All corrections
Wikipedia July 16, 2026 at 01:17 AM

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquarium

4 corrections found

1
Claim
Robert Warrington
Correction

The chemist's surname was Warington, not Warrington.

Full reasoning

This name is misspelled. Contemporary and reference sources identify the aquarium pioneer as Robert Warington (1807–1867), not “Robert Warrington.”

A biographical entry in the Dictionary of National Biography is titled “Warington, Robert” and says that in 1849 he began investigations on aquaria. The original 1851 Chemical Society paper on the aquarium principle is also authored by Robert Warington. These sources contradict the spelling used here.

2 sources
2
Claim
The Aquarium: An Unveiling of the Wonders of the Deep Water
Correction

Gosse's 1854 book was titled *The Aquarium: An Unveiling of the Wonders of the Deep Sea*, not *Deep Water*.

Full reasoning

The book title is given incorrectly here. The 1854 title page reads “The Aquarium: An Unveiling of the Wonders of the Deep Sea.” Multiple bibliographic records for the work use that exact title. That directly contradicts the phrase “Deep Water” in this sentence.

2 sources
3
Claim
William Stimson
Correction

The zoologist's surname was Stimpson, not Stimson.

Full reasoning

This person’s name is misspelled. Smithsonian sources identify the naturalist associated with early American aquariums as William Stimpson (1832–1872).

The Smithsonian’s article on the institution’s first aquarium is titled “William Stimpson and the Smithsonian’s First Aquarium” and repeatedly refers to him as William Stimpson. The Smithsonian Archives also have a biographical authority record for Stimpson, William, 1832–1872. That contradicts the spelling “Stimson” used here.

2 sources
4
Claim
convert ammonia to nitrate (removing nitrogen at the expense of aquatic plants)
Correction

Converting ammonia to nitrate is nitrification; it changes nitrogen's form but does not remove nitrogen from the water.

Full reasoning

This statement confuses nitrification with nitrogen removal.

Authoritative water-treatment sources explain that nitrification is the biological oxidation of ammonia to nitrite and then nitrate. That process does not remove nitrogen from the system; the nitrogen is still present as nitrate. Actual biological nitrogen removal requires an additional step such as denitrification, which converts nitrate to nitrogen gas, or uptake into biomass such as plants.

NOAA’s aquarium-system description likewise says biological filtration converts toxic ammonia and nitrite to nitrate. So the article’s parenthetical claim that this conversion is “removing nitrogen” is incorrect.

3 sources
Model: OPENAI_GPT_5 Prompt: v1.16.0