I remember leaning up on my toes and pressing my nose against the transparent glass of the brightly lit aquarium, my eyes dancing with the images of the vibrantly coloured fish swimming gracefully in the clear water. I believe I was four-year-old at that time and we had entered a restaurant when the first thing which struck me was a small water world of delicate fish. This resulted in me demanding to have an aquarium of my own, a whim I was not allowed to indulge in. The reason I was given was that keeping and maintaining an aquarium was responsible work, and apparently responsibility wasn't exactly my forte at that time.

Keeping fish indoors has been in vogue since ancient times. In the Roman Empire, the first fish to be brought indoors was the sea barbel, which was kept under guests' beds in small tanks made of marble. Later, Romans used glass panes on one side to make sure that the fish could be viewed easily.

It was the Chinese Emperor, Hongwu, in 1369, who used huge porcelain tubs for keeping goldfish. As far as public aquaria are concerned, in 1853, the first large public aquarium opened in the London Zoo, christened the Fish House. Cases for keeping fish were called vivarium, until Philip Henry Gosse used the now popular word 'aquarium'. The word 'aquarium' is a result of the fusion of the Latin 'aqua', meaning water, with '-arium', meaning 'a place for.'

An aquarium which has at least one transparent side in which fish, invertebrates, amphibians, marine mammals, turtles and aquatic plants are kept and tended to. Rectangular aquaria are also known as fish tanks, while bowl-shaped aquaria are dubbed fish bowls. The typical aquarium, which many people enjoy in their homes, offices, restaurants and hotel lobbies, usually have a filtration system, an artificial lighting system and a heater or chiller, depending on what kinds of creatures and flora they choose to have in the aquarium. Many aquaria also have a hood that make sure that the water level does not go down due to evaporation and it protect fish from leaving the aquarium or any harmful agent from entering.

There are fish lovers who prefer to keep a marine or saltwater aquarium for the reason that many vividly-coloured fish inhabit salt water. However, it is more difficult to maintain a saltwater than a freshwater aquarium. Salt corrodes and consequently is injurious to aquarium equipment, thus it needs to be cleaned thoroughly on a regular basis. It is recommended that fish lovers opting for an aquarium for the first time should go for a fresh water one which will merely require a weekly cleaning.

Experts suggest that when you get a new aquarium, don't put fish into it at once. First fill it with water to check for any leaks; then set up your filtration. The turning on of the air pumps, the outside filter and the heater is to be done once the aquarium is full of water. Let the aquarium run for at least 24 hours before adding any creatures. 

So, all you fish lovers out there, make sure you read up thoroughly about the long list of 'dos' and 'don'ts' if you want to be the proud owner of a fish aquarium. But all the effort is worth it.