The History Of The Aquarium
Even before the days of pH testers, aquarium fish food and deciding on the right rocks and filtration systems to suit every type of fish in the world, people have had a fascination with fish and wanted to keep them as more than just a source of food.
Whilst fishing has existed for 40,000 years, the history of what would become the aquarium is also a fascinating tale of curiosity, a desire to learn about the natural world, the development of strong, see-through materials and the same caring drives that motivate aquarium owners today.
However, the history of the aquarium begins with a great big historical lie.
When Not In Rome
One common myth shared in aquarium circles for years is that the first aquarium ever invented that was not simply an artificial pond used to raise fish for food and ornamental purposes was in Ancient Rome.
Whilst it is the case that the Romans were the first aquarists we are aware of, in that they cared for ornamental fish, there has been a persistent rumour that in 50AD the Romans had managed to replace at least one wall of the then-marble tanks with glass.
This would have meant that the Romans invented the aquarium as we know it, and it would take another 1800 years for it to be reinvented by the British.
Unfortunately, this rumour has no evidence to support it, with the biggest surviving excavations of Roman cities we have archaeological access to (Herculaneum and Pompeii) include garden and communal ponds but no indoor tanks with glass sides.
Given the limits of glass technology at the time it would appear unlikely that glass barbels were stored in such tanks.
The first known precursor to the aquarium that was more than an artificial pond would take until 1369 to realise.
From The Hongwu Tub To The Natural Sciences
Zhu Yuanzhang, the Hongwu Emperor of China, established a porcelain company that specialised in storing goldfish, which would slowly take the shape of a modern goldfish bowl and can be seen in both Chinese and Japanese art of the era.
Outside of royalty, the first experiments in owning aquarium tanks came from early marine biologists,with the first known example being made in 1832 by Jeanne Villepreux-Power.
For the next 14 years, several scientists including Dr Nathaniel Bagshaw Ward, inventor of the terrarium, Anne Thynne and Robert Warington would make attempts to create a stable artificial aquatic environment, with the latter finally developing the core principles to do so in 1850.
He discovered the connection between fish, water and oxygen, and explained that plants that could grow underwater could provide enough oxygen to support aquatic life, and once his findings were published in the journal of the Chemical Society, the idea spread.
The earliest home aquaria to catch on were made of glass affixed to cast-iron frames and were one of many major attractions of the first-ever World’s Fair, the Great Exhibition at Crystal Palace in 1851.
Two years later Philip Henry Gosse created the Fish House at London Zoo, the first-ever public aquarium in the world, and a range of different technological evolutions have kept aquariums fascinated ever since.