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Algae is a part of nearly every aquarium and can be dealt with in different ways. Some people like to not worry about it and just let it grow and some try to get rid of it and stop it. In my aquarium I started to grow algae mainly when I installed the fluorescent bulb. I know of and have used many different ways of destroying the algae.
Before I flood your mind with ideas about how to get rid of algae there are many ways to stop and prevent hair algae with little trouble. If your aquarium is near a window or a constant bright light you can have some major problems with algae. You will need to move the tank or cover it partially up. If you have a light in the tank you may first want to turn it off earlier and if you usually forget you can put a timer on the light for little cost. With the timer you will have a constant period of light every day and it will automatically turn itself on and off at specified times.
In some cases overfeeding will cause problems with algae and a form of bacteria that many people think is algae. You can experiment to see if this is the problem by lessening the amount of food and checking to see how much excess there is left in the tank. This is a common problem because most people overfeed their fish.
One commonly used method of getting rid of algae problems is to use a magnetic algae scrubber. The magnetic algae scrubber doesn't cost much and is one of the best ways to get rid of all types of hair algae etc. The magnetic scrubber consists of one magnet to go on the outside and one to go on the inside. The magnets are padded with a soft material to allow it to scrub as well as to keep it from scratching the tank. Some of the best things about it are the fact that it gets the majority of the algae, it easily go around corners of the tank, and it's simple and easy to use.
One method using things that you already have is a commonly used method using your net to scrape the algae off of the glass. I personally use this method because I don't have an algae scrubber. The problem with this is that it can get to be rather cumbersome to scrape the algae with the net compared to the algae scrubber. It is also harder to get some types of algae off with the net and it takes much scrubbing which stirrs the tank up etc. It is also hard to get to some area's with the net so I wouldn't reccommend using the net as the primary method of removing algae.
One of the less commonly used methods of destroying algae is using an algaecide. The algaecide is basically a tablet or sometimes a fluid that you drop into the aquarium and it kills the algae. Depending on your tank setup there may be some problems with this. If you have a live plant the algaecide has the potential to damage it. If you have algae eaters in your tank in addition to the annoying hair algae it will kill the microscopic algae that the algae eaters feed off of too. Because of this you might need to buy them a suppliment for algae if it isn't in their current flake food.