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Originally Posted by map95003  From experience I've had with algae and advise I got from other members here on RB, I would worry more about getting the water parms in check, if possible cut the lights for a few days. Once the nitrates and phosphates are in check that will starve the algae and it will start going away slowly on it's own.
If you're overfeeding cut back. Make sure your bulbs are OK, could try something like Pura Phoslock or Phosban.
I know you said you're using RO water, is it a RODI unit? if not consider adding DI.
After about 6 months my TDS meter was still reading "0" TDS and I had a crazy algae bloom...I got sick of trying almost every thing and replaced my RO filters...not sure if it's coincidence but the algae problem went away on it's own.
I've asked the question many times "does 0 TDS mean your water is OK?" I've read lots of articles, maybe I'm just stupid but I can't seem to get the "Yes" or "No" answer I'm after...It's like going to the Dr. they could never give a straight answer 
Good luck |
For you map, the simple answer is "yes", 0 tds is perfect water in the sense that is pure and will not add to any algae problem or lead to any. However, this "pure" water is stripped of all minerals and elements used by fish and coral, that is why we supplement. The number one reason for hair algae is phosphate and silicate. Excessive proteins don't help either. Some may find that adding a phosphate media (in bags) help but from my experience (and others I have advised) the application of Phoslock or phosban is with a reactor. You can clean what rocks you can by scrubbing with a tooth brush in removed aquarium water along with the use of the reactor as it will take about 2-3 weeks before you see the results of the reactor depending on how loaded the tank is.