Shedd Aquarium in full John G. Shedd Aquarium, one of the largest indoor aquariums in the world. Built with funds donated by John Graves Shedd, a prominent local businessman, the aquarium opened in Chicago in 1929. It contains more than 200 exhibition tanks, housing in excess of 5,000 specimens of 560 species of fishes (both freshwater and marine) and other aquatic animals from around the world.