UPDATE:
Todays nitrate test came back at 40
. The week before Christmas it was 80. So whatever I am doing I must be doing it right. I am having a diatom issue still but I guess as the nitrates imrpove maybe that will clear up too?
My next plan of action is to add more flow to the DT (only flow is from return) and redo my sump. It sufices, but I prefer it to actually do what it is supposed to. One of the ballasts on the bubble trap is broke, so I currently have a piece of plexiglass clamped in place so it will function until I can make it through my swamp of a back yard to the shed to find another tank to make a sump out of.
I did try an algae scrubber in the beginning, but for some reason I kept getting micro bubbles. Once I took it out, the microbubble cleared up. I may try it again when I make a new sump, if I can get a larger sump built. It is a tight fit under there.