The Health Benefits of Having a Fish Aquarium
Goldfish are beautiful, and they are soothing to watch in an aquarium.
Benefits of Having Pet Fish
People are attracted to water. It is in our nature. Water is considered a sacred element in many different religions as well as a necessity for human life. So, how is sitting around an aquarium and watching aquatic life beneficial to our life? This article explains how having a goldfish or an aquarium can be beneficial to the health of humans.
Aquariums Are Good for Mental Health
The aquarium provides a distraction from everyday life and things that are causing stress. The inhabitants of an aquarium relax and soothe people—their gentle. fluid movements help to calm the mind and lessen anxieties.
Building and maintaining an aquarium can be done as a stress management project. Focusing on the vibrant and different colors of tropical fish can elevate one's mood while offering a healthy distraction at the same time. This is why having an aquarium or being around one is often good for people's mental health.
Focusing on the vibrant colors of the fish can elevate your mood.
Healthy Effects on the Heart
A study done at the National Marine Aquarium by Plymouth University and the University of Exeter revealed that people who gaze at swimming fish have lowered blood pressure and a reduced heart rate. When these people stared at an empty tank with rocks and seaweed in it, their heart rate went down by seven percent. This was thought to be greatly beneficial for senior citizens with high blood pressure.
Studies have found that gazing at swimming fish can help lower one's heart rate.
Benefits to the Elderly and People With Alzheimer's
In the year 2009, Purdue University did a study that showed that elderly people who were exposed to an aquarium consumed 17.2% more food than those who did not, enjoyed positive weight gain, and required fewer nutritional supplements.
They also had a noticeable decrease in disruptive behaviors like physical aggression, wandering, pacing, yelling, and required less medication. Also, the patients with Alzheimer's displayed better short-term memory.
Lead author and Nursing Professor Nancy Edwards said, "I think the combination of movement, color and sound provides a stimulating experience for the patients. Often, long-term care environments do not offer a lot of stimulation, but fish move around in various patterns, so there's enough variability to keep patients' interest."
Doctors' and dentists' offices often include fish tanks in their waiting rooms to help calm patients.
Aquariums Help Sooth Anxiety
It was noted in a 2016 study called "Marine Biota and Psychological Well Being" that patients in doctor's offices required less pain medication after watching fish in an aquarium. Deborah Cracknell, the study's lead author, said, "Fish tanks [...] are often associated with attempts at calming patients in doctors' offices and dental waiting rooms."
The effects of an aquarium on patients who were about to go through a stressful medical procedure were analyzed by the Center for Human-Animal Interaction at Virginia Commonwealth University. Forty-two patients were rotated between rooms with and without fish tanks while awaiting treatment. The people who were around an aquarium had a 12% average reduction in anxiety before their procedures.
Kids' brains can benefit from keeping fish.
Pet Fish Are Good for Kids
Having an aquarium in the home can benefit children by decreasing anxiety and also helping them learn about biology, chemistry, and responsibility. Additionally, a fish tank inspires creativity in children and encourages them to think.
Children can learn about different fish species, how they breathe underwater, how to take care of an aquarium, and, in more advanced aquariums, they can even learn trade skills like plumbing and carpentry. Their imagination and creativity are engaged when they have to build the playground of the fish and set up different components of the aquarium.
When kids complete tasks and achieve their goals, their self-confidence grows. If kids are able to recognize a need in the world of fish and fill it, it is a valuable social skill to apply to people.
In Feng Shui, fish are associated with money and luck.
Fish in Feng Shui
In Feng Shui (the Chinese way of trying to harmonize everything in the environment by arranging furniture and other environmental elements), fish tanks are commonly used with the belief that they enhance money and luck.
Many Asian restaurants have a fish tank near the entrance. It is also believed to counter negative energy. They believe a fish tank should have nine goldfish, eight of them being red or gold and one black. If the black one dies, it is believed that it absorbed all the negative energy in the atmosphere.
Pet Fish Are Wonderful
In conclusion, having a pet fish or an aquarium has many different benefits to the overall health and well-being of the owner. It is good for people of all ages. People are attracted to marine life and water for various reasons.
An aquarium enhances one's mood and is a learning tool and a great hobby for some, especially those who are too busy to care for a dog or a cat. Pet fish can be a wonderful thing. But if for any reason you can't have an aquarium in your home, you can get similar benefits from visiting a public aquarium or simply watching a soothing video of aquarium fish like the one below.
Sources and Further Reading
- Watching Fish Is Good For Your Health | IFLScience
- New study finds aquariums deliver health benefits | ECEHH
- The effects of interacting with fish in aquariums on human health and well-being: A systematic review | PLoS One
Comments
Margarita Cisne on July 28, 2020:
It might be relaxing for you but not for the fish! I couldn't possibly relax looking at them and thinking how they got there. They're uprooted from their natural habitat to be placed in a small bowl to spend the rest of their lives going in circles. Sad sad, too unethical!
Gary John weir on June 25, 2020:
What size of tank do indeed for three fish hay are fan tails getting big
blob on April 11, 2019:
Sheesh I don't know? Perhaps, an AQUARIUM or a suitable sized TANK. Not a bowl.
Ezria Copper (author) on August 22, 2017:
So what should they be put in?
Random person from the internet on August 22, 2017:
i really hate it when people put fish in bowls its very unhealthy for them
