Aquascaping

[amir cherni]

[maru]

Rendering an aquarium is one of my dreams since a very long time. :) This opens so many possibilities - scatters, SSS, caustics,...
Just one note: shouldn't an aquarium so big show a little bit of blue hue in the absorption/scattering of the water?

[amir cherni]

in fact in real life it depend on two factors :
- the quantity of fine debris / dust in the water
- the color of the used lighting system

water with particle will reflect / scatter a lot more light than a pure water   ( simulated by an sss effect ) 
blue lights are generally used for saltwater aquarium to reproduce the absorption capacity of the sea water and the look of a relatively deep water for reef fishes and corals .
for aquascaping the rules are different since in that kind of tank we keep live  freshwater plants that require almost a full range spectrum lighting with a range from warm white to a slightly pink color  so in this kind of tank the blue is banned since it's not supporting the growth of the differents plants.
particles are not very present in that kind of tank for many reasons :
- generally we use a very powerful filtration ( more than 5 time the gross capacity of the tank  / hour ) = we can reach a crystal clear water ( except the feeding time )
- we don't use fine soil to ensure a good nutrient circulation for the plant's roots = a very low amount of dust after the initial filtration cycle
let talk 3d now
i totally agree that it will look better with caustics and a slight sss effect   I will try to render it again  with some tweaks :)