pete wrote:

I see. Would it be a safe assumption to make then that if one's nitrates and
phosphates are nearly undetectable (nitrates *are* undetectable, actually, at
least according to my AP test kit - I have a very low fish load which I plan to
gradually increase), then overfeeding is probably not happening?

Overfeeding is probably a blind alley for you. Unfortunately, as so often is the
case on Usenet, the important point is being missed. If your Nitrates are
undetectable, what are your plants using for Nitrogen? Ditto phosphates?

Many of us with CO2 and lots of plants have to dose Nitrates in order to keep up
plant growth. I'm dosing almost 1ppm Nitrate per day now, and still Nitrates measure
right near 5ppm or below.

My hair algae problem seems to be linked to excess Iron. When I cut the Iron dosing
down to almost nothing, it went away.