Another note. Physically cleaning your tank is a good idea. If nothing else you are going to export a lot of nutrient. and start with a clean slate that is more manageable. Ultimately you need to get a handle on your phosphate problem. Remember that a test kit only measures inorganic phosphate. If you are getting a positive reading, then your organic phosphate is probably much higher. Hair algae utilizes both organic and inorganic phosphate for growth.

IMP photoperiod is not a means of controlling hair algae. I have tried this in the past. It may slow down growth, but not in an effective manner. The cause of hair algae is nutrients and lack of effective grazing, not light. Effective control of nutrient export and export should be the first priority. Import can be controlled through better control over feeding. Feeding less several times a day for example. Export can come from better skimming, adding a refugium, or the use of a phosphate filter. Grazing is pretty much self explanatory and I covered that in my last post.

As was stated earlier, I don't think your DSB has any negative impact on your hair algae problems. I know from experience that sometimes we just panic and start looking for any solution that might seem to help. My first tank was a hair algae and factory and I removed the substrate with no recognizable impact.

I hope this helps,
Gary