Axolotls et cie, poubellarium
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The poubellarium

The poubellarium is an outdoor bin prepared a little before the summer to put the fish in. Neither filtered nor heated, it allows your fish to regain a semi-wild state and saves you the chore of maintaining the aquarium for several weeks. All the information to create your poubellarium in this tip! Note: the use of the poubellarium is mainly intended for tropical fish.

How the poubellarium works


For an efficient poubellarium:
It is necessary to have a large volume of water: at least 100 liters, at best 200 liters.
No need to install a filter.
To be sure that the water is regulated to a minimum, wait for the formation of algae and duckweed before introducing your fish. These will ingest part of the nitrates. Place your poubellarium so that it receives the sun from the east and south. Good to know: prefer a container that is wider than it is deep and avoid the inflatable pool which, although practical and inexpensive, risks bursting. Then it is all a question of timing: You must prepare the poubellarium at least 1.5 months before the introduction of the fish: this will give the necessary bacteria and algae time to develop.
You can then install your poubellarium from the beginning of June until the end of August. Note: keep the container with water from one year to the next. Thus, the living food will be even more abundant: even if the larvae die in the winter, they regenerate in the spring thanks to the eggs.
Benefits of a poubellarium: a vacation for you and your fish The poubellarium has many benefits for you and your fish. For you, this option is: economical: apart from the purchase of the container, you save for 1 to 2 months on all the usual expenses related to your aquarium; with regard to heating for example: the trash can heats up during the day and cools down at night, so no need to worry about it; autonomous: no need to take care of the maintenance of the aquarium; nor the meal of your fish: they will feed on bloodworms, mosquito larvae, daphnia and algae. For your fish, the advantages of the poubellarium are as follows: their colors will be more vivid after this semi return to the wild; your fish themselves are more lively; reproduction is thus favored without your having to deal with it. Note: if you have fry at the end of the holiday, you can only introduce them very gently into your aquarium, as they are very sensitive to temperature changes. What fish can you put in a poubellarium? While the poubellarium is a simple solution to getting your fish on vacation, not everyone can enjoy it. Indeed, it is mainly exotic fish that can tolerate this acclimatization.
Concretely, you can introduce:

All viviparous: guppy, platy or molly
The cichlids of the great African lakes
Pelvicahromis pulcher (Pelmato)
The tanichtys albonubes (Chinese minnow or neon of the poor); bearded men, fighters, rasboras, etc.

On the other hand, avoid:
scalars, razor clams;
red noses, penguin fish;
Hypostomus plecostomus, nannostomus, etc.
And the list is still long on both sides: ask at the pet store to find out if your fish can stay in a poubellarium.
Good to know: temperatures that are too cool will be fatal to your fish: do not take them out before the temperature is stable (around 20-22 ° C).
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