# Documentary on multies



## Ardeus (Oct 17, 2005)

1st episode of 7: 




Press the "CC" button on youtube to enable the english subtitles.


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## Rick_Lindsey (Aug 26, 2002)

Woot! I've been waiting for brother fish for a long time . Too bad I'm at work and can't watch it till I get home!

-Rick (the armchair aquarist)


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## Cajen (Mar 16, 2012)

This comes up as a private video. :-?


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## Ardeus (Oct 17, 2005)

Sorry about that.

I'm sending the film to a few festivals and one of the requirements of some of them is that the video hasn't been publicly shown before.

But just send me the email from your youtube account and I will add it to the permissions so you can see it.


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## Cajen (Mar 16, 2012)

Very cool. Ii will need to watch it at least twice since the iPad version of YouTube did not have cc option, Darn 

He needs some buddies and partner(s), I suppose later segments he will get some company? Yes, you are right, strange little film, but nice cinematography, nice focal points throughout, love the timenlapse segments.... Little guy had to get tuckered out hahaha

Will you let us (me) know when you have another segment? Thanks for sharing.


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## Ardeus (Oct 17, 2005)

Hi there!

You need to see it with the subtitles because there's a story there 

And it's a "she" (a young female) and she's the narrator or the whole 7 episodes.

At the end of this episode you can see a shell suspended in the water again, like at the beginning of the film. She's getting company 

I already finished the 7 episodes, for the exception of the soundtrack for the episodes 3,4,5,6 and 7. I expect to be able to upload the 2nd episode in the next week.

Once again, if anyone wants to watch the film, just send me the email associated with your youtube account and I will add it to the permissions.


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## Ardeus (Oct 17, 2005)

I got fed up with some festival's rules and decided to put the video public again, as it should.

Here it is:











I know the translation is not good, so if anyone notices something that should be improved, please tell me.


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## Cajen (Mar 16, 2012)

:thumb: opcorn: :thumb:

This is a kool little film... I absolutely enjoyed it. Worth a watch!


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## madmort0 (Oct 29, 2011)

ok. im ready for part two....


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## Cajen (Mar 16, 2012)




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## skwerl (Mar 2, 2011)

I'm finished with part 1. Ready for part 2 also. opcorn:


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## Ardeus (Oct 17, 2005)

I'm only working on the sound. But I don't like some parts of the soundtrack I did for this episode very much. I think I'm going to try to re-use parts of the soundtrack I used on the 1st chapter and see if it fits.

I also had the 1st chapter professionally translated. Much, much better. I alreaded replace it on youtube. Thanks for watching, I expect to be able to upload the 2nd episode soon.


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## madmort0 (Oct 29, 2011)

i cant wait.


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## madmort0 (Oct 29, 2011)

ok. i guess i can wait..LOL


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## Ardeus (Oct 17, 2005)

Hi there. I am away and althouth the 2nd and 3rd episodes are already translated, i can only upload them in 10 days.


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## skwerl (Mar 2, 2011)

Yay! Let the countdown begin!


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## madmort0 (Oct 29, 2011)

6


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## triscuit (May 6, 2005)

Ardeus said:


> I got fed up with some festival's rules and decided to put the video public again, as it should.


It is currently listed as a private video...


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## TF Steve (Nov 21, 2011)

Ardeus said:


> Hi there. I am away and althouth the 2nd and 3rd episodes are already translated, i can only upload them in 10 days.


Hi Ardeus, I'd love to see the first video but it's still listed as private. Do you know when it will be changed to public?


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## Ardeus (Oct 17, 2005)

Hi!

Sorry for the late reply. I was away and without net for a week. The videos will be on Vimeo from now on.

I had the first 3 episodes translated and I will upload the 2nd episode in the next days.

The first episode is here: 



 (password: pemba)

The translation on this link is still my own, so it's not that good.


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## Ardeus (Oct 17, 2005)

Here's the (dark) 2nd episode: 



 (password: mbita)

In the 3rd episode, the mood lightens up.


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## madmort0 (Oct 29, 2011)

Thanks a lot!


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## madmort0 (Oct 29, 2011)

I really enjoyed that. Are you putting the third episode on soon? I cant wait! How long has this project been going on? i liked the dog in the second episode.LOL.


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## madmort0 (Oct 29, 2011)

I hate to even ask but im going to have to. How long does it take to translate an episode? Because if the fourth fifth and sixth episodes are not translated i may be in the middle of one nasty lesson in patience.


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## Ardeus (Oct 17, 2005)

It's great that you're enjoying it that much 

Here's the link to the third: 



 (password: moliro)

I haven't the translations for the episodes 4 - 7 yet. And I haven't recorded their soundtrack either.

I will try to see if the muses help me this weekend with the soundtrack for the forth episode. 

I am paying for the translations a fair amount of money and odds are that I will never get it back. But when I finish an episode I am usually very enthusiastic and at that time all caution goes out the window and I rather risk starving than having a mediocre translation done by myself.


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## madmort0 (Oct 29, 2011)

Please don't starve. but i do't mind you being a little hungry.LOL


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## skwerl (Mar 2, 2011)

Thank you for sharing these with us. I too laugh when I see the dog. He deserves a mention in the credits.


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## UNIDEKE (Apr 15, 2012)

Great! I watched the first a month or mor ago and anxiously awaited the others. Very well done, looking forward to the others! What are your plans for this series?


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## Ardeus (Oct 17, 2005)

I'm not sure if I will be out of work soon, so maybe I will end up really being a little hungry 

The dog is always around on the 4th episode too 

I don't think this is tv appropriate. For people that don't have a particular interest in this fish, it may be boring, especially the 1st episode. Maybe I shouldn't have started with a single fish in tank.

So, I will be surprised if I manage to get any sort of return on the investment.

Don't get me wrong, I really wanted to do this for a long time and I am quite happy with what I did. But I would like to do more and I can't persuade myself to invest money and a tremendous amount of work again without any sort of return.

But I would like to do a series with more species instead of just one. And instead of the sea it would be great to have an African background. I have a friend in South Africa that has a family of Meerkats living right in front of his porch. How great would that be?

And the idea would be to end that series returning the fish to Lake Tanganyika. Pemba is always very nostalgic about the "Great Lake" (which she never met). It would be a great way to end the sequel, having 1 or 2 episodes that cover the fish adaptation to the wild. I wonder what words would come out of Pemba's mouth in these last episodes? 

I also have plans for another documentary with multies. This would require filming the fish for 2 years and the result would be a single 50 minutes film about overcrowding.

