I have always found aquarium watching restful and try to put time aside every day to spend ten minutes or more just watching the fish.
I have never doubted the freshwater aquarium health benefits and find that it takes my mind away from the pressures of daily life.
Any negative thoughts left over from the office and the pressures of the day job soon disappear as you get drawn into the tank.
And it's not just the fish; the plants in an aquarium invariably move in time with the water and get disturbed by the fish.
Ten minutes can turn into half an hour without you even noticing.
Research has been conducted that shows that aquarium watching will reduce stress levels in adults, reduce hyper activity in children and has even helped with Alzheimer patients, calming them and encouraging them to eat more at meal times.
People suffering from high blood pressure have benefited from watching an aquarium on a daily basis.
Research has shown that to get maximum benefit from an aquarium it does need to contain fish as well as plants and companies are now setting up different therapeutic tanks to help with different conditions choosing slow moving fish that move in groups to calm distressed patients and fast moving fish with bright colours to help lift the mood of depressed or severely ill patients.
In other studies it has been found that watching a freshwater aquarium significantly reduces stress in dental patients who are undergoing treatment and significantly reduces the amount of pain medication needed in that treatment and a number of studies have shown that people who look after and care for aquariums are at significantly lower risk of high blood pressure and stress related illness.
Another good reason to set up a freshwater aquarium.
Enjoy your fish.