Hi guys!

My plants are set to arrive today, so I'll be tearing my tank down to rebuild it. I had some algae problems because I had my light on too long (I wasn't thinking, when I got my LED I didn't redo my timer) and it's been growing pretty steadily since. I figure I'll be able to clean it today when it is empty. What is the safest way to clean algae off of a tank that is empty but will be re-filled and have fish in it afterwards?

Thanks!

Use a plastic scrubby thing, the best being the hand algae scrubber your LFS sells. You can use a solution of bleach and water if you really think it necessary but then you will want to rinse carefully and allow to dry completely.
You likely have algae on your substrate too so only a bleach solution would work to rid it there but rinsing it and drying it is more difficult than doing it to the tank itself.
Ridding yourself of algae is nice but remember it is present in most water and in spores in the air so any efforts you make now will last but a short time. It's best to concentrate and cure the reasons why the algae could take hold and flourish in the first place before worry about ridding it completely from your tank. In other words I'd avoid the bleach if I were you and simply manually clean it off the glass and any other scrubbable surfaces.

No worries on the substrate as it's being replaced completely - it is currently cheap gravel, and is being changed to a more plantable substrate (aquasoil) with powersand and decorative sand in one area. I'll just use my algae scrubber then! thanks!