Home Freshwater Aquarium - Why You Need One or More

By Colin Barton


Just about everyone has gazed into an aquarium, whether at the house of a friend, a party, a restaurant, hospital waiting rooms or even a local business trying to make a good impression. Many individuals and families enjoy keeping home freshwater aquariums. You can find aquariums just about everywhere.

The word 'aquarium' actually comes from the Latin words 'Aqua' meaning water (Shocked? Yeah, neither are we) and 'rium' meaning place or building. Basically, it's a water building!

Aquarium History

The modern form of aquariums developed in the 1850's, but modern things have a way of echoing historical pieces. Even the Sumerians had a way of keeping their fish - they had ponds to keep wild fish in until they were made into dinner.

The history of Koi fish and Goldfish keeping is long and detailed, since they were being bred in China more than 2,000 years ago. During the Song dynasty, goldfish were kept in large decorative ceramic bowls. Today many people use these goldfish bowls as containers for their gardening projects, without realizing their original purpose of keeping fish.

There are ancient Egyptian pictures of fish kept in aquariums that were rectangular temple pools. This is something that is uniquely different and very interesting.

After WWI in the mid to late 1800s, keeping fish as a hobby became very popular. Sure, there were museum aquariums; however with the advancement of modern lighting and filtration, many individuals and families began keeping fish in their homes.

As fish keeping began to take even more root in modern culture, companies rushed to come up with unique and interesting things to put into tanks, as well as searching for more efficient ways to keep fish healthy, and their water clean.

This is the main reason that we have so many options for us when it comes to aquariums. You can choose from thousands of different things to really make your set up unique, interesting, and yes, even fun.

Big Ol' Aquarium

One of the most impressive aquariums isn't in the US, but in Japan - the Osaka aquarium holds 5,400 cubic meters of volume, and it actually contains over 580 species!

Are there actually any real benefits of having a home freshwater aquarium?

Studies of since the 80s show that keeping fish in a freshwater aquarium provides owners and visitors improvements in relaxation and health improvement.

For instance, there is a noted drop in high blood pressure in seniors who keep fish tanks. Aquariums are useful for calming hyperactive children, while watching the fish in a tank of water. This is only the icing on the cake so to speak.

Studies show a reduction in the need of pain medications for dental patients who have been watching fish in the waiting rooms. Accordingly, nicely decorated tanks do not compare to the significant difference made by real fish in tanks.

This is not surprising, since colorful fish in unique designs of tanks are common and welcome sights in hospital wings for children, waiting rooms, entrance areas and offices of doctors.

Studies have been done that also show that Alzheimer's patients react extremely well to an aquarium being in the dining area. They eat more, need less supplements, and even are less aggressive.

Interestingly, even viewing a video recording of fish is relaxing.

There are various benefits of keeping home freshwater aquariums, whether you choose large or small tanks. You may even want more than one for your home, since fish make such wonderful pets and gift ideas for those who love fish.




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