John B. Calhoun wrote in the 70s about studies he'd conducted that looked at how mice would react when "overcrowded". Since his utopias often turned ugly, he (and many others) extrapolated the results to humans, giving density a bad name. A discussion on this experiment can be found here: http://www.cabinetmagazine.org/issues/42/wiles.php

This documentary would follow an experiment that replicates what John B. Calhoun did with mice, but intead of mice, we would follow a social fish: Neolamprologus multifasciatus. But instead of giving it a "scientif experiment" feel, I would like to still keep it personal, because I think Pemba's speech would also continue to work very well in this situation.

But I am fed up of working all by myself on these things, it would be great to work with someone else who was also passionate about it.


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## Darkskies (Mar 17, 2012)

Ardeus said:


> I'm not sure if I will be out of work soon, so maybe I will end up really being a little hungry
> 
> The dog is always around on the 4th episode too
> 
> ...


For what it's worth, your english is very good! I'm sure it wouldn't be a problem at all if you were to translate the episodes yourself(and save money on it).


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## Ardeus (Oct 17, 2005)

Thanks but I am aware of my limitations and English is not my native language.

The reason I am paying for the translations is because the guy who's translating is really good, I think he is a very good writer. When I read his translations I immediatly see how much better his translations are and think the money is well spent.


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## Dawg2012 (May 10, 2012)

So... I watched the first episode. As I was at work, kinda in the middle of my day, and I'm kind of an action loving person - and I was bored. It seemed to really... drag on... and was reeeeally slow.

Very artful, and interesting camera work... just slooooow.

BUT... as I was just about to give up, the first episode came to a close... and now I see, it was to a large degree, all about setting things up for the second episode. Totally hooked me and now I will definitely check out #2 very soon.

... and now I have to say, nice work! And great job in hooking the watcher for the next episode... just like the season finale of a good t.v. show this one left me hanging in anticipation


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## Ardeus (Oct 17, 2005)

I knew I had around 3 hours of film ahead, so I indulged myself with a slow start too much. The film really drags.

There are many things that are responsible for that.

There's just 1 fish. It's 24 minutes with just 1 fish. It's impossible not to be slow. And because I was doing a series I couldn't make the 1st episode just 5 minutes as it should. All episodes needed to be the same length.

I was going to film multies, and no matter how much I love them, I knew they are not the prettiest creatures on Earth.

I was expecting the film to be visually uninteresting. Sand, shells, brown fish... I was expecting the film be sustained by the action. But Pemba did not even like to dig.

On the other hand, I was taken by surprise when I did the first tests with the cameras looking at the empty tank. You know that some people don't look that good, but look great on photos? This tank was like that. The tank was ugly, really ugly.

But the shots looked great and they had a "zen" feel to it, very very relaxing to look at. And to make things worse, I tried a relaxation soundtrack that worked really well with the video.

So I felt like I was doing a meditative, contemplative video. At the time, because I was extremely stressed, that felt good. I even edited the video to those oriental songs, like I was doing a music video. I had no narration written at that time, I did not even had the idea of having all the talking done by Pemba.

I still have that version with the oriental music and without voice and like it a lot, but I would have copyright problems so I had to write music myself. The teaser still has part of one of those oriental songs:






If you look at the first episode as a contemplative, instrospective film, it works very well for that purpose, I think. But if you start watching it expecting the rythm of a documentary, it will fail your expectations.

I finished the 4th episode and it's first one that I don't feel that it's too slow.


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## Dawg2012 (May 10, 2012)

Thank You for some insight into the story behind the story 

In reading through your response, I thought several times about the scene behind the tank, and how somehow it fit, looking out at the... ocean? And the trees... And the dog... It all went into the feel of the scene, and wouldn't have been the same without those aspects.

Also watching I kept seeing the little pieces of debris floating around in the current on the sand. That for me, in hindsight, was meditative/contemplative. Very simple... and seemed to echo Pemba's words and the mood of that first episode.

And I think yeah - the title being "Documentary... " set my expectations differently.

I'm on board now - and will say again, very nice job! =D>


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## Ardeus (Oct 17, 2005)

Thanks, I thought it was just me that liked the debris occasionally passing by 

I'm cutting the narration of the 5th episode. I recorded it all in one take without any sync with the video. And most of the time she did more than one take of each line.

The 5th and 6th episodes are the ones that justify the title of the series. Very violent.

I'm going to rework the 7th episode because I found some footage I had lost. And I haven't written the narration for that one.


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## TF Steve (Nov 21, 2011)

Lovin' it! Thanks for sharing your work with us.


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## Ardeus (Oct 17, 2005)

You're welcome  I'm glad to share these films with people that love these little guys.


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## Gags (Mar 23, 2012)

Nice work Ardews
How was film festival response ?


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## Ardeus (Oct 17, 2005)

I applied to around a dozen festivals. I haven't recieved any feedback yet.

I only sent the first episode and I think it is too slow to have any real chance. And animal themed films are usually not popular in the festivals.

I saw the 4th episode today and I like it. In a week I expect to receive the translation and upload it.

Tomorrow I expect to start working on the soundtrack of the 5th episode. It gets tougher and tougher. More themes, more instruments, more action, more fish...


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## Gags (Mar 23, 2012)

Keep up mate...


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## Dawg2012 (May 10, 2012)

Gags said:


> Keep up mate...


 :thumb:

p.s. I just got some Multies, about 3 weeks ago. I don't exactly look at them the same after watching just the first episode lol.


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## Ardeus (Oct 17, 2005)

I sometimes look at them and I find myself thinking "were you the ones in the films? did that happen?". Unfortunatly now I can only recognize 1 of them.

And I'm absolutely sure I couldn't have made these films with any other species instead.

I did a recut of the 5th episode and I also finished the soundtrack. I also sent it to be translated.

I'm already doing a recut of the 6th episode, I need to trim 5 minutes, so that its length fall within 25 minutes.


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## Ardeus (Oct 17, 2005)

By the way, I can tell you that the 6th chapter has some of the most interesting behaviors in the whole series. I can't wait to show you guys.

Some things are very unexpected and the way they created a turning point in the story is really amazing. Without going too much into spoilers, I can tell you that they go through a ritual that I've never seen before and never heard about. These are really noble and unique fish.


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## madmort0 (Oct 29, 2011)

This is one of my fav. threads so far.lol . i appreciate your work and time spent on this project.


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## genecr (May 29, 2012)

keep walking dude.
the best documendary for lake tanganyika I have ever seen....


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## Ardeus (Oct 17, 2005)

Thanks for the incentive. Genecr, I noticed you are in Greece. One of the festivals I submitted the first episode was in Thessaloniki.

I expect to start reworking the 7th chapter today.


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## genecr (May 29, 2012)

Ardeus said:


> Genecr, I noticed you are in Greece. One of the festivals I submitted the first episode was in Thessaloniki.


Nice. 
I hope they respond.
Although I live in Athens, I know that Thessaloniki has many tanganyika's lovers who will appreciate your work.


