Ugh, sorry it's green water - that's what I suspected, but hoped you wouldn't have to deal with it.
One way to deal with it is chemicals and flocculants, but you still need to find the cause of the problem, or the algae will very likely return.
Fast growing stem plants like hornwort, cabomba, etc. can out compete the algae for nutrients, effectively starving it. If you don't have or want plants, I'd try a 3-5 day complete blackout - do a large water change w/ gravel vac, then completely cover the tank, allowing NO light to enter (I think some folks use garbage bags taped around the tank). Don't feed the fish, they'll be fine. When the time is up, do another large water change and gravel vac. Using a flocculant (products like Accu-Clear that are designed to make small particles stick together) should help clump the dead algae cells together so they can be trapped by the filter floss.
A diatom filter is also a very good way to help remove it from the water - some LFSs will rent out diatom filters, since many people don't own one.
Once it's gone, keeping nutrient levels down (in a non-planted tank), along with not exposing the tank to sunlight or other bright light should help keep it away.