you can take it out without worrying you're screwing your whole cycle up or anything like that.

[Mal72]

I've personally never heard of the whole color-change theory, so I believe you should be fine. I agree with Kithy that gravel can be a pain and I prefer to use larger marbles or nothing at all because the tank is easier to keep clean.

[Kithy]

Large marbles are great :3 Like the mancala beads. You can also do larger rocks (I like the betta rocks at petco). I, in the end, did go back to gravel because I like the look of it. But your betta will not suffer nor benefit from the lack or presence of gravel ^^ It's merely aesthetic if you have just the betta.

Everything has its pros and cons and the con of having rocks is that it can be harder to clean depending on the size and shape as waste can get trapped underneath. But that's somewhat true of gravel because cleaning it can be a pain as well.

[MollyJean]

Betta can change colors, they can get brighter with the right food, or marble into another color altogether, but I don't believe they change to match or blend in with the decor colors. It's more likely that some colors make a fish easier to see then others. In the end, the gravel color isn't going to effect your fish at all. It's just something to make you happy or pull together your design. :)

[Vizja13]

Re: bare bottomed, I can't say I like the look, and m decorations need an anchor.

It's a ten gallon, so that would be a LOT of marbles xP I've always liked the look of gravel (or sand but that stuff annoys me, I have it in my other ten.) So I think I'll keep the white, the colors all match in the tank now, and while black wouldn't be bad, it is a hassle. Thanks for the opinions! Must have been some other fish type I was thinking of.