Gathering: The Official Guide to Natural Aquariums

Discover the revolutionary experience that, in 2004, changed everything and reshuffled the cards of aquarium dogmas, finally told by the one who originated it.

Do not confuse the various currents of aquaristics and learn to recognize each one. After strong initial resistance, natural aquaristics has largely earned its place in a world still largely dominated by technology enthusiasts.

Learn how to choose the right aquarium based on real criteria.
Discoveries in natural aquaristics teach us that not all aquariums are equal. What are the important criteria and which ones can be overlooked or even avoided?

Know how to avoid the pitfalls and excessive claims of the trade!
The aquarium trade is passionate about technical substrates. But what lessons can be learned from the natural approach? A return to the real functions of an aquarium substrate, away from preconceived ideas and marketing.

Rediscover the simplicity and silence of an aquarium.
Among the many devices described as essential, even vital, by the aquarium trade and manuals, Mattier invites us to take a step back and reconsider everything: which functions really require technology?

Finally understand, simply, how to recognize "good" water and make it "habitable."
Of course, water is at the heart of the approach. But not in the traditional and conventional way. An overview of the subject in light of current knowledge. Get ready to completely change your perspective!

Change your perspective on plants, rediscover them.
In trying to support or even replace them, technology has sometimes done them a disservice. Yet, they have powers that no technology possesses. Mattier helps us rediscover them. Life is back, at last!

Don’t look at snails as mere curiosities anymore.
Aquatic snails have a unique power that no other category of animals possesses in an aquarium. They are a unique link in the ecosystem you will build.

Discover a new and surprising perspective, supported by observations in a natural environment.
Mattier raises a fundamental but taboo question and explains its scientific and theoretical background. With this provocative question, he invites us to decipher the true principles that govern an aquarium and its stability.

Step into the mysterious and fascinating world of "critters," as Mattier calls them!
Beyond snails, a multitude of aquatic invertebrates exist. What role do they play in nature and in aquariums? Dive into the most little-known world of aquarium enthusiasts.

Learn how to fight algae smartly.
Fighting algae without understanding them, treating them as the "weeds" of the aquarium, only leads to a war, usually chemical, that is worse than the problem. What lessons can the natural approach teach us about this central issue?

Be among the first to understand the true foundation of natural aquaristics.
This is one of the questions that founded natural aquaristics. Mattier invites us to free ourselves from dogmas and prejudices and to ask the real question: what does the filter do that would not be done without it?

Change your perspective! This is why natural aquaristics is so exciting: it encourages us to stop seeing the aquarium as a machine to plug in, which discourages us with each failure, and instead to view it as a true ecosystem, fascinating and ever-changing. But to do this, you have to learn to let go!