The enduring popularity of Finding Nemo, which was shown on Christmas Eve last year on BBC One, has been spurring sales of the clownfish and blue tang species since the film was first released in 2003, according to Aquarium Architecture co-founder Roland Horne.
“I call it the Finding Nemo effect,” he said. “We get people coming to us and asking for Nemo and Dory, even now.”
Finding Nemo isn’t the only mainstream movie driving fish-buying trends. Piranhas remain a favourite among James Bond fans. Autonomy founder Mike Lynch famously kept a tank of piranhas at the company’s Cambridge headquarters.
“People are often disappointed to find out that piranhas are actually very shy and they have stomachs the size of your fingernail so they could hardly chew your arm off,” said Mr Horne.
The 2008 Will Smith blockbuster Seven Pounds created a wave of jellyfish sales, specifically box jellyfish, as kept by Mr Smith's character in the film.
All in all, Mr Horne estimates that the effect of fish in popular culture, primarily Finding Nemo, has helped increase sales threefold. Turnover at the firm hit £1.2m last year.
Aquarium Architecture provides high-end aquariums to commercial and residential customers across the globe. Starting at £15,000 for a small tank, the installations go up to £1.2m.
Previous customers include footballer Wayne Rooney, actress Gillian Anderson and the royal family of the United Arab Emirates. The company’s most recent project is a seahorse aquarium in cricketer Kevin Pietersen’s new children’s hair salon in Notting Hill, which opens on Saturday.
“There’s a clownfish in that tank, too,” added Mr Horne.