Siphoning out the sanded without stirring it up is easily accomplished. Siphon over the surface gently and it can be removed with spewing a whole lot of bad nasty stuff into the water column.Most of it should go up the pipe with the sand. I have done it twice before and have not had an issue. This shouldnt be your first step but might be something you want to consider.
I do large water changes for two reasons. First to replenish goodies used in the reef that are consumed during the biosphere's cycle. I use a good quality salt although there will be some debate as to what that constitutes. Secondly, because I have no protein skimmer, I need a method of reducing other bad stuff from the water that skimming may remove and that the phosban reactor doesnt. I dont worry about phosphates because I run Rhowphos in my tank full time. At some point in this process you are going to measure very low levels of phosphates in the tank but the hair algae will keep on trucking. This is because the hair algae is consuming it as fast as it can be produced leaving little measurable in the water. The real key is getting rid of as much of the hair algae as possible and keeping it under control until the phosphates are completely removed from the tank. That is why I remove the live rock(the stuff covered in hair algae) and scrub it vigorously as practical.
It will take weeks for the algae to attempt a comeback and it will but by then you will have removed much of the remainder of the phosphate from the tank.
Repeat until you have won the battle. A Sea hare will eat a lot of it but once its gone you will need to find a new home for it. They are hardy eaters and once the algae is gone they will starve.
Any phosphate removal solution will work. Some better than others, some more expensive than others in the short term but not necessarily over the long haul.
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