# Algae control through Low-Tech Approach?



## Mxx (Dec 29, 2010)

In your low-tech Walstad-style tanks, how many of you manage to naturally achieve algae-free tanks? Or at least minimal algae growth without having to be manually removing it?

I've just started doing low-tech instead of high-tech, and am not sure whether it is particularly difficult to achieve that algae-free balance which we seek.


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## roadmaster (Nov 5, 2009)

In my low tech soil based tanks, I try to find not how much light can I get away with, but what is minimum amount of light I can use and still get steady albeit slow growth and algae free tank's.(mostly)
Don't think my soil based tank's are Walstad type per se for I dose water with nutrient's once a week ,and change water one a week.
Did take me a fair amount of time to realize how much light I CAN'T use without additional CO2.
Also realized that fish waste alone was not gonna help with my effort's, so I began adding nutrient's in addition to the fish food and waste produced by the fish.
I still get a little bit of algae now and then, but usually when I try to add more demanding plant's and or when I increase the lighting to try those more demanding plant's.
Nothing like the algae I used to grow in impressive amount's.


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## Mr. Bean (Jul 10, 2016)

What kind of light DO you use Roadmaster, and what's your tank size (depth)?


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## roadmaster (Nov 5, 2009)

Mr. Bean said:


> What kind of light DO you use Roadmaster, and what's your tank size (depth)?


 
80 Gallon with four T8 bulb fixture approx. eight inches above the surface of the water.(9 hour photo period)
55 gal with Finnex planted plus (9 hour photo period)
Prolly close 22 to 24 inches to substrate in both tanks.


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## Mxx (Dec 29, 2010)

Do you know what your PAR levels are?

I have a 'Hoppy meter' and so I should go ahead and check what light levels I'm getting at substrate level. 

In another thread Hoppy had advised as follows: "I find that around 30-40 mms of PAR may be a good range for little or no CO2 addition, but 40-50 may give you some algae problems without CO2." 

And from the comments of others it sounds like 20mms is about the minimum you'd want to try to get away with.


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## roadmaster (Nov 5, 2009)

I honestly don't know what the PAR is in my tanks but plant's all are mostly those that don't need much light.


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## micheljq (Oct 24, 2012)

I managed to get algae free tanks with 2 different low light setups, although they were no Walstad's.

At one point the tanks were so clean, especially a shrimp tank i had. I did not have to cleanup the glass, there was no algae there.

Edit : 
There was no co2 nor liquid carbon
Light was a Beamswork 2nd gen fixture.
Not much water changes, like 10L per week on a 240L tank.
Some floating plants, but not much, maybe 10% of the surface.

Michel,


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## 691175002 (Apr 28, 2009)

Both types of tanks will stay algae-free when properly maintained and balanced, but if I had to compare I'd say low-tech is easier to keep algae free. High tech tanks move much faster so you have less time to react to changes. There are also more variables to balance.


The one disadvantage of a low tech tank (besides limited plant choice and sometimes inferior color/density) is that mistakes will hang around.

If you overfed a low-tech tank, anubias leaves will be marred with GSA for the next three months. In a high tech tank those leaves will be trimmed and in the trash within two weeks.


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## JJ09 (Sep 11, 2014)

My 10g tank isn't dirted either, but it's low tech and fairly low light. I have not had any noticeable algae in here for a long time- and it happened when I added floaters- thus cutting more light and consuming more nitrates- that hit the balance for me. Also wound up with some uninvited limpets which annoy me but they do keep the glass sparkling clean. I haven't cleaned the glass in months. 

My other tank which has med light levels (also low tech) still has some algae crop up now and then, and I do have to clean the glass regularly. I have floaters in there too, but not as dense and no limpets yet (plenty of snails tho)

If any of that is helpful...


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## aquaBender (Aug 18, 2016)

I have three Walstad tanks and manage light mainly through the use of dense floating plant growth. That gives me some wiggle room so I can see how much light I can get away with just having solely aquatic growth, basically I remove small amounts of floating plants at a time and increase light and see what happens. I usually save the floating plants in another tank so if algae pops up I can just put them back.


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## Mxx (Dec 29, 2010)

Interesting and helpful comments thanks, and some variations with how people are practicing low-tech tanks and compared to their other tanks. A few of those variables:
- Lighting levels, which I suppose is the primary factor usually in whether you have algae. 
- Either dirted or with supplements, and I suppose either should achieve the goal of non-limiting nutrients for plants (apart from CO2 that is). 
- Water changes or not, and this shouldn't necessarily be a major factor, although Walstad says that water changes do slightly and temporarily disrupt stability and co2 levels. 
- Floating plants or not, and being that many of them use atmospheric co2 and also reduce light levels beneath, are likely quite beneficial in preventing or reducing algae. 
- CO2 or not, (not in your low-tech tanks of course, but for comparison). CO2 in itself doesn't necessarily add more variables and faster changes. It only does that in combination with higher light levels and then the supplementation which may become necessary due to the higher light levels. I was running a low-light non-dirted tank where I was getting some algae, and then I added CO2 and never had any algae again and also did almost no pruning.


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## JJ09 (Sep 11, 2014)

I did not make a note of all those variables: my tanks are not dirted, supplemented with occasional root tabs, regular EI dosing (1/3), 50% water change weekly, and I taped plastic over the LED light source to reduce the light even further. Also on 6hr photoperiod. Another factor is how much water surface motion there is - in my bigger tank I run a small sponge filter on an airstone in a corner that otherwise doesn't get much flow. After much trial and error I found the tank does better if I leave it running all the time, but at a very slow rate so it just barely ripples the surface. I think this has to do with gas exchange/ C02 levels affected by the ripple, but admit I am not very scientific about it!


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

roadmaster said:


> ...I try to find not how much light can I get away with, but what is minimum amount of light I can use and still get steady albeit slow growth and algae free tank's...


This is sage advice in my opinion.


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