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## cichnatic (May 11, 2012)

Thank you for your work on the videos. As a multies owner, I love watching pictures and video clips of these fascinating little cichlids. Looking forward to the 4th episode.

Awesome job! :thumb:


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## Ardeus (Oct 17, 2005)

Thanks!

I'm now waiting for the translations of the 4th and 5th episodes. They're ready to go.

I found over 20 hours of footage I had completely forgotten about. They were shot a few months after the last fish entered the tank.

So now I'm recutting the last episode. I'm hoping that in a week I will have the whole thing finished.

I'm thinking about doing a short book about the series, with stills from the films, quotes from Pemba and my own comments.

Only then I will try to take all the 7 films and make a single 50 minutes film.


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## Ardeus (Oct 17, 2005)

I'm uploading the 4th episode with subtitles now:


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## Storiwyr (Apr 24, 2012)

Yay!!! I'm so excited!


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## Ardeus (Oct 17, 2005)

This episode is just the preparation for the storm of the 5th episode


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## UNIDEKE (Apr 15, 2012)

Another great episode! You have done a great job! Thanks for sharing these!


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## madmort0 (Oct 29, 2011)

I havent qatche dthe new episode yet but im super overly excited.i just got home from work and its like payday except no money and a fish video instead.


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## madmort0 (Oct 29, 2011)

Ok. that was the biggest fish cliffhanger ever. I like that one a lot and i feel bad for the little guy. LOL. A much faster pace and much more going on. I am super stoked for the next episode. I also think that these fish are pretty interesting. i have never seen shelldwellers with my own eyes before these. How long was it from start to where we are now? And why again did you make this? was it just an idea that popped into your head and you followed thru with?


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## Ardeus (Oct 17, 2005)

Thanks 

I remember watching the National Geographic doc and feeling desappointed. I knew all these animals had amazing stories to tell and I found the whole thing a bit shallow.

So, a few years ago I had the idea of doing one myself as a series. I had seen Meerkat manor, a doc series that follows a family of meerkats and they had given each one a name. I thought that was the way to go. And my initial thought was to focus on multies, but also have more species: brevis, ocellatus, alto's sumbu and buescheri.

I don't remember why I had the idea of bringing one fish at a time, but that ended up having some important consequences on the whole thing.

Each episode corresponds to a week of real time, so I ended up loosing the flexibility to choose the start and ending points for each episode. The fish fortunatly decided to build their own cliffangers.

But the most decisive thing was to have the first episode dealing with just one fish. That ended up making the whole series very difficult to sell, which was my original idea.

I was expecting the films to be ugly, but by chance at that time I was living by te sea. So the first chapter surprised me by having really beautiful images. So I went along with it and made a very contemplative relaxing film. Not good for selling.

I think I only had the idea of having Pemba doing the narration some time after all the shooting had been done. It came out of desperation, because everything else was working miserably with that first episode.

This series ended up very different from what I planned, so I think a proper doc about these fish remains to be done.

The 4th episode shows what happened on week 4.


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## Dawg2012 (May 10, 2012)

Ardeus said:


> Each episode corresponds to a week of real time, so I ended up loosing the flexibility to choose the start and ending points for each episode. The fish fortunatly decided to build their own cliffangers.


WOW! I've only watched the first episode and it seemed sooooo much longer... like six months lol. Wow, only a week. Hmmm...


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## Ardeus (Oct 17, 2005)

The film is slow and the narration makes things look like a really long time.

But Pemba was alone and when you are alone time seems to pass by slowly. So I tried to make it feel like years have passed.


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## Dawg2012 (May 10, 2012)

You nailed it . I have to make time to catch up on episodes 2 through 4.

I have Multies at home. I've only had them maybe 5 weeks. I look at them and wonder... just what am I in for lol.


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## Ardeus (Oct 17, 2005)

You have to watch the 7episodes to have a clear idea of what to expect.

I put these fish under extreme conditions that didn't help the colony to reach stability.

For one, they had no distractions, so all their emotions and behaviors were amplified. Then they had new fish entering the tank each week. There was no chance that their lives were peaceful, as multies lives should be.

I'm waiting for the translation of the 5th episode and next friday I'm going to record the narration of the last 2 episodes. Then it's time to write the soundtrack for these 2 and the series will be complete.


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## Storiwyr (Apr 24, 2012)

I will cry if any of them die. Just saying.


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## Ardeus (Oct 17, 2005)

I find episodes 5, 6 and 7 very moving, each in its own way. But I think that's because I was very close to these fish, so maybe that's just me.


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## adesh8028 (Feb 4, 2012)

The narration is too good and making it interesting. Especially, the fast paced story with new characters has made it go boom.


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## Ardeus (Oct 17, 2005)

Thanks 

If I have the chance to do the sequel with more species, I will start with more fish.


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## madmort0 (Oct 29, 2011)

new episode tomorrow?


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## Ardeus (Oct 17, 2005)

I don't know. The translator made me a special price based on not having a specific deadline. As soon as I receive it, I will write here. It takes a few hours afterwards to encode the whole thing again and upload it.

Tomorrow I will record the narration of the last 2 chapters and hopefully I can record the 2 soundtracks this weekend. Only then I will send them to be translation.


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## Dawg2012 (May 10, 2012)

I just watched episodes 2 and 3. I can't wait to watch the rest... :drooling:

... and go home and watch my Mutlies lol. The are definitely digging out the shell bed, but I think they are all still juvies and not into spawning - though they are growing 

Thank you very much for sharing with us


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## Storiwyr (Apr 24, 2012)

I got to watch 4 last night. Poor Kiku! Can't wait to see the rest of the series, they really are beautiful and make me thrilled to have my own little Multie colony. Mine are also digging out the shell beds, and a delight to watch!


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## Ardeus (Oct 17, 2005)

Thanks! 

I remember when I first had multies, I ended up watching 90% less tv. They were so interesting to watch that I did not even want any noise.

But now that I have been so close to them for so long, I am curious about similis, a fish I never had. I bet they aren't that much alike like most people say.


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## Floridagirl (Jan 10, 2008)

I enjoyed the human emotion invoked through the Multi interaction. Great work!


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## Ardeus (Oct 17, 2005)

Thanks!

The reason I never felt I was not being honest is because I believe that most of these emotions are not exclusively human.

At some point I even considered not using any narration at all, just music. I thought that getting rid of words would make the viewer closer to know how they feel. I think that the first episode works very well that way.

I will upload 2 versions of the first chapter without any narration and post the links here.


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## Ardeus (Oct 17, 2005)

I think it's better to only post this version after the last episode. I think it could break the flow of the story for you guys.


