The idea of building such "apartments for fish" came from the fact that fish like to gather around reefs and ship wrecks, where they can find food, such as sea weeds and smaller sea creatures. In these reefs and wrecks they also can find protection from danger-fish bigger than they are. The most common artificial reef resembles a huge hollow block, 18 cubic meters in size.
人類很早就發現礁石、沈船、堤岸或漂浮物附近的海底，常聚集較多的魚群，因為這些地方會附著生長各種藻類與浮游生物，可供應魚群豐富的食物，並供給許多弱小魚類棲息和避難的場所。