I would say you should stop feeding the flake....for sure. I fed flake food and it gave me nothing but problems. as far as phyto.....I pour a water bottle in every three days......and my levels dont go up. so damn I have no clue there. I run my lights 24/7 and have no problems. I did have the red slime.....but it went away with bulb change. how much live sand do you have?