Cyano is typically from phosphates. nitrates & lighting issues (could be all of these, one of these or a combination of any of them). Ideally your phosphates & nitrates should be at or very close to 0 PPM. Water changes is typically the better way to lower either of these if you discover a problem. I don't suggest the use of absorbing type products such as phosban if you find you have high levels of phosphate. Phosban and clones work well at getting low levels down to 0 PPM but are mostly useless at getting high levels under control.If you question your test kit or just want to compare notes, bring me a water sample and I'll double check it for you.
Switching to metal halide will not correct this problem if the water quality issue is not corrected. Is it a new metal halide set up? Old metal halide lamps might be just a bad as old PC's. What is the kelvin temperature of the metal halides? Lower kelvin temperature lamps can sometimes cause undesirable algae outbreaks as well. Pc's are pretty cheap to replace, Let me know what you have and I'll give you a quote on replacing them. Might be cheaper and much easier for you to do.
I wouldn't blame the problem on your protien skimmer. Although it is ideal to have your skimmer working properly, plenty of people have aquariums with out protein skimmers and do not have cyano. Still, I would look into what is decreasing it's performance and try and get it running better.
Getting your ro "fixed up" could be helpful as well but I wouldn't place all the blame on it either. Again, plenty of people are running aquariums Using tap water without cyano present in the aquarium. Having said that, I still think it's better to use ro / di water for top off and water changes though. Have you tested you water coming out of your ro? A tsd or conductivity test would tell a lot about it's condition. Pre-filters and carbon blocks should be replaced no less than once per year, I would replace them about every 4-6 months or pesonally. As cheap as they are it's not a big investment and will significantly extend the life of your Ro membrane and Di cartridge if you have one. Chlorine very quickly "wears out" di media an I think chloringe is harmful to the ro membrane as well.
Another misconception I deal with a lot is "I use ro water, my tank can't have phosphates". This is a incorrect belief. Phosphates, much like nitrates are also a part of the metabolic process. Fish food, fish waste and other organics can and will develop phosphates in your aquarium.
My quick fix is basically a weak dose of eurithromycian (spelling?) It'll kill cyano over night with out harming the aquarium's organisms. The cyano will return in a short amount of time though if you don't remove from the aquarium what aloud it to happen in the first place.
Let me know if there is any way I can help.
Joel
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