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## Storiwyr (Apr 24, 2012)

I agree. And I'm with you there. I could be wrong, but as long as you understand the basic behavior of the animal and provide its needs, seeing emotion/personality is both natural and not unfounded. It's been easier for US as a species to believe that animals don't feel emotion, because we're not always so kind to the other living things that share our planet. But sometimes you see animals behave in a way that seems impossible to understand without attributing emotion ...I believe that many animals do have emotions, even if they do experience them and express them differently than we do.


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## Ardeus (Oct 17, 2005)

Yes, you're right. I think the main think that separate our emotions from theirs are the words.

We can put our emotions into words, and we do that constantly, even when we are by ourselves.


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## Ardeus (Oct 17, 2005)

New link for the 4th chapter on vimeo: 



 (password: kiku)

The translator told me he would have the translation of the 5th chapter ready today or tomorrow.

Meanwhile, I already finished the last 2 episodes and the book. I will send the next chapters for translation as soon and I receive the translation of the 5th chapter.


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## Ardeus (Oct 17, 2005)

Here it is the 5th chapter translated: 



 (password: bulu)

The 6th and 7th chapters are ready and in a week I should receive their translations.

The book is also nearly ready. I'm only waiting for the translations of the 6th and 7th chapters because I need some quotes from Pemba for the book.

I already started a really ruthless job: get those 3 hours down to just 50 minutes. It's not easy because the story must have a coherent flow. I'm not as confident as I were before about the 50 minutes single film working.

I'm going to start again but using a different technique. I'm going to edit the text first and only then work with the video.


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## Ardeus (Oct 17, 2005)

Thanks a lot, really, it meant a lot to me, although I only take credit for the work I put into it. The story belongs to the 6 fish, it's not mine. Even the writing, I think it's only residually mine. The story was very clear, from the moment I decided to give the narration to Pemba.

It's the story of 6 fish under less than optimal conditions and lately I've been questioning more and more my role in all of this.

I could have made those fish much happier, but I didn't. I followed the plan I had for the films, disrupting their balance week after week. I even risked their lives, as you can see in this 5th chapter.

I think 99% of the documentaries don't make money, so that's not the reason I did these films. But I would like to make more and better films about cichlids, I already have plans for 2 more projects. So I'm trying to make money with this series, even if the chances are remote. Most people do documentaries because they are passionate about the subject.

These films mean a lot to me and I can't put into words what it means to read your post. It was a very solitary work, so sharing this is very important for me. I now that I'm near the end of the project, I look back and I can't believe the amount of work I put into this.

I finished the 7th chapter recently and I completely threw away any commercial chances for these films out the window with that chapter. But I said good bye to them the way I wanted.

I'm going to watch the film you suggested tonight.


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## madmort0 (Oct 29, 2011)

HECK YA! Im gonna grab a soda and some popcorn and come back to watch the mutch anticipated episode 5!


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## Storiwyr (Apr 24, 2012)

Oh man ... can't wait to get home and watch it!


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## madmort0 (Oct 29, 2011)

Ya. You should speed .LOL. be careful, but drive fast storiwyr.


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## Ardeus (Oct 17, 2005)

I think there are only half a dozen people watching these films, but I find it great that the few of you who watch them are so enthusiastic


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## Ladyfish (Jul 21, 2012)

I just discovered this thread tonight, and thoroughly enjoyed watching the first episode. What a beautiful, engaging little fish! The music was lovely, as was the voice of Pemba. The background was so intriguing; I loved the natural light and the everyday life happening just beyond the "window" of the aquarium. The lighting was really wonderful and at times the shells just glowed. And did I mention how much I loved the music? It was very fitting. And yes it might have been a bit slow in pace at first, but that just made me relax and enjoy. It really pulled me in, so every moment I wondered how Pemba was doing and how she was handling her new environment and the solitude. It was so touching! And the end made me smile. "Someone?" I can't wait to watch the other episodes!

Excellent work. Thank you so much for sharing.


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## Storiwyr (Apr 24, 2012)

OMG they're so good, Ladyfish. Keep watching!


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## Ardeus (Oct 17, 2005)

I am very curious to see how you will react to the 7th chapter 

I wrote 3 hours of music for these films and I think that the 1st and the 7th chapters have the best music and these 2 episodes are also my favorite.

The films increase pace until the 5th chapter and then start decreasing again until the end. I like the slower ones 

Yesterday evening I managed to cut the first 3 chapters. They are now 10 minutes each. Surprisingly the pace is still on the slow side.


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## madmort0 (Oct 29, 2011)

Ugh. waiting on these chapters is like waiting for xmas on xmas eve.


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## Ardeus (Oct 17, 2005)

Just a few more days and the last 2 chapters will be out, probably 1 or 2 days apart. The translator is still working.


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## madmort0 (Oct 29, 2011)

Thanks again ardeus for all your hard work, money and time. and thanks for sharing.


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## Storiwyr (Apr 24, 2012)

madmort0 said:


> Thanks again ardeus for all your hard work, money and time. and thanks for sharing.


+1

We're impatient only because we love them so much!


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## Ardeus (Oct 17, 2005)

Thank YOU for watching 

Today I finished working on the single episode version.

I haven't seen it yet because the computer is still rendering it, but I have the feeling it may not work very well.

This was conceived as a 6 part story that ended up being 7 part because one of the episodes had too much going on. I tried make the whole thing coherent, but it has some flaws. And I feel that 57 minutes in a row is too much.


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## Ardeus (Oct 17, 2005)

I just watched the 57 minutes version. I think it has the whole story there, but it doesn't move me.

It doesn't feel rushed, but you don't get to know the personalities in the same way and therefore, you end up not caring enough for them.

It's more action based and less emotional. The new soundtrack doesn't help the film as much as it helped the other 7, although I followed the same guidelines and used the same instruments and themes for each fish.

But maybe it's easier to watch by a casual viewer because it's not as contemplative and doesn't dwell on Pemba's thoughts as much the other 7 films. I must confess I don't like it very much though.

You haven't seen the ending of the 7th episode yet, but for me it's an appropriate ending for an epic. Sure, I'm biased, but those last minutes really move me. And it's not because I did the film, it's because of what the fish make me feel. Can't wait to show you guys 

I tried to replicate this in the single episode version and it hasn't a tenth of the strength.


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## Storiwyr (Apr 24, 2012)

Can't wait! I know exactly what you mean, though, about format. That's exactly why I prefer a good television series to a movie. You get to know the characters better, and love them more.


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## Shaky (Jan 2, 2003)

ok, the fifth episode's ending was great!


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## Ardeus (Oct 17, 2005)

Meanwhile I had the time to make a trailer for the series:






Spoiler alert: It has a few seconds with images from the last chapter.


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## Ladyfish (Jul 21, 2012)

Wow just watched up till the 5th episode. Really gripping and exciting!!! Wonderful work, truly!


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## Ardeus (Oct 17, 2005)

Thanks Ladyfish 

You watched the 5 of them all in a row???


