Black vs White background for planted aquascapes

[illumnae]

I know this subforum is usually used to showcase aquascape photos, but I've got a question kind of related to aquascapes, so I thought this would be the best subforum for it.

Basically, the general accepted view seems to be that black oyama is the best for aquascapes. However, I have seen beautiful aquascapes where white oyama is used to create a very nice effect as well. So my question is, is there any general rule of thumb as to when to select a black background and when to select a white one?

[Fei Miao]

IMO, not really I think it's a matter of personal preference and whats look good. I prefer background that are removable.

[heeroyu16]

It depends on the mostly on user's preference and theme scape of the tank. Some like it white, some like it dark. Some uses a foam board, some use a moss wall.
In short, nope there is no general rule.

[SinSisteR]

In my opinion, black makes your plants stand out and create a vivid layout of your tank. To top it up, it reduces your maintenance as algae can't be seen in the background unlike white where you have to scrub off algae often. But each to his own depending on your own personal preference.

[KeIgO86]

I would like to add that for white, it will make your tank look brighter and bigger. The same effect of the colour of clothings does to our size.

In addition, white background does reflect some light, instead of simply absorbing it like black. That means a little extra light for your plants.

[dwgi32]

It really depend on your theme for example some wanted their setup to be of cleaner look and brighter, then i would say white background is better and i like to use black background for shrimp tanks as it will create a suitable envirnment for the shrimps. Just my 5 cents worth of thought.

[dcwk]

The fauna can be a deciding factor too. For instance, fishes like discus appears darker in a black oyama tank.