I've posted about my problem with red brush algae before which is a very hard to physically remove (even from smooth plastic), and I can't use siamese algae eaters because they'll get eaten by my gars. I removed most of this algae by stripping 90% of the leaves off the plants and bleaching parts of the wood and rocks but I'm afraid it'll come back. The water chemistry is perfect, so it's not a problem with excess waste products, and now I'm thinking of using copper. I would remove the fish for the duration of treatment, but does anyone have experience with copper? Some people say copper kills red brush algae and some say it won't. I wish there were something that specifically targeted this algae and didn't affect anything else, but I don't think that will be the case. I need help.

i am not a expert nor would i know what to do but i found this.
http://www.thekrib.com/Plants/Algae/red-algae.html

try this one there is a paragraph in here.{you probably read this one also but if not here it is
http://www.malloftheworld.com/aquarium/part2.htm

Well Spongebob, I did think of the algae eater idea, but I don't think they would completely kill the algae, just manage it. I've read the second article you showed me and I didn't know that tap water was so bad, being 'hard', for plants. I was told it contained phosphates, so I got Phosguard for my filter, but the other substances that make it hard??????. My test kit does GH (general hardness) and I kept adding drops to the test tube and never got a color change, which could mean the water is way way hard, or what? The KH (carbonate test) was pretty normal, only requiring 3 drops which was a good level. Maybe my test kit is old, don't know. All I do know now is that I know less than I thought I did about water. My pH is a perfect 7.0 which should be good for the fish I have with the possible exception the Florida gars! Some say they are brackish water fish, but they have a natural habitat range up into the great lakes I think???? I'll need to get into the books for sure! Thanks for the heads up. Do you know of the saying "the more you know the more you realise you don't know"!!!!

My thoughts on this are this. The algae eater would probably eat it down like a cow till you couldn't see it anymore, but it would still be there as spores or very small growths. As soon as I switch fish it'll come back. I've done a lot of research and unless I am able to keep a population of Siamese algae eaters continuously I have to use copper.