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## Ladyfish (Jul 21, 2012)

Ardeus said:


> Thanks Ladyfish
> 
> You watched the 5 of them all in a row???


I watched the first chapter a few days ago. But then I watched the next 4 all in a row last night. I just couldn't help it, they were so wonderful and I was so intrigued to find out what would happen next!


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## Ardeus (Oct 17, 2005)

The first one doesn't leave you wanting for more.

From the 2nd on, it has a stronger storyline until the end.


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## Ladyfish (Jul 21, 2012)

Ardeus said:


> The first one doesn't leave you wanting for more.
> 
> From the 2nd on, it has a stronger storyline until the end.


I loved the first episode best I think, as much as the second, because it is all about Pemba.  I thought it was wonderful to spend the entire episode learning about her, exploring her new home, how she feels about being alone. Makes the second episode so much more poignant.

Yes, the storyline is really gripping after the second episode, really could not stop watching; if the 6th had been available, I would have watched that one too! Dying to know what is going to happen!! opcorn:


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## Ardeus (Oct 17, 2005)

I just received the translation for the 6th episode. I'm already working in synchronizing and embedding the subtitles.


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## sunnee1 (May 21, 2010)

I ran across this thread and this film series this evening and watched all five just now. I guess I am captivwted yet, for me it is a bit hard to swallow. I find it disturbing to have deliberately set up to disrupt the fish in such ways. Certainly does bring out emotions I guess I just don't understand the joy in this. I think its devastating and cruel to the fish. These fish have enough drama and kaos I think you could have discovered and exploited without deliberately introducing it thus giving your "work" a documentry heading.. I would call this a drama or horror film-not documentry.


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## Ardeus (Oct 17, 2005)

I think it's surprising that it took so long for someone to point that out.

I had a lot of time to think about that too.

I had multies long before starting the films. My experience was that 6 fish could live happily in a shellbed the size of a sheet of paper. I thought that Moliro would eventually get used to Kiku and let him live at the edge of the shell-bed.

That didn't happen and I couldn't believe that he was chasing him through that whole tank. I decided to intervene, so I placed a few shells in a corner. That was bad for the films because it made me a character also, which was something I didn't want at all.

I'm not sure why Moliro was so aggressive. I never heard of anything like it.

But when I put Bulu there I no longer had hopes that they would become a single happy family. I knew that there would be big problems.

So, by that time I was already questioning myself about what I was doing. I ended up making Pemba angry at me in the 5th chapter.

But a film is by definition bigger than life, it cuts the boring parts and then some more, adds music to direct your feelings, so the whole thing seems much worse than it really was.

After saying that, I must say I agree with what you said.


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## Ardeus (Oct 17, 2005)

I don't know if you notice, but there are different interpretations for Pemba's speach. You may think she's refering to me everytime she mentions "the one who watches and manipulate us". But she may as well be talking about God.

If you notice, her questions about the motivations of the one who controls the game may be similar to our own when we question God's role is this world.

The title of the 5th chapter "Divine intervention" is a joke itself around my last name (Deus, which means God in Portuguese).

But sunnee1, since you started watching, please continue to watch until the 7th chapter, when the story finally wraps up. By the end of that chapter I was a bit more at peace with myself. The 6th chapter is still sad though.


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## Storiwyr (Apr 24, 2012)

sunnee1 said:


> I find it disturbing to have deliberately set up to disrupt the fish in such ways. Certainly does bring out emotions I guess I just don't understand the joy in this. I think its devastating and cruel to the fish.


That is one interpretation. I'm not immune to the difficulties of the fish, but I think you are missing a crucial point ... nature is cruel. The situation in the tank shown in the documentary is not half so cruel as what may have happened to any of these fish in the wild. It's not as cruel as the habitat devastation and climate change that many of us happily contribute to every single day.

Ardeus could have chosen not to intervene at all, other than introducing a fish once a week. How many people get fish with no earthly idea what they're doing? How many dump a bunch of fish into an uncycled tank over and over again and never bother to try to learn why they're dying? How many get 'bored' taking care of their tanks and let them languish until all the fish die rather than doing a water change, because they're 'just fish'. Ardeus is an experienced fish keeper, and it's clear to me through his work (not just the documentary, I've come across other projects on other forums as well) that he cares deeply about fish, and that a deeper and complex understanding of EVERYTHING--the fish, the environment, human nature--is critical to him. Don't forget that he did intervene ... he put shells in the tank for Kiku ... he could have been more 'true' to the initial idea he seemed to have, and have left it alone entirely. Instead he felt bad for Kiku and tried to help, and in the process he may have actually made it worse.

I think that there is a layer of attachment to the documentary of "Oh cool. Fish. Haha, that one just threw the other one out, that's awesome" that is detached from the emotional level. There's a layer beneath that that is "That's just mean" ... I urge you to look just that little bit deeper and really think about the message. This is not an exploitative film series. There is a lot it has to say to us. There is cruelty, beauty, fumbling attempts at improvement, despair, joy ... there is a lot going on.


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## Ardeus (Oct 17, 2005)

The thing I'm most proud as a fishkeeper is my saltwater tank.

I set it up in 2006 and I still have just my couple of clownfish. Many times I have come accross beautiful fish in stores but before giving in to temptation I always think "will those two little little clownfish appreciate this new companion?". I always return home empty handed. Well, I brought a pigmy angelfish once but returned him to the store after a few days.

The 6th chapter is taking a bit longer to render than expected. With some luck, in 8-10 hours it will be online.

The translator is not a fish addict but he's enjoying doing this translations and I think it shows on the way he writes.


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## Storiwyr (Apr 24, 2012)

Ardeus said:


> The thing I'm most proud as a fishkeeper is my saltwater tank.


I may pick your brain at some point, then, Ardeus. I just got my husband a 3 gallon Pico reef tank for his birthday, it's our first marine tank, and we're thrilled!

I really appreciate your work, Ardeus, and your sensitivity and thoughtfulness. I can tell you have a beautiful soul! It shows in what you do.


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## sunnee1 (May 21, 2010)

I am going to watch the next two chapters of your films mainly because I am at a point in my life where I am trying to see things through and getting the whole picture is the important part of drawing a conclusion.

