Aquarium hobby can be said to have a long history. Since the Roman Empire, people have raised marine life as food. In ancient China, people raised carp as food and eventually developed it into two kinds of ornamental fish: koi fish and goldfish. In the Victorian era, this hobby revived. At that time, due to the upsurge of natural history, people placed aquariums at home to feel awe of nature. At that time, light and action were generally explained by aquatic organisms; At the same time, the exploration of the southern seas and the new continent has also enabled people to discover new creatures, some of which will be brought back to Britain for further reproduction and research.

The earliest known modern aquarium industry began in the 1920s and developed from the toy industry. Tropical fish were originally sold in toy stores in Europe. In the United States, a company named Mattel first founded the brand Metaframe, which became an important foundation for the breeding of "toy fish". The name "toy fish" will still be mentioned in some guides of aquarium products, such as Hans, a German sea salt and additive manufacturer.

Weigandt. Viviparous giant salamander is the earliest tropical fish raised by people, mainly because they are easy to raise and breed, and their origin is close to the United States. In addition, bass is also common.

Early aquariums didn't have the equipment we have today. They rely on aquatic plants and natural light. The aquarium itself is made of slate and glass, plus an iron frame, and then bonded with putty and asphalt. Fish food includes dried ants and grains, and some small creatures fished out of the pond. Heat preservation means heating under the slate with a small gas lamp. In order to keep warm, some aquariums use a metal bottom plate to adjust the temperature. It is these things that lead us to today's aquarium industry.

The first step towards today's seawater aquarium is the emergence of aviation technology. Before air transportation appeared, we could not transport live fish from the sea to the market at all. Commercial aviation did not become the mainstream until after World War II, when the species of ornamental aquarium creatures began to increase, and ornamental seawater aquarium began to appear as a hobby.

With the support of stable biological supply and new oxygenation and thermal insulation packaging technology, aquarium technology began to develop. From the early 20th century to the 1960s, the main driving force of aquarium filtration and circulation was only air, such as early bottom sand filtration and internal filtration. The development of aquarium air pump is also gradual. The aquarium air pump first released by KDA in Germany in 1908 is operated by water, which is obviously not a very practical design. Subsequently, the piston air pump driven by the speed regulating gear needs a lot of lubricating oil and cleaning work; Finally, the diaphragm air pump, which is quieter and does not need frequent maintenance, is called the mainstream. Early air pumps and primitive filtering devices were the only tools that seawater lovers of that era could use. But even with the help of these "technologies", if we didn't get natural seawater at that time, we couldn't set foot in the seawater aquarium. At this time, artificial sea salt has appeared, but the quality is poor and the quantity is limited.

The first aquarium air pump probably appeared in 1908. It is driven by water. Kaida manufacturing company

The 1950s

If we look at the works of the Shui people in the mid-1950s, we can see the emergence of this hobby and the challenges faced by lovers in that era. In the Handbook of Foreign Ornamental Fish published by 1956, some species such as clown fish, damselflies, puffer fish, leopard, Mary and blue devil are mentioned. At that time, aquarium masters could feed butterfly fish and fairies, and ornamental fish such as yellow fin pomfret and perch occasionally appeared in fish shops. Seahorses native to the United States can also live in aquariums for a short time.

At that time, the mainstream aquarium was about 80L in volume, with powerful pneumatic filters, and there were many dead coral skeletons in the aquarium (after careful cleaning, it was considered that corals could not be fed at that time). The recommended fish food is all kinds of natural fish, shellfish, shrimp, small fish and bumper shrimp. The fish tank needs artificial replenishment, and the light intensity should be kept low, otherwise the water will turn green easily. Artificial sea salt began to appear on the market. A notable achievement of this era is J. of Monaco Aquarium.

Dr. Gnaud successfully bred Sparus tritaeniorhynchus in artificial environment and let clowns lay eggs.

60 s

The 1960s was an era of great innovation. With the economic recovery in West Germany, many people have entered the ranks of aquarium enthusiasts, and many aquarium companies have emerged. 1960 Norbert, who is also an electrician.

