AI-Generated Aquascapes: The Future of Aquarium Design
The intersection of technology and aquarium keeping has produced an exciting innovation: AI-generated aquascapes. This revolutionary new approach leverages emerging technologies to help aquascapers create easy to build, true-to-form layouts that are both visually stunning and aesthetically balanced.
The introduction of AI to aquascaping will not only streamline the design process but also make it more accessible to hobbyists by providing access to free, one-of-a-kind designs for a wide range of contemporary and classic styles. As this technology evolves, it promises to expand the creative possibilities of aquascaping, bringing more styles and enabling more people to create beautiful, living aquatic environments.
What does it take to re-create a generated aquascape?
To get to a good start, you should have an understanding of the basics of aquascaping – lighting, fertilizers, substrate, water parameters, and the use of CO2. There are plenty of resources across the internet to help with these topics, and understanding them isn’t difficult. A general familiarity with aquatic plant species will help.
Now, you probably won’t be able to create an exact duplicate of your generated aquascape. In fact, you shouldn’t even try. Like many things in the aquarium hobby, perfection is usually not necessary and is rarely even desirable. Your planted tank won’t fail if the temperature if one degree off of your target, the pH is 0.5 off from what you’re aiming for or your light cycle varies by an hour per day from what your favorite YouTuber recommends. And it won’t fail if you have to improvise slightly.
Due to the creative nature of both AI and the way natural materials are formed, you probably won’t be able to find pieces of driftwood, hardscape or plants that look EXACTLY like what you see. You may get an something that looks difficult to re-create – maybe a cluster of plants looks hard to interpret or the hardscape looks like it will be a bit of a challenge to build. The trick here is to interpret the groups of aquascape elements presented merely as a visual guide to be used to create an overall aesthetic. If you like the look in general, you can bring it to life.
If you don’t like the scape that popped up, just hit the Generate button again. All you really need to do to get started is acquire plants and hardscape materials that approximately match the those of your generated image and are the appropriate size for the aquarium being scaped.
What to Expect When Aquascaping with AI
AI is still in its early stages and it may generate things that may look just a little bit off or be tricky to re-create as shown. Your generated aquascape isn’t a blueprint to be adhered to without the slightest deviation, but a source of inspiration that can readily be made in to a real-world show piece.
To really get the most out of your generated image, you have to understand that AI doesn’t really understand what plants/aquascapes/hardscapes are. It is simply using an input (implemented by the website) to create a result that matches what it was told and what it “thinks” it knows. When you look at a generated layout, you can can see that it hasn’t selected species of plants from a database and arranged them into the selected style, even if the result does indeed look that way.
It’s up to you, the aquascaper, to decide what plants would best match what’s depicted. It’s not hard – the generator does a pretty good job at creating elements that look like the real thing. All you have to do is decide which plants are a good match. If you feel a bit intimidated, don’t worry. There is more info below on how to tackle this.
How do I know what plants to use for my generated aquascape?
Remember that AI doesn’t intrinsically understand what plants are. But that’s ok – while it didn’t select specific species of plants to use, just about everything it comes up with has a real-world approximation that can be used to create a planted tank that looks at least as good as what you made on the generation page.
Do your research. Good places to start are established online sellers with a wide variety of inventory. They can even help you find the best matches from what they have in stock. This will allow you to make more informed decisions regarding plant selection and compatibility, significantly reducing the trial and error often associated with aquascaping. Online marketplaces such as Etsy and eBay also have a wide variety of options. Don’t be afraid to ask vendors to recommend items from their inventory that conforms to what you need as closely as they can - just be sure to include your generated aquascape and the size of the aquarium you plan on scaping. This way, you’ll be able to find an appropriate stand-in that won’t throw off the overall aesthetic. Don’t be afraid to improvise or deviate. You can take some artistic license without compromising the final result.
Sourcing Hardscape Materials
You can absolutely find the right pieces that will allow you to maintain the aesthetic properties of your scape while maintaining the depicted composition. It’s just a matter of finding pieces of approximating color, shape and size to make it look right for the size of your tank. The only right answer is the one that looks right to you. There are a couple options for you here:
The first is finding a reputable online seller – there are plenty of vendors online selling hardscape materials. Message them with your scape to see if they have pieces that will work in your setup. If they won’t, look for another seller. Just be sure to include the size of your aquarium so they can select pieces that are compatible with your planned set-up. There are lots of vendors who will be more than happy to work with you in exchange for a sale and a good review.
