eschaton
Active Member
- Joined
- Oct 27, 2019
- Messages
- 265
- Reaction score
- 264
- What state or country do you live in
- Pennsylvania
I've been out of the hobby for awhile, though I've stayed active in the planted tank hobby. It strikes me that - in general - I feel like there's an absence of the "minimalism" vibe that you get with a lot of planted tanks.
As examples of what I mean, consider these:
Basically, a lot of planted aquascapes focus a "less is more" philosophy. Instead of trying to do "menagerie" style tanks where you cram in bunches of every plant that interests you, the focus is on picking a handful of plants - sometimes even just a single species - and letting it grow through the tank completely.
Now, I've seen many beautiful reef tanks, but I think every one that grows out eventually becomes a menagerie tank. Maybe it's related to how much longer corals take to grow out versus plants - or how with the higher prices we look at corals more as investments than the components of a good aquascape - but I seldom see people who decide to just frag a single SPS colony around their tank to become the basis of the entire reef structure. Or have the rock bases covered up by a single kind of zoa. Instead most people just stick everything in willy nilly. This can be nice, but it also means that all thriving tanks tend to converge upon one another as a riot of form and color with no central composition.
I'm wondering if anyone has examples of reef tanks which try to do less is more. I don't mean necessarily a limited rock scape with lots of open sand/water - rather the limited use of a few focus corals/sessile inverts which are allowed to blanket the entire tank.
As examples of what I mean, consider these:
Basically, a lot of planted aquascapes focus a "less is more" philosophy. Instead of trying to do "menagerie" style tanks where you cram in bunches of every plant that interests you, the focus is on picking a handful of plants - sometimes even just a single species - and letting it grow through the tank completely.
Now, I've seen many beautiful reef tanks, but I think every one that grows out eventually becomes a menagerie tank. Maybe it's related to how much longer corals take to grow out versus plants - or how with the higher prices we look at corals more as investments than the components of a good aquascape - but I seldom see people who decide to just frag a single SPS colony around their tank to become the basis of the entire reef structure. Or have the rock bases covered up by a single kind of zoa. Instead most people just stick everything in willy nilly. This can be nice, but it also means that all thriving tanks tend to converge upon one another as a riot of form and color with no central composition.
I'm wondering if anyone has examples of reef tanks which try to do less is more. I don't mean necessarily a limited rock scape with lots of open sand/water - rather the limited use of a few focus corals/sessile inverts which are allowed to blanket the entire tank.
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