thanks for the quick replies! I've turkey basted it off everything, and syphoned it off the sand, only for it to return the next day, i've given up that idea after it doing it 3 days in a row with the same brown guck to appear the next day. here's a pic for comparison to what you've had christy and bob:
in the pic, I would say it's about 1/3 the density it normally is. at the worst, I can't even see through the brown blanket to the sand..it has similarities to cyano..but seems less "stick togethery".