Tunze invented a small submersible pump for aquarium. Like many inventions, this invention was also caused by some unexpected factors mixed with some inspiration: Norbert received a task of repairing toy train motors, so he came into contact with an Eheim motor (then Eheim was a toy manufacturer). He tried to use this air-cooled pump to drive the water in one of his fresh water tanks, and found that the fish liked this water flow very much, which made them more cheerful. Then he wrote to Eheim Company and suggested that they develop an aquarium. So Norbert

Tunze had to teach himself at home and successfully developed the first aquarium water pump, called Turbelle, which is a combination of the words "turbine" and "dragonfly" in German. The original submersible pump has a power of 8W and a flow rate of 430L/h ... This pump is completely hand-made, even the plastic shell is hand-made. Since then, the submersible pump for aquarium has been continuously developed, and this new technology has finally been widely used in the field of aquarium.

The earliest Turbelle water pump was made by hand, and even the shell was cast by hand. Norbert (m.)

Tunze finished making it on the workbench in his garage.

Another important invention in the 1960s was the protein separator, which was observed by an amateur from Zoellingen in 1963. He found that brown foam gathered in the water pipe of the bottom filter, so he developed a device to collect the gathered foam into a container, and he showed the discovery process to Max, who studied animal behavior.

Planck society. Norbert Toots and Owen Thornton

At the same time, the further research and development of this device began, and soon, two brands of protein separators, TUNZE and Sander, were listed.

This is an industrial water pump in Han Yi, and the water flow direction is upward. Norbert Tunze used a similar principle to make a water pump with forward water flow direction.

Another important equipment of seawater and freshwater aquarium is reliable heating device. Eugen made the first safe electric heating rod for aquarium.

Jager invented it, and then he created the famous heating rod brand Jager. In fact, there have been electric heating devices before, but the safety is very poor. Salt vapor and spilled water may affect its safety-Jager's design uses heat-resistant borate glass and bimetallic thermostat for the first time. UV lamps also tend to mature in this era. In the past, the ultraviolet germicidal lamp needed water to flow slowly through a shallow tray exposed to the ultraviolet lamp, and the first waterproof tubular ultraviolet lamp appeared in this era, including Angstrom.

2537 can still be seen today, and of course it has been improved a lot. First of all, the replacement of UV lamp tubes must be sent back to the original factory, because the tubes are sealed with glass glue.

Soon, modern artificial sea salt began to appear, such as Hans Wigand, tropical marin and instant.

There are several brands in the market. The instant ocean is an aquarium.

Products produced by Systems, a subsidiary of STP, a petrochemical enterprise. The president of STP himself is an avid marine aquarium enthusiast. tropical zone

Marin brand was developed by Dr. Bean himself and sold in some fish shops in Frankfurt. This kind of sea salt has shown good effect in the culture of invertebrates, so its sea salt products and subsequent fish food products are gradually popular. Nicknames for Germans or Dutch.

Weigandt's sea salt is very famous in the United States and developed by HW Laboratory. These three kinds of sea salt were the main artificial sea salt products at that time. They combine all the necessary trace elements and are very close to natural seawater. The emergence of excellent artificial sea salt enables inland people to set foot in the field of seawater aquarium.

1965 1 month, the first magazine in the United States focusing on seawater aquariums, Salt Water

Aquarium) is published in Miami, Florida. After reading the magazines of that era, I feel that there is not much difference between the aquarium technology in the 1960s and the 1950s: bottom sand filtration, coarse coral sand bedding, decorative dead coral bones, and the mainstream 80L aquarium is still the mainstream. In magazines, we can see some characteristics of that era, such as the appearance of artificial sea salt and activated carbon, the first book about seawater aquarium, the advertisement of new Sander ozone machine, and the new aquarium bonded with silica gel. Articles on raising corals and algae began to appear, but they all explicitly mentioned that these creatures could not be raised for a long time-it seems that high nutrition and low light are the main problems; The article mentioned the cultivation of shrimp and tiger and octopus. Although raising a lot of marine life in this era failed, the main basic work for successfully maintaining the seawater aquarium in the future has been completed. In an article entitled "Anemone Stone" in 1966, the concept of "living stone" first appeared. He described how these stones can improve water quality and help us raise more difficult creatures.

At the end of 1960s, compared with today, lovers of that era only lacked two things: knowledge and lighting technology. In the next 20 years, people can keep marine fish for a longer time: better water flow will bring enough oxygen, protein separator will help maintain water quality, we can get a water quality environment close to nature, and new silica glass glue will enable us to build a larger aquarium.

