Algae bloom

[Kevin8888]

I'm to lazy to read through all the posts right now, but essentially a 0 on your test and having algae in your tank just means that the algae is using up the nitrates/nitrites/etc fast enough that they cant build up in the water, it by no means implies that they are actually 0, if you somehow removed all the algae from your tank those numbers would start to go up, if you didn't first deal with the problem that created the nitrates in the first place (which can be the result of over feeding, fish waste etc). 0 never means 0 unless your tank is bare with no life. Like Dripn.wet said (just happened to notice his post refferenced scrubbers) you should look into them, they make your scrubber a more ideal place to grow algae rather then your display, as a result slowly but surely (and in some cases very quickly) you will notice less and less algae in the display, IMO a scrubber should be mandatory in all tanks.

 

[Otherone]

I agree with kevin8888 - Zero Nitrate and esp. PO4 means the algae, diatoms, and cyano are feasting. Algae and Cyano photosynthesis, cut back on your lighting. Diatoms are probably being fueled by silicates - use better quality water. Reality is if you don't make your own R/O water you don't really know whats in it - your trusting big business with cheap labor to do the right thing.

 

[Cheesehead]

I actually do use my onw, but I also have to trust my LFS's DI/RO unit since my RO unit just cant make enough since it is only a 2 gallon bucket that the filter fills.