Well my girlfriend has really never commited herself to the hobby so her tank has always suffered, for instance the $200 light fixture i bought her is coverd in salt creep. She buys soft corals but she also buys fish that eats them. And she has also always suffered with hair algae, so thats the reason why im breaking down her reef to a fish only tank, starting this weekend.

So now i have a couple of question
i dont think anybody would want to buy hair algae covered live rock, so what would be the best way bleach it? i mean with the weather right now i cant exactly leave it out in the sun.

With a fish only tank, do i have to make places for the fish to hide or will they be fine out in the open?

I also have a background question
I myself and other reefers have painted their back glass black and it turns out great, but has anybody ever tried painting blue? if so what does it look nice?