Acquario di Bologna is organized by editorial pillars. Start from habitats, care, conservation, or technique instead of scrolling through a chronological list.
Beauty
Aquatic ecosystems, species, and natural wonder: the beauty of place comes before the aquarium.
Latest 6 of 6 articles
For six months each year, the Amazonian igapó becomes a submerged forest where pacu and catfish swallow fruits and scatter seeds between the trunks, merging jungle and river into a single blackwater organism.
Since 2011, a floating forest of sargassum weighing millions of tonnes has crossed the tropical Atlantic each year. Beneath its golden canopy shelter turtle hatchlings, camouflaged fish, and hundreds of invertebrates: a nomad ecosystem that can only be measured from space.
Certain sea slugs of the genus Elysia steal chloroplasts from the algae they eat and keep them working inside their own cells for months. It is the only known case in the animal kingdom of stable appropriation of photosynthetic machinery.
Sixty years after 1963 soundings wrote off the reefs of Benin's continental shelf, an expedition using sidescan sonar and underwater drones finds a living mesophotic garden at 54 meters: the first visual evidence of live coral in the continental Gulf of Guinea.
On the Yucatán Peninsula, rainwater seeps through limestone caves until it reaches the sea, forming subterranean estuaries where roots, algae, and endemic fish create submerged forests few people ever see.
In the Caribbean, coral reefs depend on herbivores as much as on coral itself. Parrotfish, sea urchins, and king crabs keep algae in check so light can reach the living architecture.
Responsibility
Ethical aquarium keeping, responsibility, and more conscious care decisions.
Latest 7 of 7 articles
The University of Bologna Zoology Collection, Didamar in Fano, and Acquario di Cattolica: a documented guide to venues accessible from Bologna.
On the Ise-Shima peninsula, a few dozen elderly women still dive on a single breath to gather abalone, sea urchins and seaweed. Their craft, documented for two millennia, is today both cultural heritage and a practical lesson in marine sustainability.
Off the southern coast of the Peloponnese, beneath three or four metres of crystal-clear water, lie the streets, houses and tombs of a Bronze Age city that sank some three thousand years ago. It is the best-preserved submerged town in the world.
Ten nautical miles off southern Greenland, the wooden hull of the ship that carried Scott to Antarctica sits intact in the half-dark. An international expedition is now building its digital twin before the sea erases it.
Volunteer divers have recovered a roughly 3,000-year-old bronze sword from the protected wreck sites of Salcombe, off south Devon. Together with more than 400 gold objects, axes and ingots, the find turns the western Channel into a Bronze Age trade route.
Rome opened the Acquario Romano near Termini in 1887. Its tanks operated for about a decade; the neoclassical building now houses the Casa dell'Architettura.
The opening note of Acquario di Bologna: a magazine for looking at water, aquariums, and aquatic life with better judgment.
Connection
The bridge between aquariums, real habitats, responsible trade, and conservation.
Latest 6 of 6 articles
Female zebra sharks have laid fertile eggs with no male present. Parthenogenesis and the species' first artificial insemination open new paths for elasmobranch conservation.
Common octopus farming is now technically feasible. Three recent studies, on skin microbiome, larval nutrition and laboratory culture, sketch what dignified captivity means for one of the most intelligent invertebrates.
In 2024 a mass mortality of dusky groupers swept across seven Azorean islands. Phylogenetic analysis reveals the RGNNV virus travelled from the Indo-Pacific, showing how aquaculture and shipping connect viral reservoirs we thought were far away.
An experiment published in July 2026 shows that misting seawater over corals during a heatwave cuts Acropora hyacinthus mortality by 55% and improves photosynthetic recovery.
Detritivorous amphipods recycle nutrients. Recent studies evaluate their potential to turn aquaculture waste into live feed rich in protein and omega-3.
About 90% of marine ornamental fish still come from wild collection. Friend of the Sea audits the supply chain, but it does not solve everything. A practical guide to buying responsibly without giving up beauty.
Mastery
Technique, parameters, tools, and data for understanding water before intervening.
Latest 9 of 27 articles
Zoanthid care: low to moderate light, moderate flow, 24-26 °C and specific gravity 1.024-1.026. Pests to watch and handling precautions.
An atlas card for keeping platies without overloading the aquarium: stable water, balanced group, vegetation, and fry control.
An atlas card for reading pulsing xenia: motion, nutrients, no improvised iodine, fast growth, and invasion risk.
An atlas card for using Vallisneria as a living background: runners, current, correct trimming, mineralized water, and lengthwise space.
Care parameters for harlequin rasboras: 23-27 °C, pH 6.0-7.5, at least 70 L for 10 or more fish, planted margins and open swimming space.
An atlas card for using Java moss without turning it into a debris trap: trimming, attachment, gentle flow, and microfauna refuge.
An atlas card for placing Sarcophyton with judgement: shedding, flow, chemical space, growth, and polyp reading.
An atlas card for using Rotala rotundifolia with judgement: light, optional CO2, bush trimming, and colour without chasing extremes.
An atlas card for not underestimating angelfish: real height, territory, predatory mouth, pair dynamics, and suitable tankmates.
A faster route from reading to decision: filter the living atlas, spot critical ranges, and jump to the calculator before changing the aquarium.
Showing 6 of 27 living cards
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betta fish
Parameters, compatibility, and care signals
Decision signal
An atlas card for keeping bettas with better judgment: warm water, low flow, cover, a calm surface, and clear limits on tankmates.
Open the card before buying or mixing the species.
green star polyps
Light, flow, salinity, and stability
Decision signal
An atlas card for enjoying GSP without losing control: mat growth, isolation, visible flow, and preventive trimming.
Open the card before placing, moving, or gluing the colony.
anubias nana
Light, CO2, planting, and growth rhythm
Decision signal
An atlas card for using Anubias nana without burying it or coating it in algae: shade, exposed rhizome, patience, and gentle flow.
Open the card before planting, trimming, or changing light and dosing.
goldfish
Parameters, compatibility, and care signals
Decision signal
An atlas card for moving goldfish beyond the bowl myth: real volume, cool water, strong filtration, and long life.
Open the card before buying or mixing the species.
candy cane coral
Light, flow, salinity, and stability
Decision signal
An atlas card for keeping Caulastrea stable: branching LPS, moderate light, careful feeding, and well-inflated tissue.
Open the card before placing, moving, or gluing the colony.
Bucephalandra
Light, CO2, planting, and growth rhythm
Decision signal
An atlas card for using Bucephalandra pygmaea without burying or forcing it: low light, slow growth, exposed rhizome, and patience.
Open the card before planting, trimming, or changing light and dosing.