70 s

In the 1970s, two important publications appeared, one was Peter.

Wilkens's book "Aquarium of Tropical Marine Invertebrates" put forward the technology that was later called "Berlin System". Then Martin.

Moe has developed a clown breeding technology, which can meet the needs of business. However, the technology of most ordinary seawater aquarium lovers has not changed much in this era. In this era, few people will try large-scale seawater ornamental fish. Due to the imperfection of the early filtration system and the lack of knowledge, fans of this era often use copper to deal with fish parasites. In this era, few people keep invertebrates in fish tanks because people don't understand their needs, and copper-containing drugs used to treat fish diseases make it impossible for people to keep them.

There are still some changes in the aquarium technical works in the 1970s. First of all, filtration devices driven by electric pumps are becoming more and more common. Herbert axelrod's corporate miracle.

Pet imported Abraham's "miracle" filter into the United States, and Jager heater also appeared in the American market. Metaframe brought frozen fish food-called "San".

Francisco Bay Frozen Shrimp "products, and external filters. In 1970s, the best aquarium import company in the market was Hawaii Seawater Import Company. 197 1

In September and June of 5438+00, Seawater Aquarium magazine introduced this one through Cal.

Adger owns a company. Their fish shop has a display tank with nearly 5 tons of water and a luxurious exhibition hall. Customers can choose their favorite fish in the display tank. When the article was published, they could already see the queen fairy, rat spots, closed knives, pink and blue pendants, bats and clown shells in their display tanks. Obviously, lovers can choose more species in this era than in the 1950s. At this time, the size of the aquarium can also meet the needs of these fish, and their clown fish shells are placed in an 800L aquarium. In this era, the equipment available in the market is close to the modern aquarium market, including Hans.

Weigandt's sea salt and additives, Sander's ozone machine and egg beater, Han Yi's filter barrel, therapeutic agent copper sulfate, Angstrom 2537.

Ultraviolet lamp. It should be mentioned that until today, Hawaii Seawater Import Company is still acting as an agent for the above products, and has been producing Angstrom 2537 after obtaining the production authorization.

Ultraviolet lamp.

Another publication of Ocean Aquarium was founded in 1970s, which is Tropical Fish Lovers. The magazine commented on many fish shops that still exist all over the United States and talked about the daily management of some species that are difficult to raise. The fish culture technology described in another magazine called International Aquarium Digest has been accepted by modern lovers, including protein separator, activated carbon and large filtration device. Tropical fish lovers have mentioned the problem of poisonous fish in the winter period from 65438 to 0974. In a private conversation with Adger, he said that the official article made him end the bio-trade. In this era, because the demand for ornamental fish in seawater has greatly increased, poisonous fish are rampant and the quality of fish has greatly decreased. Poisonous fish from the Philippines are all over North America. This situation was not improved until the Philippine government legislated against poisonous fish in the 1980s, but unfortunately, even so, there are still a lot of ways to catch ornamental fish in cyanide-containing seawater in this country.

The 1980s

In 1980s, some events completely changed the face of seawater aquarium. At this time, the German government completely banned the import of butterfly fish and angelfish. This is mainly due to the pressure from environmental protection organizations, because they think that people can't take good care of these fish species in the artificial environment. In addition, the government survey data also showed that the mortality rate of these fish in the hands of enthusiasts was very high, and at that time, German enthusiasts preferred to show many gorgeous large fairy fish tanks. The government's written ban makes these fish almost impossible to get. But fortunately, it promoted the progress in the other direction: because the government did not allow the import of coral fish, German fans turned to the other direction: coral.

Aquariums in Berlin and Peter

Wilkens (the founder of Berlin concept) began to actively promote the study of coral's needs for light and nutrition. Finally, when the Berlin Aquarium Society began to adopt metal halogen lamp technology, the last puzzle of modern seawater aquarium technology was found. ...

The 6000K metal halogen lamp originally used for aquarium lighting, although the color looks not very good, after all, corals can survive normally in this light. Usually, they use commercial OSRAM lamps and Philips fluorescent lamps to supplement light with a wavelength of 420 nanometers (the most favorable wavelength for light and action). At the same time, the irradiation of fluorescent lamp can trigger the fluorescence reaction of coral, which makes up for the color deviation of early metal halogen lamps.

