Algae ID Please

[scubaethan]

I have three types of algae in my tank and don't know what they are. I've tried googling several times to find it but can't find anything similar to Chuck's crab ID page: http://www.chucksaddiction.com/hitchcrabs.html">http://www.chucksaddiction.com/hitchcrabs.html</a>

I apologize for such poor photos. My Nikon and equipment was stolen out of my car :(

Frist up: it grows like a vine and usually sticks close to the rock but it just sent out shoots in the water. The leaves are kind of like sawtoothed but very thin. It is the fasted growing. All this growth has occurred in several months and I see if I don't take care of it now, I'm going to have a real problem. I can't pull it off cause it just breaks into a million pieces.
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Second up: it does not grow on a vine. The leaves are almost semi-circles. This is even harder to pull out as it just breaks apart.

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Another photo with the 3rd unknown to the right. It's not an issue cause it grows on a thick vine that is easy to pull out and trim. But it'd be nice to know what it is.

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Any ideas what these are and how to control them?

Thanks!

 

[ralph atl]

pics are bad.....looks like caulerpa...yank it out quick....

 

[scubaethan]

I know. Wish I had a camera. Any tips on how exactly to yank it out? My water would be full of pieces.

 

[holley123]

Get a tang they love the stuff

 

[ralph atl]

tweezers and yank slowly pulling roots like ivy out of yard..

 

[landon]

A yellow tang will devour it all.

 

[scubaethan]

It's a 12g tank.

Would I be committing a reefer sin if I got a teeny tiny tang and had a big tank lined up for it once it ate it all?

 

[peaches7412]

Could get a sea hare

 

[scubaethan]

I'll look into that. Thanks. I spent an hour tonight pulling some out and felt like I got nowhere.

 

[superclown]

a small yellow tang pending how much swimming room you haven wouldn't be bad as long as it was temporary.

 

[scubaethan]

Finally an ID! I'm 99% sure its caulerpa brachypus. A smaller, more fragile species that is difficult to removal and not tasty to many animals. It is an invasive species in Florida and California.

Looks like I'm on my own battling this one. My long-term plan will be picking by hand, reducing my photoperiod, adding chaeto to steal nutrients, and adding chemipure elite to remove extra phosphates. Hopefully I can keep it under control. I actually like the added green, just not that much ha.