Sally Lightfoot Danger?

[jhutto]

Guys,
Saw a posting a few weeks ago that warned of the potential dangers of a Sally Lightfoot (mine is probably 4 inches across) with small fish. I have had one in my 90 gallon for several months now and seems like no harm except his eating the algae as requested. I have a very young pair of Rod's Onyx clowns now living in my sump due to their small size. One is getting her second stripe and no bigger than the end of your finger. Other is slightly smaller. I have only flame angel, chromis, yellow and a kole tang along with a Royal Gramma in the tank. Is the Sally a danger to the clowns if I move them up to main tank? If so, at what size would they be safe? I have been raising these for almost two months and do not want something like the royal gramma or the Sally to eat them.

Joe

 

[xyzpdq0121]

I can tell you that my Sally is about 4" across and I have NEVER seen her eat anything but algae. I have clown gobies and neon gobies in there with her as well as sexy shrimp and pom-pom crabs. Everything has been safe. I would worry more about the Gramma then the sally but that is just me.

 

[saltwater junky]

mine never bothered my neon gobies.

 

[linda lee]

If it were me, I'd say "when in doubt, leave it out." If your sump isn't going anywhere and the fish are happy there, I'd let them grow a little more just to be on the safe side.

It seems that everyone's tank is different and what is safe in one reefer's tank might be a disaster in yours and with the money invested in those particular fish, seems it would be ill-advised to rush it.

That being said, we have a Sally LF in a 125g and the crab has never bothered any fish. Fish are larger though and Sally will definitely pounce on a piece of meaty food on a skewer, literally swimming through the water to nab it. A tiny fish added to that 125g at this point might seem like a tasty morsel to ol' Sal.

 

[FutureInterest]

Some will disagree... but all crabs are opportunistic. I can't put emerald crabs in my tank as the SLF will eventually eat them. The emeralds know this as they do acro crab impressions and hide in the corals as best they can. I've verified this as I've seen the SLF eating one emerald at night and no it wasn't a shell. It also regularly attacks some of my fish and has done some superficial damage, nothing major as its more of an ongoing turf battle than an attempt to hunt them. On more than one occasion it has nipped me as well, which is quite painful heh.

The plus side is that it is a pretty good scavenger and keeps the rocks clean. They grow really really fast though as mine is the size of a saucer and I've heard they can get to dinner plate size. I might take it out sooner or later, but for the time being I'm too lazy to remove it. Keep in mind that they are fast and hard to remove without traps. I heard of one guy that hunted his for weeks using a steak knife... LOL.

 

[victor626nj]

take out all the cras away from the clown fish i have 2 of rods clowns with almost there third stripe coming in and they are still to small for a main tank i wouldnt risk it and have some stupid crab eat my 150 dollar fish ..jmho

 

[seedless reefer]

My SLF is one of the coolest members in my tank but Linda is right this crab will fly thru the water at meaty foods.

It tripped me out the first time I saw it.

 

[cameron]

I have the largest sally I have seen in a mixed reef tank (ask Brandon). She is probably close to 7-8" now and I have not seen a shrimp, small fish or anything else go missing. She is affraid of my coral banded actually. She mostly sits on the overflow and catches what passes into it.

That said they are crabs and opportunists. If she runs out of algae, she will find something else to eat.

 

[xyzpdq0121]

Cameron;114379 wrote: I have the largest sally I have seen in a mixed reef tank (ask Brandon). She is probably close to 7-8" now......

Must resist making a comment on this... must stay presidental.... must resist.... But is "sally" is what you kids are calling them now a days...

 

[linda lee]

Xyzpdq0121;114437 wrote: Must resist making a comment on this... must stay presidental.... must resist.... But is "sally" is what you kids are calling them now a days...

what's scarier is that his sally mostly sits on his overflow and catches anything that passes into it...

:x

 

[cameron]

If you can make that sound dirty, you guys can make anything sound dirty.

 

[donalds1]

I had sallys in my 55 in florida and they ambushed my little guys at night till I caught them red handed so now they sleep with the fishes