The crypt

Ardeus · May 29, 2018

I have been making videos with all types of layouts, but one of them couldn't get out of my head.

I have been fighting the idea of setting up another tank to bring that layout to life and fortunately I found a way to avoid it: a new series of aquascaping videos where I plan to follow the virtual life of this reef tank and explore the live part of the aquascaping: corals and fish.

I know I am just starting, but just like with any other tank, I hope I can continue to keep this tank alive for years.

Dsnakes · May 30, 2018

Awesome! I can’t wait to see more of it.

revhtree · May 30, 2018

Oh very cool!

Ardeus · Jun 1, 2018

Initial discussion about design techniques to help with the selection of corals and their placement.

CDavmd · Jun 1, 2018

Very cool (and extremely useful info)!

Ardeus · Jun 1, 2018

Thanks. I am planning on following this tank like a real one in real time. So the ricordeas will start to grow and spread in a couple of months.

I am still deciding on the fish population. Money is not an issue in this tank :)

Ardeus · Jun 4, 2018

My PC is still rendering the animations but hopefully tomorrow the next video will be ready.

I need suggestions for interesting cryptic fish. I already have 2 in there but I need more. I prefer small fish that live well in pairs or small groups. Shy fish must go first.

Ardeus · Jun 5, 2018

The first fish are in and are adjusting well :)

OriginalUserName · Jun 6, 2018

Awesome videos man!

Ardeus · Jun 6, 2018

Thanks. I am spending more time with this tank than with my real one... signs of the times :)

I am now putting 1 more coral e 5 more fish.

Ardeus · Jun 6, 2018

I already began rendering the animation and I reduced the new fish from 5 to 3. I don't like crowded tanks.

But as the tank gets busier, the animations take longer to render. It's going to take days. I wish I had another computer just to help with the rendering. Right now my pc is rendering 12 images per hour...

Ardeus · Jun 9, 2018

More fish and corals.

From now on, the updates are going to take a bit longer, because I will make a change in the lighting that will make the computer take longer to render the images.

NY_Caveman · Jun 9, 2018

Ardeus said:
More fish and corals.

From now on, the updates are going to take a bit longer, because I will make a change in the lighting that will make the computer take longer to render the images.

You are going to need a dedicated system as this grows. To be honest, it sounds like it already is.

Ardeus · Jun 9, 2018

I am the dedicated system, I am spending far more time with this tank than with the tank in my living room. My computer is also working 24/7 on these animations.

I have been faking the light shimmering by having the light projecting a film of something similar to the water ripples over the tank.

Over the last few days I have been tinkering with a real physics rendering system that sends photons out of the light and calculates what happens as they hit the water surface. This of course takes much more time.

I haven't tested any animation with this system and it often turns out that the real physics approach results is worst than the fake ones.

NY_Caveman · Jun 9, 2018

I can understand that and I think the current shimmer works well. The real challenge is the time and patience required to see new innovations after rendering.

I am curious about how the growth progresses. Are growth patterns programmed into the system, is there some large Monte Carlo type system running or are you calculating them personally? How is chance involved? For example 1/x chance you get ich, nuisance algae or a heater failure. Perhaps the beauty of a virtual system is you can just make it 100% free of failure.

Ardeus · Jun 9, 2018

I am just having fun with the whole thing so I am not sure how will this will unfold.

I will be making everything grow by hand. When a coral grows, I have to change it. Small polyps of ricordeas will start to appear in a month or so.

I am not sure I will have bad things happen. It's good storytelling, educational and it helps the viewers to relate more to the videos. On the other hand, why would I want something bad to happen to my tank and put lots of effort into making it happen?

I just finished working on the lighting video and it allowed me to make a completely different kind of video that was great fun. When I run out of ideas on how to have fun with positive stuff, I may be more tempted to look into all kind of disasters.

Ardeus · Jun 10, 2018

Here it is: probably the best reef light in the world.

Muttley000 · Jun 10, 2018

These videos are absolutely amazing! Thank you for sharing them with us and looking forward to the next!

Ardeus · Jun 10, 2018

Thanks for watching!

I will be using this "light" from now on, which means that videos are going to take a little longer to render are will be coming out at a slower pace.

I am in this for the long run, so maybe that's a good thing.