I have this nasty looking brown algae growing on my Amazon sword, dwarf rush, and anacharis plants. I don't know why this is happening. I have other smaller tanks that have not developed this unsightly algae. Please help!

im not 100% sure of the reason, but its lighting and nutrients....

anyways, you can take a wet papertowel and just wipe it off....brown algae is easy to remove

that's happening to me too, but only on some on my plants.....

Is your tank close to a window that gets lots of light during the day? That can sometimes be the cause of algea also.
Do you have any snails in your tank? They help keep the algea down, or so I have heard anyways...But they can also devour your plants too.

The tank is near a window but not much sunlight gets in through there. I don't like snails so i don't think i'm going to go toward that. Can the brown algae be easily wiped off the plants??

I have never tried to wipe the algae off the plant. I didn't want to break the plant...so I never tried.

We had this brown algae discussion in another thread, and DataGuru recommended a product to help w/the removal of brown algae:

http://www.aquariumpros.com/c-FMsr.html

I have tons of brown algae in my tank. I have to get in there and clean it real good once a week. Sometimes twice a week if I can't stand it.

I used to have the same problem. It was sooo annoying. I wouldnt go toward snails, as they would rather eat the plants, then the algea. LOL and will make a salad feast out of your plants. Believe me, not cool to wake up in the morning, and then snail broke off all the leaves off all your plants cause it was eating the stems! Had it happen... it sucked!

Best advice, wipe it off. I had to do this for awhile. Not fun, but it works. Also, some algea eaters (i have bristlenoses) help. I have two in my tank, and they do an awsome job at keeping everything (including the leaves of my plants) clean. If you do take that route, dont get a common pleco (for one will eventually attack your goldies, and for two, they weigh too much when they get bigger, and when they go to eat the algea off the leaves, tend to snap the stems cause they weigh too much for the plant).

Good Luck. Eventually when the tank is nice and healthy, that brown algea will turn into a lush green algea, and it wont be as bad

Oh that happened to me too, tried the snails, just ate the leaves. I agree w/ everybody the best thing is just to wipe the leaves off. Good Luck!