mucous-like algae

Question
I have a 45gallon "tall" aquarium set up for angelfish. They lived for quite a while in a 10gallon but outgrew it when they successfully raised 2 babies. Anyway, new aquarium, new gravel two-week "set time" to get the water right and I transferred them.  About one month after transfer this unusual whitish hairlike/mucouslike algae began to take over.  I tried some algae fix to no avail other than killing a live plant.  I removed a couple of the plastic plants with the largest infestation and cleaned them. I have not replaced these in the tank. The algae has now turned a light brown but is still heavy.  Last night I removed everything from the tank and cleaned it (have not yet replaced anything) and I did about a 50% water change.  I vacuumed the gravel as well as I could.  Do you have any suggestions as to what this is or what it will take to get rid of it?  It is very difficult to clean this aquarium (since I can barely reach the bottom) and I would like to take care of it while everything is out and the water level is low.

Thanks for any assistance!

Answer
Hi Janine;

The white stuff could be decaying excess food and waste. The decaying organic gunk then grows a "fungus" on it. Vacuum the gravel to remove it and make sure your fish eat all the food you put in there. Your new tank was in the break-in period and that can be very hard on the fish. As toxins rise and fall during the break-in the fish may not be able to digest properly. Or, they just don't eat as much as you think they are and it causes excess waste or just uneaten food laying around. After draining the tank again it may go through another break-in period. Overcleaning kills the beneficial bacteria that your tank needs to balance properly. To know more about the break-in period, here is a link to my article about new tanks;

http://www.xanga.com/Expert_Fish_Help

The brown stuff is simply brown algae. It is very normal in a newly set up tank. It also grows in places that have low light. Just wipe it off and make a partial water change when you see it.

Here is a page about brown algae;

http://www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/algae.htm#brown

I hope everything gets better soon....

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins