How did the aquarium hobby start?
The aquarium hobby has grown tremendously from humble origins. Fish have been grown in agricultural settings for at least 3,500 years. These fish were grown for food or to help improve the environments for growing plants. People in Asia have kept ornamental fish for over 1,000 years. These fish were thought of as pets and bred for desirable traits, the living ancestors of these fish are koi and goldfish. The first anemone tank in recorded history was maintained by daily water changes collected by hiking to the ocean with a bucket and several hours of manually stirring the water. By the 1500’s goldfish were common pets in china and by the late 1700’s they were becoming popular in parts of Europe. Todays aquarium hobby looks very different from its origins, but in some ways we are returning to its origins with the way that we think about fish and aquariums.
Think of aquariums as ecosystems.
Early hobbyists had reverence for the environments that they were creating. Before mechanized filtration aquarists needed an intimate understanding of the biological needs of there pets. Thinking about the person manually stirring the water to produce the flow needed for an anemone drives this point home for me in a very palpable way. The multitrophic agricultural practices of Asian farmers that used carp to clean and fertilize water for plants shows an understanding of ecosystems, chemistry, and nutrients. When easy to use filters with promises of maintaining perfect water for fish entered the marketplace, and aquarium keeping became accessible to many people in the post modern era, this intimate understanding was briefly lost. Today we find ourselves using science to expand that understanding and undo some of the misconceptions brought about by the mass appeal of mechanized aquariums.
A Qualified Tanknician can help navigate your aquarium to success!
Today the typical first time aquarist shopping at a big box chain store might likely think or be told the following ideas:
- Newer aquarist may think about using additives to stabilize aquarium water instead of biology
- Newer aquarist may think that the filter is ultimately responsible for maintaining homeostasis rather than the biological filtration
- Newer aquarist may think all water is the same, and not think about how what is dissolved with in it effects its properties
- Newer aquarist may not understand how biology interacts with chemistry.
I’ve helped people navigate away from these dangerous ideologies first hand and I remember being educated by the owners of a great local fish store in my area 15 years ago. My disillusionment was a formative experience for me, and helping people develop essential aquarium keeping skills has made me think a lot about how we should think of aquariums. These are the condensed ideas that structure the way Tanknicians think about aquariums. Whether its designing a customers tank, deciding how to move forward with maintenance, or enjoying aquariums kept by others, Tanknicians always consider the following ideas:
- Generally an ecosystem is healthier and more resilient if more diverse
- Generally fish and inverts will be healthier if physical and chemical parameters remain stable
- Water contains many dissolved compounds, some beneficial, some detrimental, many benign
- The physical parameters effect the types of ecosystems you can maintain, physical limitations are most important
- Generally, health of marine organisms is not intuitive to humans, biology is different and experts in husbandry have an intimate, nuanced and complex understanding of biology, chemistry, disease, sourcing, and behavior.
Consider how these concepts relate to your own aquarium and try to identifies areas where you are succeeding and areas that could be improved.
Let us know what you think
How do you think about aquariums? Have you considered how your aquarium functions as an ecosystem? leave a comment below to share your experiences!
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