Aquarium

An aquarium (pl.: aquariums or aquaria) is a <a href="/facts/Vivarium/CyYVSCkA">vivarium</a> of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. <a href="/facts/Fishkeeping/SNLkhRCH">Fishkeepers</a> use aquaria to keep <a href="/facts/Fish/fln4gH9V">fish</a>, <a href="/facts/Invertebrate/3CyqCVnN">invertebrates</a>, <a href="/facts/Amphibian/r2BleD2W">amphibians</a>, aquatic <a href="/facts/Reptile/04n1uKf1">reptiles</a>, such as <a href="/facts/Turtle/X0ImnxYt">turtles</a>, and <a href="/facts/Aquatic_plant/Tr1rlK49">aquatic plants</a>. The term aquarium, coined by English naturalist <a href="/facts/Philip_Henry_Gosse/fl7zDreU">Philip Henry Gosse</a>, combines the <a href="/facts/Latin/pM3Kge85">Latin</a> root aqua, meaning 'water', with the suffix -arium, meaning 'a place for relating to'.
The aquarium principle was fully developed in 1850 by the chemist <a href="/facts/Robert_Warington/NclVUGKJ">Robert Warington</a>, who explained that plants added to water in a container would give off enough <a href="/facts/Oxygen/acyn6o8r">oxygen</a> to support animals, so long as the numbers of animals did not grow too large. The aquarium craze was launched in early <a href="/facts/Victorian_era/HQxGp7wh">Victorian England</a> by Gosse, who created and stocked the first <a href="/facts/Public_aquarium/tr5UcGwq">public aquarium</a> at the <a href="/facts/London_Zoo/jKC1goyh">London Zoo</a> in 1853, and published the first manual, The Aquarium: An Unveiling of the Wonders of the Deep Sea in 1854. Small aquariums are kept in the home by <a href="/facts/Hobby/MH1aFd8v">hobbyists</a>. There are large public aquariums in many cities. Public aquariums keep fish and other <a href="/facts/Aquatic_animal/tY7gyRWl">aquatic animals</a> in large tanks. A large aquarium may have <a href="/facts/Otter/spoRPN8b">otters</a>, <a href="/facts/Dolphin/NUxUP7Ph">dolphins</a>, <a href="/facts/Shark/rh5Cotvx">sharks</a>, <a href="/facts/Penguin/RPoapfVx">penguins</a>, <a href="/facts/Pinniped/8ya4Lzek">seals</a>, and <a href="/facts/Whale/EMJBgXfb">whales</a>. Many aquarium tanks also have plants.
An aquarist owns fish or maintains an aquarium, typically constructed of glass or high-strength <a href="/facts/Acrylate_polymer/3z6dXElL">acrylic</a>. Aquaria with flat walls are known as fish tanks or simply tanks, while those with rounded walls are known as fish bowls. Size can range from a small glass bowl, a few liters in volume, to immense public aquaria of thousands of liters. Specialized equipment maintains appropriate water quality and other characteristics suitable for the aquarium's residents.

Aquarium open-in-new

Aquarium