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2,500 BC - Fishkeeping dates as far back as the Ancient Sumerians. They kept wild-caught fish in ponds to be used for fresh food before meals.
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1, 000 BC - The Chinese are believed to be the first fishkeepers to have significant success in keeping & breeding live-fish for food (carp).
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1000 AD - Medieval Europe - Carp pools are kept on estates and monasteries as an alternative food source when meat supply is short.
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The famous fish appears in Europe by the 1600s. Originally, these fish were not the bright, orange we know today. Selective breeding has made them from being gold/grey to the red/orange/white multi-patterned fish we know.
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Robert Warrington is credited for studying the tank's requirement to be "cycled," extending the life of the fish. The practice of fishkeeping also becomes expensive, therefore mostly reserved for the wealthy (at the time).
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The term "aquarium" is coined. The keeping of fish, amphibians and reptiles has become useful in the study of nature and interest in aquatic life increases, public aquariums begin to appear.
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Aside from goldfish, most fish being kept in tanks were wild caught until the 1920s. Fish begin to be bred and sold commercially.
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Fishkeeping has evolved to a level in which we can sustain the proper conditions for extremely large aquatic life, such as sharks, dolphins and even whales! Hobbyists can easily take care of a fresh or saltwater fish tank with all of the technology that has become available.
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618AD - 907AD - The Chinese keep and selectively breed a species of carp purely for decoration. It was forbidden to eat these fish.
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500BC - 480AD - The Romans are the first recorded people to keep live species of marine fish. The fish, mostly barbels, were kept in artificial ponds and were supplied with fresh seawater from the ocean.
