Algae

[Mike A]

I have an algae question.  My tank is about 16 months old and I just can't get algae to stop growing.  It is a brownish red color and develops on the glass, powerheads etc.  I also have a turf algae the same brownish red color that just won't stop growing.  It gets very thick.   I have been dosing Vibrant for about 3 months or so with really no improvement.  I have turned the lights off for longer periods, I have blacked it out for a few days with really no improvement.  My nitrates usually read around 5 and phosphates have always been 0.  Temp 78-79 degrees, alk-9.5, calcium-450, mag-1350, PH-8.2, Salinity 1.024.  I have heard that my nitrate reading may be off due to the algae.  (Salifert test kit.)  I took a couple hours 2 weeks ago and picked all of the turf algae off of the rock.  It comes off pretty hard.  The algae on glass comes right off with a magnet cleaner.  The turf algae is starting to grow back.  I have a RO system with DI resin.  I have well water but my TDS meter reads 0.  I am just not sure what else to do.  I am wondering if I go to a 3 stage DI resin if that would help maybe remove something in my water that is causing my algae issue.  I am at my wits end and not sure what to do next.  I really enjoy the hobby but don't know what to do next.  I have 2 tangs and a One spot foxface, plenty of clean up crew (mostly snails and hermit crabs).  The fish don't seem to touch the algae.  I also have a few soft corals and a few other fish.  I have a skimmer that works really well.  If there is anything you can think of to help it would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks for reading.

[Muttley000]

The nutrients are coming from somewhere to feed it.  What do you have for flow in the tank (which keeps junk suspended) and for skimming/filtering?  Do you have a sump to grow a competing algae?  I had good luck with flucon to knock out different types of algae, but in the long term you have to figure out how to export the nutrients before they get used.