Am I correct in thinking a black substrate and background would bring out the colors in my juvi Northern Longears? A couple of them were starting to look nice in my 10 gal which had a mixed kitty litter/sand substrate. There was not much sand vs kitty litter, so the substrate was pretty dark, also I had constant MAJOR green algae outbreaks going on (was cleaning it out almost weekly and watching it grow almost before my eyes). I figured this was because kitty litter is rich in nutrients plus I was using a light for a 55 gallon on a 10 gallon. Anyways I finally got tired of the algae so I cleaned it all out and used an algae tab along with pouring in about an inch of very bright colored play sand on top trying to bury the nutrient rich kitty litter. Ever since they've been pretty washed out thus I figured it had to be the black to very light bright brown substrate change.

I'm thinking I may want to eventually plant this 55 they're going in, but I don't want the algae outbreaks I had before, so I'm hesitant to use kitty litter. If I use about 1.5-2" of kitty litter covered with a .5-.75" layer of regular sized black gravel will that work out so I can plant if I want without having green algae outbreaks? If the algae was even a result of the kitty litter/high quality light to begin with that is. I'm open to using that large grain black aquarium sand also, whichever would be best as far as leaving the planting option open.

The algae outbreak probably had more to do with your lighting than the kitty litter. Kitty litter is not nutrient-rich in a complete sense (NPK) and if anything binds nutrients from the water column rather than release them. On the other hand, your lighting sounds like it was way overboard. Did you have plants in there? If your lighting was intended for a planted 55g and you used it on an unplanted or minimally planted 10g, it's not too surprising what you ended up with.

Anyhow, yes, in my experience fish often color up more on dark substrates (for me, kitty litter) than light ones (filter sand). Your sunfish may have also been nibbling on the algae. Dietary-wise people usually recommend shrimp flakes/pellets or ghost shrimp to help with red/orange coloration (carotenoids) and algae wafers/spirulina for blues.

Am I correct in thinking a black substrate and background would bring out the colors in my juvi Northern Longears?

Yes. A fish will turn darker against a dark substrate than it will against a light substrate.

A couple of them were starting to look nice in my 10 gal which had a mixed kitty litter/sand substrate. There was not much sand vs kitty litter, so the substrate was pretty dark, also I had constant MAJOR green algae outbreaks going on (was cleaning it out almost weekly and watching it grow almost before my eyes). I figured this was because kitty litter is rich in nutrients

Unless the algae had roots, I doubt it was accessing the nutrients from the substrate very much.

plus I was using a light for a 55 gallon on a 10 gallon.

*coughs* Well there's your problem.

Anyways I finally got tired of the algae so I cleaned it all out and used an algae tab

*nods* I used to have a bottle of algae dissolver, myself. It's good stuff. In the right concentrations it'll remove the algae-type plants without touching the real plants or fish.

along with pouring in about an inch of very bright colored play sand on top trying to bury the nutrient rich kitty litter.

*nods* Logical based upon your previous assumption that the kitty litter was releasing its nutrients into the water column.

Ever since they've been pretty washed out thus I figured it had to be the black to very light bright brown substrate change.

Yup, the color change would do it. You might also have overdosed on algae-cide. If you've done a couple water changes since then and their color hasn't perked up, then you can know that it's not an overdose of the chemical.

I'm thinking I may want to eventually plant this 55 they're going in, but I don't want the algae outbreaks I had before, so I'm hesitant to use kitty litter.

It probably wasn't the kitty litter. It probably was the 55 gallon lights on a 10 gallon tank spurring on ridiculously fast growth.

If I use about 1.5-2" of kitty litter covered with a .5-.75" layer of regular sized black gravel will that work out so I can plant if I want without having green algae outbreaks? If the algae was even a result of the kitty litter/high quality light to begin with that is. I'm open to using that large grain black aquarium sand also, whichever would be best as far as leaving the planting option open.

Meh, use what you want. You only have to lose a couple batches of rooted plants before you realize you don't have enough nutrients in the substrate. For me it took buying cabomba caroliniana (my favorite plant) twice and having it all die twice before I figured out that perhaps an all gravel substrate wasn't good for rooted plants. I switched to kitty litter and now my myriophyllum (a rooted plant) is ridiculously healthy. It has leaves from the top to the substrate, which is I guess unusual in this plant species (usually the leaves die off the bottom part of the plant). Experiment with your substrate a little bit. You'll find something that works for the plants you like. If you like sand, then use sand (just also add fertilizer every week or so). But long story short I think it's more likely that the excess light caused the fast algae growth, not the kitty litter. And the algae dissolver did work, right? So if it does happen again, just dissolve the algae periodically. I used to use Tetra brand pond algae clearer in my tanks to dissolve the algae and it was nice stuff.

I'm not an expert on Sunfish, but generally speaking darker surroundings will give you a more colorful fish. Also generally speaking, most juvenile fish do not have the same coloration as their older counterpart. Again, I'm not familar with sunfish color.

Erica - I used algae tabs, and I used a half dose for 10 gallons along with cleaning the tank fully and taking the fish out to redo the substrate. Never saw a speck of green algae since. I was gonna use kitty litter with a thin layer of black large grain sand or small black gravel.

Erica - I used algae tabs, and I used a half dose for 10 gallons along with cleaning the tank fully and taking the fish out to redo the substrate. Never saw a speck of green algae since. I was gonna use kitty litter with a thin layer of black large grain sand or small black gravel.

If the algae tablet worked and you haven't seen a speck of algae since, then why use sand? It seems like your problem is solved. If you're worried about algae being a problem in the future, well, that's probably not going to happen again now that you've got a 55 gallon tank attached to those 55 gallon tank lights and that you know how to use the algae tabs.

If the algae tablet worked and you haven't seen a speck of algae since, then why use sand? It seems like your problem is solved. If you're worried about algae being a problem in the future, well, that's probably not going to happen again now that you've got a 55 gallon tank attached to those 55 gallon tank lights and that you know how to use the algae tabs.

I wasn't sure if the algae stopped because I got rid of all of it and poured sand over the kitty litter or because I used the tab...or both