Anyone lost fish to a Sally Lightfoot?

dougchambers · 01/28/2006, 10:34 PM

I've heard stories of Sally Lightfoot crabs getting aggressive when they get older and bigger. Has anyone lost a fish to a Sally? How big was the Sally and how big was the fish? Out of the blue, we are missing a green Chromis and a small Naso.

We've had the Chromis with a small school for a few years and the Naso has been in the tank a number of months with no signs of distress. We have a couple of remaining Chromis, a Purple Tank, a Yellow Wrasse, a 6-Line, and fire fish remaining. We lost a cleaner shrimp about 3 months ago and couldn't keep peppermint shrimp either. Water settings are dead on...

Our Sally is getting pretty big. I'd say it has a claw-to-claw
diameter of ~5". If it didn't take the fish, it's still the first suspect for the shrimp.

Anyone have tips on how to snag a big Sally? I'm thinking I'd be more comfortable with it in the sump or refugium at this point.

Thanks,

Doug

3rotorFD · 01/28/2006, 10:48 PM

no but i lost a couple sallylightfoots to an eel

gguy123 · 01/28/2006, 11:01 PM

I,ve lost a damsle and a mandarin to my sally light foot in the past month. He is about 5 inchs across and I dont see any way of catchin him without tearin down the tank. What a SOB!

dougchambers · 01/28/2006, 11:04 PM

I thought I read about someone using a water bottle with brine shrimp or something in it to snag a Sally. I'm going to have to try something...

marxsman · 01/29/2006, 01:12 AM

cut a plastic gatorade bottle almost in half. Turn the spout into the bottle and tape it on there so the nozzle is facing in. put a piece of raw shrimp in there and weight it down with a rock in front of the light foot. because of the way the nozzle is, he goes in and cant come out. (like a fish trap) Got rid of my SOB that way. Mine was huge and loved clowns for dinner

hookdonreefs · 01/29/2006, 06:30 AM

My sally ate 3 peppermint shrimp he is gone when I transfer my stuff to my new tank. He chases fish all the time.

guitar_lord · 01/29/2006, 07:41 AM

Ive never had any problems with mine.... Im worried now

The Reefer91 · 01/29/2006, 07:54 AM

you can even use a tall water glass( or any kind of glass, depends on the size), lean it against a rock at 135 degree angle, then put some of it's favrorite food in. it can go in but it can't go out

JENnKerry · 01/29/2006, 09:00 AM

I've had mine for a year and a half with no problems. Mine is really tame. Whenever my wife puts her hands in the tank, he comes up and literally plays with her. She can even pet him on his head. It's a trip.
My PBT chases him when he gets too close.

AquaticFins · 01/29/2006, 09:22 AM

No crab can be completely trusted in a reef aquarium. The "Sally Lightfoot" crabs are among the worst of the crabs that are occasionally labeled "reef-safe" because they're fast enough to catch most anything they want and are rather difficult to catch.

It's true, they frequently do eat algae when they are small - but their diet rapidly swings towards carnivorous as they grow.

The abovementioned jar or glass trick is the easiest way to remove them, by far.

dougchambers · 01/29/2006, 12:36 PM

I think the best course of action is to banish him to the sump/refugium. I'll try the glass trick first and see how it works.

Thanks everyone...

-Doug

The steven liu · 01/29/2006, 01:21 PM

Good thing I see this thread. I was thinking about getting one of those but now I think I'd stay away from them. By the way, anyone have any trouble with emerald crabs?

dougchambers · 02/17/2006, 12:09 AM

Wahoooo! Ding dong the witch is dead. Ok, not really dead, but definitely NOT in the display tank any more.

The other night I attempted to use a glass pasta jar with frozen food in the bottom to catch our Sally Lightfoot. While it didn't catch our Sally, it did manage to capture our Purple Tang and a hermit crab. I thought we were going to loose the Tang when the Actinics shut off and the Tang went nuts in the jar. It seems it couldn't find its way out and freaked out thrashing itself all around inside the jar.

Tonight I cut the top off one of the kids plastic juice jugs, put some rock rubble in the bottom with a big piece of frozen food. I stacked a couple extra pieces of fragging rocks on top of the frozen and set it up against the side of the tank where I had seen the Sally a few hours earlier. The lights went out and 30 minutes later we had one unhappy Sally trapped in the bottom of the juice jug.

I pulled the jug and banished Sally to the refugium.

Mission accomplished! Now to replace the Naso she took out...