I do see that you include deep messages in the naritives and having us think of our own journys in this life.
But the fish, they have no choice, yes you intervened, but you stated it is a game (..."the game...") and you stated you are god - ("my name means god"...)-to these fish. Well, each of us do play god to our beloved fish, I do feel that's true and sad to a large extent and your film is so strongly pointing that out--at least to me and I don't like it, it doesn't make me happy, but it does make me "Think".
On that note, being the experienced fishkeeper that storiwyr claims you must be, wouldn't you have thought in advance to put extra shells in for the weeekly fish you planned to introduce? You mention more than once that in the lake the fish would have more room and many shells in order to move on and move away, whereas here in your tank you delibertately gave them only a minimal amount in minimal space--anyway being experienced I would think you know better than to continue to introduce fish-bigger, male fish into an established colony That is what really bothers me and I don't get that AT ALL-what exactly is the point of introducing new, bigger and badder fish each week? other than to prove you are the god to them, and, as I mentioned before, you could have gotton all the drama you needed without introducing new fish and simply starting out with all the fish and all the added shells. Seems to me you got two separate projects going at the saame time...I donno...
I just feel like I should stick you in an enclosed area with raging pysco killers and give you a new one periodically who's more crazy(if thats possibe) than the last and let you fend for yourself.
Being experienced at fishkeeping you should know that tang and/or most cichlidss are very protective and certainly would have seen this in your experiences with keeping them. I reallly think you are getting a kick out of watching them stress and fight and perhaps you get a rush from it. But, see, thats just me, I root for the underdog in sports and I don't like boxing or wrestling soo...
If I see my fish cowering in a corner or liplocking I remove them immidiately, as I have been taught and advised by true experienced fishkeepers who seeemingly care about their fish. So to desire this behavior and exploit--yes--I said it again--to exploit it seems awfully deranged--IMO. As one person commented that he thought this film or these films would entice friends he knows to the desire of fishkeeping I think that is sad. To tell these people that it is "cool" or "ok for you to egg on these behaviors from their fish is not right. I have come across this glorifying the territorial aggressions of ones cichlids befor and I expressed my concerns on it and will each time even though my veiw is not a popular one or even supported-IDC. And while I'm on it, it does seem like a contradiction of so many of you who seem to be always asking-"Is this fish ok with this one?," or "Can I put such and such with so and so?" , but then nobody seems to care when someone is glorifying the duals and getting a kick out of sharing the horrors the fish are going through.


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## Storiwyr (Apr 24, 2012)

sunnee1 said:


> But the fish, they have no choice, yes you intervened, but you stated it is a game (..."the game...") and you stated you are god - ("my name means god"...)-to these fish. Well, each of us do play god to our beloved fish, I do feel that's true and sad to a large extent and your film is so strongly pointing that out--at least to me and I don't like it, it doesn't make me happy, but it does make me "Think".


He didn't state it ... the narrative states it. The narration is a work of fiction, since there is no way to know what the fish is thinking. Is it so hard to believe that if the fish were human, she might see it as a game, because she has a limited scope for perspective on what is happening around her? Not everyone is power-hungry, and sometimes when we talk about feeling we are playing god, it isn't a prideful thing. It's a serious consideration. It's a question that every fish keeper should be asking him/herself ... what is the impact of what I am doing on my fish?



sunnee1 said:


> On that note, being the experienced fishkeeper that storiwyr claims you must be, wouldn't you have thought in advance to put extra shells in for the weeekly fish you planned to introduce?


He said himself that he thought Kiku would be able to blend in with time. When that was not the case, he intervened even though it would have been more 'true' to the documentary style NOT to do so. This is one way that we learn things. How do we know how a fish will react to a certain combination? Trial and error. Some fish suffered in order for us to figure out, for example, that you usually can't house two similar looking Mbuna in the same tank. Or that brichardi will murder everything else in the tank when they pair up to breed. You may have missed where he mentioned that each segment was filmed in a single week. That is LESS time then most experienced fish keepers wait before they decide to mess with something, because the fish are still settling in.

Kiku was meant to be accepted with time. That didn't happen, it was looking ugly. Ardeus put in more shells to give him his own territory. That didn't work either. For a lot of Cichlids, the next step would be to put in another fish and try and disperse aggression. You have to remember that the narration and story were written AFTER the filming. The fish narration has the benefit of foresight. Pemba, as a character in the story, telling her story after the fact, can foresee what the result of adding this or that fish will be. Ardeus could not, necessarily. The documentary isn't meant to be a deathmatch, the way you seem to suggest.



sunnee1 said:


> You mention more than once that in the lake the fish would have more room and many shells in order to move on and move away, whereas here in your tank you delibertately gave them only a minimal amount in minimal space--anyway being experienced I would think you know better than to continue to introduce fish-bigger, male fish into an established colony


And we all do this, do we not? We ALL keep our fish in spaces smaller than what they would have in the wild. The most experienced of us do this. Those who are inexperienced or don't care put them in far crueler conditions.



sunnee1 said:


> That is what really bothers me and I don't get that AT ALL-what exactly is the point of introducing new, bigger and badder fish each week other than to prove you are the god to them, and, as I mentioned before, you could have gotton all the drama you needed without introducing new fish and simply starting out with all the fish and all the added shells.


He didn't introduce a new, bigger and badder fish each week. Kiku was smaller than Moliro. You're seeing it in a way that it was not intended.



sunnee1 said:


> I just feel like I should stick you in an enclosed area with raging pysco killers and give you a new one periodically who's more crazy(if thats possibe) than the last and let you fend for yourself.


This is what I do not understand. You think it would somehow be analogous to put a human being in a cage with murderers, but you're upset about him systematically adding fish in a pretty logical way. Those two things are not analogous. The fish recorded aren't psycho killers, they are reacting to conditions as they arise, in ways that could not have been 100% foreseen. Each fish added, you could come up with GOOD LOGICAL REASONS to have added that fish. 'Mistakes' that any well-intentioned fishkeeper could make. "Pemba is lonely. I'll give her a friend!" +Mbita. "Mbita and Pemba need a mate!" +Moliro. "Mbita and Moliro paired up and Mbita laid eggs, but Pemba is having no luck yet with breeding! She needs a boyfriend!" +Kiku. "Kiku can't seem to integrate because Moliro is unexpectedly aggressive and jerkish! Adding shells didn't help! Maybe a new male who is similar in size to Moliro will be better able to stand up to him and help soak some of Moliro's aggression!" +Male #3 (can't remember his name). These are all potentially well-intentioned and even wise choices. Again, this is one week of time for each episode. Your assertion that this is the same as penning the OP with murderers who would kill him is a personal attack that really isn't appropriate for the forums, and there are much more diplomatic/nonthreatening ways to state your opinion that would be constructive and not just vengeful.



sunnee1 said:


> I reallly think you are getting a kick out of watching them stress and fight and perhaps you get a rush from it. But, see, thats just me, I root for the underdog in sports and I don't like boxing or wrestling soo...


Again, I think you are missing the point.



sunnee1 said:


> If I see my fish cowering in a corner or liplocking I remove them immidiately, as I have been taught and advised by true experienced fishkeepers who seeemingly care about their fish.


