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| Aquarium
History The origins of aquarium keeping have been around for about as long as keeping food fishes, although the methodology and understanding of aquarium filtration has varied considerably. The origins of aquaculture mostlikely originated when fish were trapped in some type of enclosure after monsoon floods receded. The earliest known aquarists were the Sumerians, who kept fishes in artificial ponds at least 4,500 years ago; records of fish keeping also date from ancient Egypt and Assyria. The Chinese, who raised carp for food as early as 2000 BC, were probably the first to breed fish with any degree of success. Their selective breeding of ornamental goldfish was later introduced to Japan, where the breeding of ornamental carp was perfected. The ancient Romans, who kept fish for food and entertainment, were the first known marine aquarists; they constructed ponds that were supplied with fresh seawater from the ocean. |
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 Although
goldfish were successfully kept in glass vessels in England during
the middle 1700s, aquarium keeping did not become well established
until the relationship between oxygen, animals, and plants became
known a century later. During the mid 1800’s the "Balanced
Aquarium" approach was considered the only method for keeping
aquarium fish. The Balanced Aquarium consisted of "a tank in
which the air surface of the water, aided by plants would supply sufficient
oxygen" and "most of the waste from the fish was consumed
by the plants and scavengers ". By 1850 the keeping of fishes, amphibians, and reptiles had become useful in the study of nature. It was in the works of Philip Gosse, a British naturalist, that the term aquarium first appeared. His work aroused increased public interest in aquatic life. The first display aquarium was opened to the public in 1853 at Regent's Park in London. It was followed by aquariums in Berlin, Naples, and Paris. P.T. Barnum, the circus entrepreneur, recognized the commercialpossibilities of living aquatic animals and, in 1856, opened the first display aquarium at the American Museum in New York City as a private enterprise.  During the early 1900’s Aeration, Particulate and Charcoal filtration was touted as the state-of-the-art but it wasn’t until the 1950’s that the Undergravel Filter was introduced. Ironically even though it was promoted as a biological filter its true role in filtration was still misunderstood, and yet the Undergravel Filter has been the greatest advancement to the aquarium industry. By 1928 there were 45 public or commercial aquariums throughout the world, but growth then slowed and few new large aquariums appeared until after World War II. Many of the world's principal cities now have public aquariums as well as commercial ones. |
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It
wasn’t until 1974 that successful commercial attempts to spawn
and
rear marine ornamental fish began to occur and by 1975 Martin Moe
and Chris Turk of Aqualife Research and Frank Hoff and Tom Frakes
of Instant Ocean Hatcheries were raising three species of clownfish,
Oscellaris (Amphiprion ocellaris), the Tomato (A.frenatus) and the
Clarki Clownfish (A.clarkii). In 1984 the second greatest advancement occurred in the aquarium industry, the introduction to the US of the European Wet - Dry Filter. Now hobbyists could keep fish as well as corals and invertebrates successfully. |
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Aquarium
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