My tank once had some algae growing on a rock, which was deep red/brown. My pleco ate it up like any other algae. I have no idea why it appeared, and I haven't seen it since. This could be what you have.
Could it be some kind of algae you are seeing? It sounds like it's sprung up really fast and it's on every surface but it's not actually colouring the water. Is that right?
Have a read of
http://www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/algae.htm which I found in google, specifically about brown algae. Hope this is of use to you.