The Florida Aquarium opened in March 1995 as a privately funded entity and became a public-private partnership when the city of Tampa assumed responsibility for its debt in 1999.

Germann came from the John G. Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, where he was executive vice president for 16 years, and also served on the advisory board of the EPA Great Lakes National Program Office.

It wasn’t until 1992 that the Tampa City Council accepted the Florida Aquarium’s proposed plan to begin construction in its new downtown location.

[5] The Florida Aquarium was largely constructed using borrowed money amid inflated projections that high attendance and ticket sales would pay off the incurred debt.

[6] A sting ray was even nicknamed "Roseanne Barb" by a marketing department in an attempt to attract attention to the aquarium.

[6] Thom Stork became President and CEO following Swanagan's departure for Georgia and continued the financial successes of his predecessor.

In 2005, under Stork, The Florida Aquarium added Explore A Shore, a 2-acre outdoor, water adventure play area for children adjacent to the Caribbean Cantina.

[7] Ocean Commotion brought high technology into an Aquarium for the first time, using "smart wi-fi' that was location-aware to transmit additional content and information directly to a guest's smartphone.

For the first time, the habitat featured television cameras in the water, so that visitors could see the sea life from unique perspectives.

To fight this loss, and attempt to save the coral – of extreme importance to the well-being of the state - the Florida Aquarium has joined a consortium led by the University of Miami, including Nova Southeastern University, coral conservation organization SECORE International, and the Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science.

[17] On March 22, 2024 the Florida Aquarium a unveiled a new 4,200-square-foot expansion of its Coral Conservation and Research Center at its Apollo Beach campus.

Several times a year adults can attend Evening Tide Talks, which are lectures given by renowned scientists, photographers, explorers, and researchers.

These materials were developed for grades Pre-K through 8 and consist of pre and post lessons, scavenger hunts, and lab programs.

It is "designed to encourage interaction with parent and child through story time, craft making, activity center play and touring the aquarium".