This fluorescent lamp was originally used in medicine. It has been used to illuminate children with jaundice, and its spectrum can help children with liver problems to synthesize necessary pigments. The modern seawater aquarium, a picture scroll composed of multiple technical puzzles, has finally been completed. Pioneers of the Berlin Aquarium Association, such as Dietrich.

Stuber was the first person to successfully raise axial hole coral in aquarium. Until today, many kinds of axial coral are also called "Stuber axial holes".

The Venturi tube electric protein separator, which first appeared in the American market, was designed and produced by aquarium products about 198 1 year.

The method used by the Berlin Aquarium Association is Peter.

Wilkens put forward the model in his book "Tropical Marine Invertebrate Aquarium". At that time, this model needed a lot of live stones (about 1KG live stones per 4L of water), and limewater was used to replenish water. The filtration system also includes dry and wet filtration, protein separator and granular activated carbon. At the same time, using these methods to treat nitrogen-containing wastes not only ensures the environment with low nutrition and high oxygen, but also ensures the PH value, hardness and calcium content required for the healthy growth of corals. Coupled with suitable water flow and light, aquarium lovers now have the conditions to successfully cultivate corals.

Since the late 1980s.

The last chain to make the seawater aquarium develop to today's level is to widely transmit new technology and information to all aquarium lovers. The success of Berlin Aquarium Association lies in its large number of active members, who often exchange experiences with each other. In contrast, many lovers in other parts of the world are still suffering from "behind closed doors". As far as I know, some fans in Texas also find it difficult to feed garbage anemones in the aquarium. The lack of information transmission means makes many fans all over the world have only a few pieces of the puzzle, but they can't put together a complete picture. In the mid-1980s, Peter

Wilkens's book was translated into English, and George Schmidt introduced the book Wet and Dry Filter to the United States, which is a book published by the aquarium.

A brochure named "SeaScope" published by Systems began to enter various fish shops, which introduced these new technologies. In the late 1980s, Charles

Delbick and Julian

Some articles written by Sprung help to spread this knowledge further. Although the new feeding method was not widely adopted in the United States at that time, it was developed by Delbeek in 1994.

and

The landmark book Coral Aquarium written by Sprung made the Berlin model a household name. Later, Nelson and Fossa translated the series Modern Coral Aquarium to supplement these knowledge and technologies. We can say that the internet has become a big piece of the puzzle of seawater aquarium, while modern international coral websites, such as coral reefs.

Central, can make new coral cultivation technology quickly known.

Looking back at history from all aspects, we can see all the parts that make up the picture of modern coral aquarium. The development of history has never stopped, and so has the history of the aquarium. Modern technology is changing with each passing day. Since the early 1990s, our work of replenishing evaporated water can be fully automated, and electronic devices for monitoring PH value and controlling calcium counters and ozone machines have also become popular. The water nitrogen removal device and reverse osmosis technology in the space age have also entered the daily aquarium field. If the aquarium is abnormal, modern control equipment can send paging information to the owner. Even in the aquarium field, there are people who are tired of technology and return to nature, such as Lee.

chin

British and Monaco aquariums. With the exhibition of seawater aquariums, people's understanding of biochemical processes in aquariums has gradually increased, and some once popular equipment has been abandoned. Now on the internet, similar to DSB,

Algae filtration, water filling layer and ATS have become the focus of discussion. Some enthusiasts even began to try to abandon the protein separator-it has been recognized as the most important invention in the field of coral aquarium for many years.

The earliest finished calcium reactor appeared in 1989, with a primitive design, which used aerodynamic circulation to help dissolve carbon dioxide.

Li Jin

Electronic News Gathering (electronic news gathering)

This name is probably the most frequently mentioned among the early pioneers of natural filtration. In the early 1960s, Mr. Eng lived in Indonesia and successfully established the Coral Aquarium with the help of live stones, live sand, natural seawater and air pump. However, it will take some time for his achievements to be widely recognized, mainly because this method can only be done by people living by the sea. In other parts of the world, beach lovers have achieved similar success with local corals and algae. Jean from Monaco Aquarium

Joubert published Joubert model in 1989. In this model, a low-oxygen zone is established by means of water-filled layer or thick sand layer, where anaerobic bacteria treat nitrate into nitrogen, and the water body can be kept in a low nitrate state for a long time without protein separator.