The other (less suitable) option is collecting from nature – be careful with this! Collecting from even from public places may violate local laws. Collecting from private property without permission is obviously the wrong answer. You are responsible for knowing from where you legally can and can’t take collect. Research, understand and respect local laws. I say just skip the unnecessary risk and buy from a reputable online seller. If they refuse your request to accommodate your particular needs, keep looking.
Improvising
You don’t have to re-create every detail with painstaking accuracy to end up with a centerpiece-worthy scape. Try seeing the image as just showing individual groups of plants and pieces of hardscape. You can then fill those groups with plants that either match as closely as possible, or ones that just match your taste. For example, does your aquascape have too much green for you? Swap out one or more groups for some red plants. Too many grassy-looking plants? Substitute ones with different leaf shapes. Maybe your scape would be improved if you used Seiryu stone instead of the dark brown rocks that popped up.
The point is, you can make changes to suit your taste while maintaining the pre-defined look of your generated aquascape. The only limits are your imagination and creativity. All that matters is that it looks good to you and you enjoy the process.
Tips to Succeed When Planning Your Generated Aquascape
Starting a new aquascaping project is an exciting venture, filled with both challenges and opportunities for creativity. Here are some tips to guide you through the process:
- Research thoroughly: Before diving into your generated aquascape, spend time researching plant species, to ensure they will all be suitable for the environment you intend to provide. Knowledge is key to preventing common pitfalls and ensuring the health of your aquatic ecosystem.
- Be patient and persistent: Aquascaping can be a test of patience. Plants take time to grow. Achieving the right balance in your aquarium doesn't happen overnight. Use a little trial and error, and don't get discouraged by setbacks.
- Don’t sweat the small stuff: You’ll only drive yourself crazy. Due to the creative nature of AI and the way natural materials are formed, you would be hard-pressed find rocks of the exact same shape and color as the ones in your image, in a size that perfectly matches the size of the tank you’re working with. And you don’t have to. The same applies to plant selection. In this hobby, perfection is rarely required or even beneficial. It’s best to just seek out pieces that are reasonably close to your image and place them in accordance to your layout.
Leveraging AI with Awareness
AI can generate unlimited unique layout ideas. It can create different hardscape arrangements and plant combinations according to different design languages, giving artistic assistance to those without an artistic eye (like me). To overcome the aforementioned challenges, beginners can adopt several strategies when using artificial intelligence as a tool for aquascaping:
- Use your generated image as inspiration, not instruction: View your generated image as a springboard for ideas, not an instruction manual. Analyze it and figure out what specific plant or piece of hardscape most closely matches what’s depicted. How are the individual elements spaced? What plants available in the hobby best match the height, leaf shape and colors shown? Will it really matter if you pick a plant that doesn’t perfectly match what’s in your generated image (a particularly important consideration when it shows something that just doesn’t have an exact real-world analogy)? It’s up to you to select plants that look right to you and livestock that can thrive in the environment you provide.
- Educate yourself: Understanding the growth habits and needs of your potential flora, and how they come together to make an aquascape will help you make informed decisions about what to include or exclude.
- Adapt and modify: Be prepared to adapt AI suggestions to fit your tank's capacity and ability to accommodate plants of various sizes. Use your design as a starting point and modify them based on what's practical and available. By selecting your plants appropriately, your generated layout can be scaled to fit just about any size setup. For example, that Anubias Nana Petite that looks good in a 10-gallon Nature setup is probably too small to look right in a 75-gallon one.
- Iterate and evolve: Treat your aquascape as an experiment and learning opportunity. Don't be afraid to make changes to your layout as you learn what works and what doesn’t.
- Ensuring compatibility: In order to create a thriving underwater ecosystem, one must choose plants that are compatible with each other. Fortunately, this generally doesn’t require any special effort beyond general plant selection. With a very few exceptions, most plants will get along just fine with most plants just fine as long as your husbandry is on point. There are a few species that require highly specialized conditions, but they are few and far between and they likely won’t be a strong visual match for anything depicted in your generated image.
Check out Part II for more tips on aquascaping with IntelliQuarium and a breakdown of the title aquascape.