History of Fishkeeping Although at first sight, the equipment required for fishkeeping
appears technical and complicated, remember that the skill of raising fish
lies not so much in understanding the hardware, but in understanding the fish,
their needs, and the natural processes involved when keeping animals in a
static body of water. These skills are far older than the newcomer to the
hobby may realize, fishkeeping was a necessary occupation as long as 4 000
years ago in Sumerian times. Fish have long been recognized as a food source
and many communities kept living larders in their fish pounds. In Egypt, fish
were held in even higher regard, the Nile Perch (Lates nilotica) was worshiped
as a deity. In addition to keeping fish for food, illustrations in tombs show
them being caught with rod and line. Despite this interest in fishkeeping in Europe and the Middle
East, things were developing further afield in China and Japan. Here fish
were being kept as ornamental additions to the aesthetic surroundings, particularly
as pool fish. There is evidence that the culture of colored carp was quite
widespread during the Sung Dynasty (960-1279), with the introduction of ornamental
fish to Japan around 1500. Goldfish were introduced to England between 1611 and 1691. From
around 1730 onwards there is a steady stream of reported instances of fish
being kept, with the spread of the goldfish first into Holland then into Germany.
Many scientific experiments with fish in captivity were conducted
and the relationship between animal and plant life in the aquarium was becoming
clearer during the first half of the 19th century. The interest in fishkeeping
was given an enormous boost in 1853 with the opening of a public aquarium
in the London Zoological Gardens at Regents Park. Shortly afterwards the 'tropical'
aspect was further encouraged with the introduction to Paris of the Paradise
Fish (Macropodus Opercularis) in 1868, followed by its American debut eight
years later. As with any new craze, popularity mushroomed and many ingenious
aquariums were designed, each with a patent system of one kind or another
for heating the water or for maintaining its freshness. In typical Victorian
style, many of these aquariums were ornately decorated or hung with drapes
to hide the 'shocking' spectacle of unsightly apparatus tubing. In the tropical aquarium, heating systems progressed from oil
to gas burning lamps but still retaining a naked flame playing on slate-bottomed
tanks. It was not too long before electrical immersion heaters in glass tubes
became the norm. At the same time the development of the pneumatic tyre was
welcomed by aquarists as a convenient way to store compressed air for use
in the aquarium. Societies and magazines catering for the hobbyist abounded;
the centre of the tropical side of the hobby was Germany, from where 'fish
exports' were sent to the rest of Europe and to America. The next big boost to the hobby was the development of fast
reliable air travel, this enabled more fish to be caught and delivered safely
than ever before. Very recent innovations have been the advent of plastics
and other modern materials. These resulted in cheaper and more plentiful equipment
thus bringing the hobby within reach of even more people. The social impact of fishkeeping should not be underestimated,
through a common interest in fish many large organisations have been formed,
which are in contact with each other. Apart from the thriving industry providing
the hobbyist with equipment, foods and remedies, there is benefit to countries
where the fish themselves live in the wild. The modern hobby is immense. Nobody quite knows how many people
keep fish, although it has been estimated that fishkeeping is only second
to stamp collecting as a hobby in North America. Few people become involved
in the organized side of fishkeeping by joining an aquarist society. In these
contemporary times of space restrictions and civil by-laws banning the keeping
or exercising pets in apartments and public places, the aquarium is becoming
a very 'environmentally correct' interest; no noise, no mess or unwanted fur
or feathers and minimal dependence on human attention. Home
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Phi Anderson from http://www.geocities.com/abear27
By the time the Roman Empire was established the culture of fish was well
advanced and it quite likely that the technology of the aqueduct engineer
was put to use keeping fish ( fresh and salt water ) in good condition for
the table.