Another potential method in the field of personal aquarium is ATS (Seaweed Turf Washer), whose theoretical basis is based on Walter.

Artie suggested Walter

Adi works for the Smithsonian Institution's Caribbean Coral Exhibition. This method uses shallow trays, plants some special algae for filtration, and sets a backlight period between the algae device and the main tank, which can effectively maintain the stability of the PH value of the aquarium. With entering the 2 1 century, all these methods are gradually crossing and merging, and new methods are constantly emerging. In the future, new methods of resin and filter materials may enter our aquarium.

Finally, as a conclusion, I have a brief interview record here. The interviewee is Dieter, one of the pioneers of German aquarium.

Mr Brockman, when I was in Germany in May 2004, I had the honor to talk with him about the history and future of the aquarium. The following is my interview record:

In the past 50 years, which inventions are the most important for us to realize today's mariculture?

Improvements in protein separator, lighting system, submersible pump and biological collection and transportation technology include collecting smaller individuals, better transportation protection knowledge and faster transportation process.

Who are the key figures in the history of seawater aquarium?

Peter (male name)

Wilkens, Sven Fossa and Alf Nelson, Julian Spring and Martin Moi,

There are also societies and organizations that spread knowledge about seawater aquarium.

How do you evaluate the current situation of seawater aquarium?

We have introduced too many wild individuals and should rely more on artificial propagation technology. Artificial propagation technology must be constantly improved to provide more kinds to meet people's needs. I think in the next 15 years, the world can reach an agreement to completely ban the import of wild species. The Internet has brought benefits to the dissemination of knowledge, but it has also brought some problems: there are often some wrong explanations and thoughtless so-called "experiences" on websites, and some of them are accepted as facts. He specifically mentioned the practice of adding vodka to fish tanks, and criticized that this method would not be accepted by responsible coral farmers, and safe carbon sources could be purchased if necessary. )

What do you think of the future of Coral Aquarium?

Progress will be exponential. Just as it took 30 years for computers to develop from a room full of electron tubes to today's desktop computers, so does the aquarium. Cultured marine fish will eventually become popular. Of course, the problems that need to be faced include economic problems. At present, Germany imports about 300 emperor immortals every year, which is not enough to make aquarium companies profitable. Germany lifted its original import ban on "Immortal" in the early 1990s. )

Wild catching of ornamental fish must be strictly restricted and prohibited, so that aquarium companies can make profits in such a small market, and of course the price will be high then.

Here's what Julian Sprung thought about the future of the aquarium when I interviewed him:

Artificial propagation of marine life will be welcomed, because the demand for hybrid species and preferred species with more unique and beautiful colors will increase, and artificially propagated fish will be easier to raise. Through genetic engineering, we can make the color of coral more colorful, and its color will not be affected by water quality and light, as long as it meets the basic conditions of coral health. Most anemones sold in the market come from artificial propagation or commercial cloning. Reducing the damage to the environment can make the seawater aquarium easier. Although these technologies may cause some controversy, they are really beneficial to the environment. This can reduce the capture of wild animals, because artificial creatures are easier to raise. In any case, the key is to guide those who are engaged in the collection and trading of marine ornamental organisms to switch to the marine aquaculture industry. Coral farms should be located in the Pacific region, so that residents in these areas can benefit from these green ecological trade and avoid exploiting natural coral resources.

abstract

From the earliest fresh water aquarium driven by pneumatic pump, seawater aquarium has gone a long way. Modern coral aquarium is the frontier of the whole aquarium technology. Thanks to the knowledge of aquarium spread through books, magazines and the Internet, our future progress will be faster. In retrospect, the mistakes we made are also obvious. Even Peter

In today's popular Berlin model put forward by wilkens, we gradually find that wet and dry filtration is unnecessary. The three basic technical equipment of Berlin model are only water pump, high-intensity lighting system and protein separator. Of course, the Berlin Aquarium Association has also brought us ways to maintain normal hardness and calcium content. We will not forget other people who have contributed to today's scientific and technological achievements of the aquarium, such as Li.

chin

Eng and some early cold water and seawater aquarium lovers, as well as the knowledge gained by universities and research institutions around the world through experiments. Our aquarium technology will continue to improve, but we can't forget our responsibility to these animals and the environment. Whether we keep those creatures in the aquarium or those living in the wild, they are our inspiration.