Aquariums and aquaria

The word aquarium, according to dictionary references, is what people

commonly call a glass-sided (or transparent-sided) container, a bowl, a tank,
or anything that closely resembles it, by which fish or other water-dwelling
creatures and/or plants are kept as a pet, a hobby, or as a display for an
exhibit, a study, and much more.

By word history, the term aquarium is derived from a combination of a

Latin word aqua which means water, along with a suffix -arium that
means a place relating to.

The term aquaria, on the other hand, is simply the plural form of the word
aquarium. It may also be referred to as aquariums.

Aquaria may be classified in different kinds and in accordance to conditions

such as salinity, temperature, and selection of species included inside.

In terms of salinity, aquaria may be classified as freshwater aquaria the

most popular type of aquarium among pet lovers and pet sellers for being
low cost and low maintenance; marine aquaria - the complex and quite
costly type of aquarium as it require equipments that will somehow follow
the saline conditions of sea water; and the brackish water aquaria a type of
aquarium that contain both marine and fresh water elements.

In terms of temperature, aquaria may be classified as cold water aquaria or

tropical aquaria, and community aquaria, aggressive aquaria, specimen
aquaria, and biotope aquaria among the lists of tanks that are classified
according to the selection of species that are placed inside it.

However to some people, the terms aquarium and aquaria are at some
point different from each other. Some people view that the term aquarium
is only applied to the actual glass or transparent tank where fishes or water
plants are placed. When the tank is filled with the fish, pebbles, water-
dwelling plants, and other equipments, the term applied is now aquaria.