I remember plowing through a R2R thread on Redfield Ratio and cyano/dino issues and thought this blurb was in some ways the best distillation - not saying it's correct, just that it laid out a reasonable theory as to how it relates to what we actually see in our tanks. It also would provide the explanation of why Vibrant might work as it is (in theory) introducing a bacterial mix that is particularly good at uptake of nutrients which allows it to outcompete the "nuisance" microbes/algae. It also touches on the interrelated issue of trace elements and how those can affect what might otherwise appear to be a healthy balance. What do you think Brian @pdxmonkeyboy and Taylor @Taylorhardy1 ? Would this seem to fit with your experience? I know you both have done some deep digging in the area.
If we are nitrogen limited we are more likely to grow cyanobacteria. We can either reduce the phosphates available to reduce cyano growth or increase nitrogen to allow algae to out compete the cyano. If we are phosphate limited we are more likely to grow dinoflagellates. We can either reduce nitrogen to reduce the amount of dino's growing or add phosphates to allow algae to out compete them. We can use visual clues in our tank to determine if our systems are balanced. If they are balanced and we still have these issues then it is likely we are missing a trace element such as iron or manganese.