Buckets exist in the real world, and so do fish, so of course buckets of fish are a thing in reality too. They serve much the same purpose as they do in Minecraft – a way to transport a fish from one place to another.
But perhaps more interesting is the practice of keeping fish in a permanent tank for display, called an aquarium. The word was coined by English naturalist Philip Henry Gosse, who built an aquarium in 1853 at London Zoo – sparking a craze for keeping fish in Victorian England.
Some claim that the Romans built aquariums after inventing the glass pane. But this is unlikely to be true, and there’s little evidence for it in historical documents. Instead, the first evidence of people keeping fish for pleasure (rather than just to eat) comes from 1369, when the Hongwu Emperor of China started a company that made large porcelain tubs for keeping goldfish.
Fish didn’t last long in these creations, because their gills take oxygen from the water and when the oxygen runs out the fish suffocate. It wasn’t until 1850, when English chemist Rovert Warington created an aquarium containing not just goldfish but eelgrass and snails too, that the first stable aquarium was made. The plants created oxygen, the fish consumed the oxygen, and the snails kept algae in check.
So if you want a realistic aquarium in your Minecraft home, remember to stock it with more than just fish. You’ll want to add some seagrass too, maybe some kelp, and perhaps even some coral. Remember: a diverse ecosystem is a healthy one.
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