Dream, my comment about LFS should have said "take what your LFS says with a grain of salt" pun intended LOL My take on LFS' is probably quite a bit different than most people you will talk to. I have actually been in the biz for 25 years and have dealt with almost every LFS in my area. Excluding the Petcos and Petsmarts we have 2 types of stores here. The small mom and pop shop that will do and say anything to sell you something and the larger knowledgeable stores that only want to help and educate their customers. Neither of these have employees that work on commission so it all comes down to who knows the most.
My advice is to go to all the LFS in your area, you probably have already as any hobbyist would. Ask them questions that you know the answer to. It could be something as simple as asking if that large Clown Trigger would make a good addition to a reef tank, or something more scientific like what the alkalinity should be in a reef. The stores with experienced and helpful employees will take the time and effort to talk with you, not to you, and educate you.
I am at a big advantage in that I get my livestock directly from the wholesalers. And I admit I take full advantage of this. I get up at the crack of dawn twice a week to be at the wholesalers when they open and hand select my livestock for my clients. I also get to pick from the holding tanks hidden in the back rooms and get to request specific items be picked up at collection sites.
I realize that you want to be able to do this as well. The only way I can tell you how to do this is to start a business and hope the wholesalers in your area will admit you into their warehouse...most will only allow people with store fronts to buy from them.
Some internet sites are fantastic. I have purchased numerous fish, inverts and corals from www.liveaquaria.com They are owned by Foster and Smith and have a superb rating. I have never had any problems with livestock I purchased from them...and they ship from Florida to me in California.
Please let me know if I can be of any assistance.

I think that test kits come down to two factors. What someone's LFS carries and what the person is comfortable and used to using. I have been using Aquarium Pharmaceuticals forever so it is the one I am most comfortable with, not to mention it fits into my service techs' kits very easily. I have never had any issues using their kits and all of my techs seem to like using them as well. So that would be the one I suggest, but someone else may suggest something different.

I have a tank full of riccia..... and yes, the riccia on the bottom of the tank is dark green, and the riccia on the top is lime green. The reason being why riccia keeps algae away is because it is a very fast growing plant once you get it started, and eats up all the extra nutrients.
I never bought riccia for my tank, it was a hitchhiker, so small, I never saw it.
At first, when it started to grow I thought it was a baby plant of water sprite that got stuck in
my java moss. After a while I got sick of looking at it and pulled the stuff out and threw it away.
Finally, I just got tired of pulling it out and let it grow. It overtook my tank.
I went on theplantedtank.net forum and found out it was riccia.
Now, I had some algae in this tank, cladaphora. But now that I let the ricca take over, I have no more algae. Now, this could be because of the riccia, or it could be because the riccia overtook my tank and blocked out a lot of the light. Who is to say. I am willing to bet tho it is because a lot of the light is now unblocked.
Now, I have another tank that has algae. I developed algae right after I pulled a shit load of water sprite out. Now, water sprite is another fast growing floating plant. It was blocking some light also in this tank. I pulled it out because I was sick of looking at it. It does not grow all that nice and my halfbeaks were getting stuck in it. Now, did I get algae in the tank because I took out a fast growing plant that feeds on nutrients, or because I unblocked some light? I don't know.
As for cleaner fish. If you want the otto cats to clean up your algae, then you have to buy 1 otto per 1 gallon of water. So, if your tank is 55G, you need 55 ottos for the fish to do the job. If you buy the right ratio to gallons, they will clean up your algae problem.
Unfortunately, ottos do not last long, and $2 a fish is quite expensive for a fish that will last maybe, 3 months. Sad, but true.
In order for you to get your algae problem under control you need to set your parameters straight. To do this is trial and error. First thing to look at is LIGHT. Your lights should be your number 1 concern. If your light is high with wpg, you need to consider CO2, or synthethic carbon, like excel. You also need to dose micro and macro ferts.
I looked at your tank quick and I do think that a heavily planted tank is another key to no algae problems. The more plants, the better.
I cannot express to you how important lighting is. If you have a low light tank, than you do
not need CO2, micro and macro ferts. If you have a high light tank, and do not do the things that I said, then you will battle algae problems. And, even if you do the things I say, you
still can battle algae problems.
Here is a few pics of the riccia.

stigray pretty summed it up for you nic - and by the way stingray, those pics you posted are awesome (((kudos)))

light is a huge factor as well as more the plants the better (for plants will outcompete the algae for the much needed nutrients or starve the algae out)

on the otos, again stingray is correct, these guys are the best little fishies in the world, but once the algae begins to be eaten down to nothing, the otos will literally starve themselves out of existence, one by one or in bunches if you have a lot, will die very quick - zuchini etc as a way to supplement their diet is a myth, only algae and diatom will serve these fish best, if none, the fish will die - in other words, n order to have otocinclus live you must consistently & continuously supply it with algae (an irony at best)

so I will not go on as I usually do (((smiles))) because stingray summed it up very well. do what stingray posted, and let us know how it all goes...nice thread

the thing about the lighting nicholas is, you do not have a lot of live plants, so the lighting you are providing is way too much - that is, the lighting is helping to provide more algae than the plants can compete with; on the other hand, if you had a lot of live plants and the lighting you are providing, the growth of the plants will outcompete the algae for the nutrients from the lighting

plus I am not the man to ask about chemicals, because I am dead set against any chemicals in the tank except for Prime during water change (but only if the tap water tests high in ammonia, nitrite and nitrate)...I do not even use prime during water changes for the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate tests 0 out of the tap

so best advice I can give you is, get a whole bunch of plants, and in time, the algae will slow up to the point of non-existence