-Doug

01/28/2006, 10:34 PM	#1
dougchambers Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Idaho Posts: 2,882	Anyone lost fish to a Sally Lightfoot? I've heard stories of Sally Lightfoot crabs getting aggressive when they get older and bigger. Has anyone lost a fish to a Sally? How big was the Sally and how big was the fish? Out of the blue, we are missing a green Chromis and a small Naso. We've had the Chromis with a small school for a few years and the Naso has been in the tank a number of months with no signs of distress. We have a couple of remaining Chromis, a Purple Tank, a Yellow Wrasse, a 6-Line, and fire fish remaining. We lost a cleaner shrimp about 3 months ago and couldn't keep peppermint shrimp either. Water settings are dead on... Our Sally is getting pretty big. I'd say it has a claw-to-claw diameter of ~5". If it didn't take the fish, it's still the first suspect for the shrimp. Anyone have tips on how to snag a big Sally? I'm thinking I'd be more comfortable with it in the sump or refugium at this point. Thanks, Doug

01/29/2006, 01:12 AM	#5
marxsman Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Pueblo,CO Posts: 5	cut a plastic gatorade bottle almost in half. Turn the spout into the bottle and tape it on there so the nozzle is facing in. put a piece of raw shrimp in there and weight it down with a rock in front of the light foot. because of the way the nozzle is, he goes in and cant come out. (like a fish trap) Got rid of my SOB that way. Mine was huge and loved clowns for dinner __________________ John Current Tank Info: 55 gal reef w/ 10 gal refuge, wet/dry protein skimmer

01/29/2006, 07:41 AM	#7
guitar_lord Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: London ON Canada Posts: 482	Ive never had any problems with mine.... Im worried now __________________ -Brian- Current Tank Info: 65 gallon mixed reef

01/29/2006, 07:54 AM	#8
The Reefer91 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Arlington, VA Posts: 1,250	you can even use a tall water glass( or any kind of glass, depends on the size), lean it against a rock at 135 degree angle, then put some of it's favrorite food in. it can go in but it can't go out __________________ Dan "Every day we fade little by little, 'till there's nothing left of us but the lies we've sown." Current Tank Info: 20g L display: 2x65watt Coralife light, Octopus 150 needle wheel protein skimmer, 1 Koralia 2 and 2 powersweeps, and a DIY sump/fuge.....120G in the works!!!

01/29/2006, 09:00 AM	#9
JENnKerry Premium Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Jersey Posts: 7,384	I've had mine for a year and a half with no problems. Mine is really tame. Whenever my wife puts her hands in the tank, he comes up and literally plays with her. She can even pet him on his head. It's a trip. My PBT chases him when he gets too close. __________________ We Don't Have a Signature..... Current Tank Info: 125 Gallon Reef

01/28/2006, 10:48 PM	#2
3rotorFD Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: federal way WA Posts: 330	no but i lost a couple sallylightfoots to an eel

01/28/2006, 11:01 PM	#3
gguy123 Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: nj Posts: 69	I,ve lost a damsle and a mandarin to my sally light foot in the past month. He is about 5 inchs across and I dont see any way of catchin him without tearin down the tank. What a SOB!

01/28/2006, 11:04 PM	#4
dougchambers Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Idaho Posts: 2,882	I thought I read about someone using a water bottle with brine shrimp or something in it to snag a Sally. I'm going to have to try something...

01/29/2006, 06:30 AM	#6
hookdonreefs Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 97	My sally ate 3 peppermint shrimp he is gone when I transfer my stuff to my new tank. He chases fish all the time.

01/29/2006, 09:22 AM	#10
AquaticFins Premium Member Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Michigan, USA Posts: 887	No crab can be completely trusted in a reef aquarium. The "Sally Lightfoot" crabs are among the worst of the crabs that are occasionally labeled "reef-safe" because they're fast enough to catch most anything they want and are rather difficult to catch. It's true, they frequently do eat algae when they are small - but their diet rapidly swings towards carnivorous as they grow. The abovementioned jar or glass trick is the easiest way to remove them, by far.

01/29/2006, 12:36 PM	#11
dougchambers Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Idaho Posts: 2,882	I think the best course of action is to banish him to the sump/refugium. I'll try the glass trick first and see how it works. Thanks everyone... -Doug

01/29/2006, 01:21 PM	#12
The steven liu Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 567	Good thing I see this thread. I was thinking about getting one of those but now I think I'd stay away from them. By the way, anyone have any trouble with emerald crabs?

02/17/2006, 12:09 AM	#13
dougchambers Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Idaho Posts: 2,882	Wahoooo! Ding dong the witch is dead. Ok, not really dead, but definitely NOT in the display tank any more. The other night I attempted to use a glass pasta jar with frozen food in the bottom to catch our Sally Lightfoot. While it didn't catch our Sally, it did manage to capture our Purple Tang and a hermit crab. I thought we were going to loose the Tang when the Actinics shut off and the Tang went nuts in the jar. It seems it couldn't find its way out and freaked out thrashing itself all around inside the jar. Tonight I cut the top off one of the kids plastic juice jugs, put some rock rubble in the bottom with a big piece of frozen food. I stacked a couple extra pieces of fragging rocks on top of the frozen and set it up against the side of the tank where I had seen the Sally a few hours earlier. The lights went out and 30 minutes later we had one unhappy Sally trapped in the bottom of the juice jug. I pulled the jug and banished Sally to the refugium. Mission accomplished! Now to replace the Naso she took out... -Doug