What's causing both of these issues?

[kiwis]

I cleaned my tank last week (8 days ago) and have been away. Lights, skimmer, etc all on timer.. water top ups and feeding was done by a friend.

Did test before I went, nitrite, nitrate, ph ammonia, phosphate all looked really good.

I did a test again, all is okay and there is limited algae on my glass...

Photo 1 is a layer of brown algae on my substrate and photo two is few fine flake-like substance on my surface

Fish and Corals all looking in good condition

 

[Ron Reefman]

The redish brown stuff on the bottom looks like cyano which is a bacteria outbreak not an algae. There are a number of things you can do to help get rid of it. When you do a water change, try sucking it CAREFULLY off the sand. It should suck up fairly easily. Also more water flow at the sand level will help keep it form forming on the sand in the future.

I have no idea what the stuff is floating on the water surface is. If you have an overflow into a sump, it should be getting sucked in off the surface, so add more flow from the sump to the DT. If you don't have a sump, try skimming it out with a fine net. And if you have a HOB filter turn it up for more flow. That should cause this stuff to get more mixed in with the total water column and sucked in the HOB filter system.

It's just my guess based on these 2 photos that you may not have enough flow in your tank. What do you have for water movement in the tank and how big is the tank?

 

[reacclimating 2 the hobby]

+1 to Ron Reefman's comment...

What are you feeding and please let us know the actual test results?

 

[kiwis]

Awesome, I've got my return pump turned down slightly due to a noise issue but I also have a wave maker.

Circulation is different to flow right? I could look to increase the power of my wavemaker (I can do this is as it's also on a low setting).

My tank still cycles 4-5 times an hour

I'll try syphon as much out as I can.
I'll try increasing my return pump as much as I can.
I'll increase my wave marker strength 2-3 notches

I'll do a water test again today and will post the results.

 

[Jekyl]

What size tank and wavemakers / pumps do you have? My total circulation right now between all pumps/wavemakers is around 30 to 40x tank volume

 

[Ron Reefman]

Awesome, I've got my return pump turned down slightly due to a noise issue but I also have a wave maker.

Circulation is different to flow right? I could look to increase the power of my wavemaker (I can do this is as it's also on a low setting).

My tank still cycles 4-5 times an hour

I'll do a water test again today and will post the results.

Circulation between your DT and the sump is part of the overall flow in the tank. The flow is the wavemakers, powerheads, gyres and circulation. I have a total flow of about 40X, i.e. my pumps flow at 40 times the size of my DT. A 40g DT and a total flow of just about 1600 gph.