Less species and colors = greater visual impact?

[Raul-7]

This is not meant to bash anyone's style, but rather a discussion.

I've studied freshwater aquascaping for a long time and one common theme I remember is to use less species of plants and limit the amount of colors used. I believe this is also big concept in all forms of design like branding, website design, interior design, etc.

Do you think this rule applies to reef aquariums as well? Would sticking to 3-4 colors and less shapes [SPS vs LPS vs Softies, etc] provide a greater visual impact [ie. less is more]?

 

[Waters]

It can....just depends on what looks appealing to you. Some like a mix of as many colors and species as possible while others like more of a species tank with one or two different species of fish and coral. They both work IMO. That also applies to freshwater with Dutch style aquascaping vs more of a natural environment.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Interesting question. I really think it depends on the person. Some people might want a wide range of colors in their tanks, while others want to stick with just a few colors.

 

[Hooz]

I've been pondering this a bit myself. I have a Nuvo 10g that I am converting to SPS only and, even more specifically, Acropora Tenuis only. The aquascape I have is setup pretty well to place 4-5 frags that can grow out into softball-ish sized colonies.

I had two thoughts initially... Several frags of one coral in a "showpiece" tank, or 4-5 drastically different ones to get the widest range of colors I could get in there. Both approaches appealed to me for different reasons, but I think I'm going to go with different corals in a wide range of colors.

The tank will be on the desk in my home office. Since I work from home 4 days a week, it'll mostly be for my own viewing enjoyment.

 

[Raul-7]

Torben's reef executes this concept really well; he created groups of the same species together which looks a lot more harmonious and pleasing to the eye.

 

[Reefkeepers Archive]

I don't do it intentionally, though I always feel like I can only get my hands on green coral

 

[Ryebreadiest]

It’s an interesting concept, and one I’ve considered myself coming from high tech fw planted tanks. I actually almost went with something like this for my recent tank upgrade but ultimately I had too many random corals that would have to rehomed.

I was going to pick 6-7 specific varieties of coral and have them throughout the tank. Imagine a sloping triangle layout with alternating colonies of like garf bonsai and a pink milli, with 4 or 5 clumps of Rasta zoas underneath. Essentially “planted” like I would a planted tank. It would make the layout look more cohesive and less of the 1-off look most of us have.

Torben's reef executes this concept really well; he created groups of the same species together which looks a lot more harmonious and pleasing to the eye.

This reminds me more of a zoo organized by primates, reptiles, etc than a formal garden with repeating and cohesive compositions.

 

[Raul-7]

I agree whole heartily. One major problem I see with current reef aquascaping is that, while the rock structure might be strong, the overall picture is ruined with the 1 off-grouping of different species of coral. This often creates a salad of different corals with no thought into composition and color co-ordination.

But I do not understand the criticism of Torben's reef. Can you explain it better?

 

[WheatToast]

This is not meant to bash anyone's style, but rather a discussion.

I've studied freshwater aquascaping for a long time and one common theme I remember is to use less species of plants and limit the amount of colors used. I believe this is also big concept in all forms of design like branding, website design, interior design, etc.

Do you think this rule applies to reef aquariums as well? Would sticking to 3-4 colors and less shapes [SPS vs LPS vs Softies, etc] provide a greater visual impact [ie. less is more]?

Reminds me of tropical and coldwater planted marine tanks, which are often limited to colors such as green, red, golden-brown, and grey. I enjoy this minimalist approach in terms of aesthetics: