Test Your Knowledge of Freshwater Aquariums with Our Quiz!

Freshwater Aquarium: A Complete Guide

• Freshwater aquariums are receptacles that hold one or more freshwater aquatic organisms for decorative, pet-keeping, or research purposes.
• Modern aquariums are most often made from transparent glass or acrylic glass.
• Typical inhabitants of an aquarium include fish, plants, amphibians, and invertebrates, such as snails and crustaceans.
• Freshwater fish may be either coldwater or tropical species.
• Aquariums may be decorated with sand or gravel, live or plastic plants, driftwood, rocks, and a variety of commercially made plastic sculptures.
• The earliest known aquariums were artificial fish ponds constructed by the ancient Sumerians over 4500 years ago.
• During the 19th century, the idea of the "balanced aquarium" was developed, which was an attempt to mimic a balanced ecosystem in nature.
• Today fishkeeping has become a popular hobby that almost anyone can do.
• A typical household freshwater aquarium set-up, apart from its aquatic tenants, consists of furnishings such as a gravel substrate, live or plastic plants, rocks, driftwood, and other decorations.
• Themes for aquariums include the community aquarium, the goldfish aquarium, the African cichlid aquarium, and the planted aquarium.
• A planted aquarium emphasizes living plants as much as, or even more than fish.
• A biotope aquarium is an aquarium that is designed to simulate a natural habitat, with the fish, plants, and furnishings all representative of a particular place in nature.