It is more than normal and advised to allow fish a chance to blend in. New arrivals will always have some disagreements and may cower a bit at first. They need time to work things out, as long as no one is getting DAMAGED, it is normal. They aren't humans, they are fish and have different behavior and hierarchy than we do. A person punching another person is not the same on the ethical scale as a fish liplocking with another fish. Someone has to be the low fish in the heirarchy and some aggressive posturing and lip locking is how they work this out.



sunnee1 said:


> So to desire this behavior and exploit--yes--I said it again--to exploit it seems awfully deranged--IMO.


You assume that's what was desired. That is not an assumption that is fair to make without asking the question of whether or not it is true. Remember what people say about assumptions.



sunnee1 said:


> As one person commented that he thought this film or these films would entice friends he knows to the desire of fishkeeping I think that is sad. To tell these people that it is "cool" or "ok for you to egg on these behaviors from their fish is not right.


Where was this said? It wasn't said. Because that is not the message. Again, I think you're missing the point. These documentaries could just as easily serve the opposite purpose of what you suggest. I have enjoyed them heartily, the way I might also enjoy a sad movie or book. Because it makes me FEEL something. It humanizes the fish, which is a BENEFIT to a would be fish keeper. It says, in part, 'Look, these are living creatures, they deserve our respect and care.' It could dissuade someone from thinking "It's just a fish, who cares if I put it in an uncomfortable position!" Anyone who watches these and is touched by them is not going to go out and replicate them. And anyone who is watching hoping to see fish fights would have given up after the first episode.



sunnee1 said:


> I have come across this glorifying the territorial aggressions of ones cichlids befor and I expressed my concerns on it and will each time even though my veiw is not a popular one or even supported-IDC. And while I'm on it, it does seem like a contradiction of so many of you who seem to be always asking-"Is this fish ok with this one?," or "Can I put such and such with so and so?" , but then nobody seems to care when someone is glorifying the duals and getting a kick out of sharing the horrors the fish are going through.


Because you are seeing it completely differently than anyone else on this thread is seeing it ... and differently than the creator meant it. It doesn't glorify duels and horrors. These are real behaviors that DO occur in the wild. Is it also sick and horrible to show a nature documentary where a wolf kills a caribou, and to point out the beauty of the pack dynamic that allows such hunts to function? Nature is ugly sometimes, and some animals die so others may live. That may be cruel, but it's reality. Overall, I think you are making some pretty huge and unfair assumptions and judgments about the documentaries, about Ardeus, and about the rest of us who have enjoyed and praised his work.


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## Storiwyr (Apr 24, 2012)

Just to be clear, I am not criticizing that you find parts of the documentaries sad or even disturbing.Parts of them ARE sad, they ARE disturbing. So are many nature documentaries.

What I am criticizing is your sweeping blanket statements about those of us who enjoyed them, and your assumption that the way you see it is the way the rest of us do, and the way the creator meant it.


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## sunnee1 (May 21, 2010)

Wow, thanks for picking apart my words. Wish I knew how to quote and comment. 
You sure know it all about the filmakers intentions. I said my peace and I am done, perhaps till the end, and I welcome the feedback cuz I want to gain perspective.
I don't think the introduction of new fish weekly is something necessary for a docunentry showing the fish behaviors and if it is a story of "what happens if " I don't think its nice. On that note, you mention the wolf hunting the caribu doc and do you really think the filmmaker perhaps keep the wolf caged, raise up a caribu and let it loose in a small environment just for the sake of capturing the ordeal on flm so as to advance his/her noteritty? On the other hand some documentaries probably are swayed to give a limited view to those of us watching so as to show us only the filmmakers take on a storyline, I just never seen one so blatently obvious about it

It wasn't my intention to be inappropriate or offensive on the forum by refrencing murders and parelling them-human to fish- I simply was trying to make a point that the filmmaker should know that the agression would be out of control and I thought most of us, me anyway, try to limit the amount of aggression in our tamks not intice and innitiate and (seemingly) glorify in it.

I agree with adding a new fish, or give a mate we all do it.
I simply don't agree with the way the situations are being acheived and I don't see it as a documentary.
The most real thing I have seen or heard on this thread are the words "manipulate" and "fiction", just saying....IMO


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## skwerl (Mar 2, 2011)

+1 to Storiwyr

In the lake, chances are Kiku would never have recovered. He would have moved out of Moliro's territory into another large male's territory. Male #3 would have had a better chance... possibly. And there would be worse things in the big lake... predators.

Ardeus wants to invoke the emotions you are feeling. You are supposed to rout for the underdog. Just don't take it so far as to make personal attacks.


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## Ardeus (Oct 17, 2005)

The working title for the series was "Fish Brother" in a simultaneous reference to the "Big Brother" format and most importantly to show that our most important emotions are similar to these animals emotions.

The tank is not a small tank, it's 31.5" x 31.5" x 20". My original plan was not to have just multies or start with just one fish. I wanted to have multies, brevis, ocellatus, altolamprologus comprecisseps "Sumbu" and neolamprologus buescheri. I've had this combination of fish living together and there were no major issues, because the tank was big and they had appropriate places to live.

And the tank would be much larger, something around 260 gallons. I had already prepared some test animations:











But I hadn't enough cameras or time to edit the huge amount of video for something like that on my own, so I had to lower my ambitions.

So I started with a single fish. To my despair, she didn't dig. I had nothing to show for the 1st chapter. Without thinking much of it, I placed a relaxation music with the video and I loved it.

And then I tried again and again to write a narration and it was miserable. I couldn't make it work, no matter how hard I tried. Then I had the mad idea of leaving the narration to Pemba and the writing was as simple as I was taking dictation.

The order of the entrance of the fish was predetermined from the beginning and Storiwyr was very close to the reasons that led me to establish that order.

A small female seemed logical, because if she was the first, she would have a better chance of assuring her place in the shell-bed.

An adult female seemed like a logical step. Although she was a newcomer, her size would assure her a space in the shell-bed too. I wasn't expecting the two of them to develop such a close relationship. I thought that they would start moving sand around and building a sand wall between their territories.

The third fish would be an adult male.

The reason I didn't put Kiku third was because it didn't occur to me that Moliro would have such a strong reaction against him, it really got worse with time.

I thought that the first adult male would set in easily and in a little time, he would not pay much attention to the young male and eventually let him stay at the edge of the shell-bed. That didn't happen and it was a missed opportunity, because if Kiky had been there in the shell-bed with Moliro, Bulu wouldn't have had a chance.

As you see, I tried to build a story, but they obviously did not care for my plans. I planned things so that Moliro would have help when Bulu, the other large male arrived.

The reason I love multies above all other fish in the world is their ability to be very territorial while living in community and keeping the aggression level between them at a low level. But while I was filming, they were acting like mbuna. I never saw multies behaving this way. That was not what I wanted to tell.

When I watch nature documentaries I ask myself how can the film makers watch some scenes without doing someting about it, so I can completely understand that this may be even worse, because I'm the one that is setting things up. I do have some remorse about somethings that happened. It was violent and sad and I was in control.

