The aquarium was built in 1913 as part of the Berlin Zoological Garden complex.

[1] Since its opening, the Zoo-Aquarium has been ranked among the public aquariums with the world's greatest biodiversity.

[2] It contains jellyfish, tropical and native fishes, crocodilians (caimans and gharial), and a broad variety of insects.

In addition to its 250 tanks for fish,[1] the aquarium houses a wide variety of amphibians and reptiles, including tuataras.

[2] With a total capacity of 25,000 litres (6,600 US gal), twelve basins present different sections through the world of corals.