It's Official - Keeping Fish is Good For Your Health!

As any avid aquarist knows, watching the fish in your aquarium is the ideal way to soothe away stresses and relax. But now a new study has shown that the benefits are definitely physiological as well as just mental, with proof that staring at swimming fish really does lower your blood pressure and reduce your heart rate.

Doctors and Dentists have known for ages that a colourful aquarium full of vibrant fish in the waiting room is the perfect antidote to a case of nerves, but in the first investigation of its kind, experts from the National Marine Aquarium, Plymouth University and the University of Exeter assessed people’s physical and mental responses to tanks containing varying levels of fish.

It's hard to believe that the relationship hasn't been officially studied before now, but the study has, for the first time, provided solid evidence that exposure to underwater settings could actually have a positive impact on people’s wellbeing. Interestingly, even viewing an empty tank with just rocks and "seaweed" lowered heart rate by three per cent, but it was clear that the benefits increased in direct proportion to the number of fish in the aquarium.

It's clear then, that given the proven health benefits of a gorgeous aquarium, fishkeepers now have yet another great reason to visit their local Maidenhead Aquatics store!