I only started writing the narrantion from Pemba's point of view after all the films were done, but I made her increasingly angry at me (or God). I even went to the point of saying things that were not true, like saying that I was bringing more fish on purpose because watching them fight was something I was enjoying. On the book I wrote about this project, I took it a step further and replied to Pemba's accusations  It was getting a bit schizophrenic and I was glad when I finished the book.

I won't speak about the end of the series, but I can now see that sunnee1 will even be angrier at me because of they way I decided to wrap things up. But again, I think that if you will look deeper into Pemba's last words on the documentary, you may see that I am not really being a jerk by putting those words on her mouth, as it may seem on a more immediate level. At least I hope so.

The series was supposed to have just 6 chapters. Most of the interesting stuff happens on the first couple of days of each week. After those two days the fish find their routines again.

But on the 5th week (entrance of Bulu, the second large male), there was too much going on and I thought it would be better to split that chapter in two. So the 5th episode covers 2 days and the 6th episode covers the remaining 5 days. This means that there's no one entering the tank on the 6th chapter.

The 6th chapter will be here in a few minutes: 




The translator said that in a few hours he would send me the translation of the last chapter.


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## TF Steve (Nov 21, 2011)

sunnee1 said:


> Wow, thanks for picking apart my words. Wish I knew how to quote and comment.
> You sure know it all about the filmakers intentions. I said my peace and I am done, perhaps till the end, and I welcome the feedback cuz I want to gain perspective.
> I don't think the introduction of new fish weekly is something necessary for a docunentry showing the fish behaviors and if it is a story of "what happens if " I don't think its nice. On that note, you mention the wolf hunting the caribu doc and do you really think the filmmaker perhaps keep the wolf caged, raise up a caribu and let it loose in a small environment just for the sake of capturing the ordeal on flm so as to advance his/her noteritty? On the other hand some documentaries probably are swayed to give a limited view to those of us watching so as to show us only the filmmakers take on a storyline, I just never seen one so blatently obvious about it
> 
> ...


I think most people know you don't intend to put anyone in an enclosed area with raging pysco killers  You have a valid point. There's a reason why most documentaries are filmed in the wild. Toying with spawning cichlids is Trouble. sunnee1, have you ever thought about joining P.E.T.A.? Your love/passion for animals really shows. I respect that, a lot!


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## Storiwyr (Apr 24, 2012)

TF Steve said:


> I think most people know you don't intend to put anyone in an enclosed area with raging pysco killers


If that was not what was intended, it should not have been said.  It was not a very kind thing to say, that's for sure. It's important to remember that fellow forum members are animals too, and deserve to be treated with the same love/passion as any other animal. 



> Toying with spawning cichlids is Trouble.


There is no possible way to keep cichlids in an aquarium WITHOUT doing this. You either keep them in an all male tank, which is DEFINITELY unnatural or toying. Or you keep them in breeding groups and allow them to breed in highly unnatural conditions. Any keeping of any animal in captivity is, by its nature, 'toying'.


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## madmort0 (Oct 29, 2011)

Once again, *** enjoyed the newest chapter. tyvm


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## Shaky (Jan 2, 2003)

Chapter six was very nicely thought out and intelligently worded. I didn't find it sad at all, though, but learned quite a bit from it. I'm looking forward to seeing my new N. similis colonize and work as a team. I found your observations and conclusions really insightful. I hope I'm able notice intricate behaviors as well as you did here. My favorite episode, certainly.


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## Ardeus (Oct 17, 2005)

Thanks for watching!

I never had similis but I watched them in a tank for a few minutes. They don't seem to be built of the same material as multies. They're slightly bigger and they don't seem to be able to live as closely to their neighbors as multis. I read that they don't breed as much too.

A few weeks ago I set up a tank with multies and cyprichromis at my parents house. They were in a bigger tank with other species and now they have tank just for them, around 100 gallons.

The tank has a few rocks (I attempted a Iwagumi rock layout without much success) and the rest is completely covered with shells. And then over a hundred multies. That was a scary vision: can you imagine what it feels to watch them starting breeding all at the same time with no predators? Newborn cyprichromis seem to survive there too.

I'm rendering the last chapter, I think it will take around 8-10 hours before the "season finale" is online .


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## Shaky (Jan 2, 2003)

I hope your parents are into them! 
Wow, 100 of anything at once would be interesting, but especially communal cichlids. I'd love to see pics.
Similis breed less and have fewer eggs. I aimed away from the huge numbers inherent in keeping multies, and wanted something a little larger.


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## Ardeus (Oct 17, 2005)

The big tank was at my parents house and I split them in two tanks. Both my parents enjoy having the fish.

The 7th chapter will be ready tomorrow, because I need some sleep 

Tomorrow I will open a new topic so that the links to all the chapters of the series will be on the 1st post.


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## sunnee1 (May 21, 2010)

I watched the final two episodes of your little mini series, I hope it is the final two, it seeems to me a good place to end. It seems to me the wording, or your fishes so called naration of events was better chosen which made it a little more enjoyable to get through-for me...

I definately enjoyed the footage of the fish and the tank, you got some good film-good pictures. I am also reminded of my own fish and the storylines I have for them and the pleasure I get from my fish tales and I can see that you very much enjoyed your tale and you put a lot of time and effort in to the video.

I really like your tank and I don't know how much time has passed for the fish and the plants but it seems that is a great accomplishment in itself.

I am wondering where the currant in the tank does come from?

What fitration is used or is it all plants doing that work- I would like to have a tank like that. I hope your tank has continued on because it seems quite successful.

What kind of plants are those on the top floating? What kind of maintence is involved? any debree removal from the bottom or water changes?

Wish you much success with your future endevours-with your fish and your videos and your stories


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## Ardeus (Oct 17, 2005)

Thank you very much for your words sunnee1.

The final sequence of the 7th chapter covers a period of 2 months after Kiriza entered.

The tank is not as good looking as it appears on the films, but for whatever reason is very photogenic.

The direct sunlight and the shadow of a tree is what makes it special. It had a strong influence on the fish behavior.

I had an external filter and used a device that is fitted at the exit to smooth the current. I think it's used for planted tanks. Multies don't appreciate strong currents.

I ended up removing the floating plants, because they made too much debris and were not doing well, they prefered stagnant water.


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## Ardeus (Oct 17, 2005)

I did weekly water changes of around 15% of the total volume and that's when I used to remove some debris on the sand. That sand was very fine so all the debris remained on top of the sand.

They are now many, and it still is a species tank. They somehow control their own population, although they continue to have fry and have no predators.

I think it's best that any discussion continues on this post, because it has all the links to the films on the 1st page: viewtopic.php?f=10&t=248929


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