yes i enjoy both chemistry and biology to a great extent. i monitor the tests regularly and am quite certain that my nitrate and phosphate kits are quite accurate. the only thing that has changed recently is the sudden drop off of nitrates which i attribute to the extensive growth of the plants. i would also like to assume that is the cause of the staghorn algae. if not then i am at somewhat of a loss. its too soon to tell, but i think the staghorn algae is now somewhat dormant after heavy dosing of nitrogen in addition with the normal dosing of trace, potas and phosphorous. i was not previously dosing nitrogen as the demand for it was met by water changes, my tap water contains approx 5ppm of nitrate, fish waste and food. i believe it was my mistake of not closely watching the nitrates which caused the outbreak. there is no other trace of any other types of algae except a very small amount of green spot algae on the glass which seems to grow very slowly and is quite managable. one thing i have not understood on this forum is the 50% weekly water change. how do you accomplish that properly. i do not feel comfortable dumping 25 gallons of water into the tank straight from the tap without it being at the exact proper temperature and being dechlorinated first.