Form or function: Do you consider your rock work to be art or the platform for your coral?

[Peace River]

Form or function: Do you consider your rock work to be art or the platform for your coral?

It is the old form-or-function question. Some reef keepers think about their rock work as primarily for the utility that the structure provides as a foundation for corals realizing that much of the rock work will eventually be covered anyway. In contrast, other reef keepers think about the placement of their rock work as an artistic endeavor whether it be for the initial aquascape or for the future artwork of the coral covered and encrusted future state. What about you – do you consider your rock work to be art or the platform for your coral (or somewhere in between)? Please let us know your perspective about this topic in the related R2R thread!

Photo by @xellos88


This QOTD is sponsored by: www.worldwidecorals.com

“We differentiate ourselves from other vendors by offering our customers full transparency into our facility and practices. Setting the industry standard for shipping techniques, accurate high-quality photos, hard to find corals, and customer service. For some hobbyists buying live coral online can seem like a risky endeavor. At WWC our staff takes the worry out of the equation by culturing extremely healthy corals, giving you a hassle-free guarantee, and providing you with a full online customer service team to ensure you are completely satisfied with your purchase.”

 

[twentyleagues]

I said other as I also want habitat for the fish.

 

[ChrisfromBrick]

I consider it also a vital filter and home to food sources for the fish

 

[sfin52]

I said other as I also want habitat for the fish.

Thats missing in the art look.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Mine have been the building block for my corals

 

[Reefer Matt]

I consider the rock to be the canvas for the art, which is the coral. The fish also add texture and dimension. The tank is the frame for the art.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

I consider the rock to be the canvas for the art, which is the coral. The fish also add texture and dimension. The tank is the frame for the art.

This is my exact thinking for this question as well

 

[Sean_B]

"comfort zones" for the tank inhabitants takes priority for me, aesthetics and coral platforms are not distant seconds
the beauty is, everyone's tank is unique

 

[IntrinsicReef]

I said other as I also want habitat for the fish.

I think this isn't considered enough. Fish naturally want to hide and sleep in the rocks. I think the limited spots to retreat in a minimalist aquascape might cause some extra stress within the fish community.

 

[MattPLaw]

I adopted my tank and it came with the rock work. I can't wait to start my first aquarium from scratch and do the rockwork in a beautiful way. I will definitely need help, I have an engineer's eye for design, but still excited!

 

[LPS Bum]

I wish I was creative enough to call it art. In reality, I have 2 large rock islands with a big swim through in between, and lots of deep caves for the fish to hide in. Perfect for fish and coral habitats. It looks good covered in corals, but I wouldn't call it art.

 

[Reef Puncher]

Both art and spots! My first tank and I wish I had done even more aquascaping

 

[Waters]

All of the above...that is the difficulty in creating the perfect scape. You want it to look good, give you place to mount coral, and still provide a suitable habitat for whatever organisms you keep. A lot of scapes will lean towards one side or the other, which means something suffers.

 

[tharbin]

I had to vote other as I view my rock work as primarily bio-filtration, then fish habitat, then coral habitat and lastly and least of all art.

 

[ChrisfromBrick]

I consider the rock to be the canvas for the art, which is the coral. The fish also add texture and dimension. The tank is the frame for the art.

well said

 

[MoshJosh]

I want the rock work to look good on it's own but it must also offer plenty of mounting space for corals. . . that is the goal anyway.

 

[Formulator]

The tank as a whole is a piece of art. The rock work, coral, and substrate need to work together to create a beautiful aquascape. Yes, I think substrate is a big part of it and have never liked bare bottom tanks. No offense, just my personal preference. I like to see the glimmer of my halide lights sparkling on the white sand and purposefully designed my scape as 2 islands of rock/coral with bare sand space in the center to give depth and the aforementioned glimmer effect.

 

[AtlantiCat]

Mine is from Tampa Bay, so it came in as already living works of art. Adding corals is just adding to the artwork. I sometimes get lost in the intricacies of the rockwork itself and although I love my corals, I will be a bit sad when they cover it all.

 

[KrisReef]

I have a friend who is a sculptor and I have enough respect for good art to know that my rock work doesn't qualify as art, sadly.

Some of the tanks people post on here might make the cut?

 

[brian.o.howell]

It’s my first tank and tried to keep fish in mind when building the aquascape but also wanted it to look good. It’s also has plenty of room for some corals.