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#1
07/12/2005, 08:15 PM
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Sally Lightfoot Crab Reef Safe?
I just picked up some new frags from Justin74, and not too long after introducing some pink star-polyps my "Sally Lightfoot" crab started nibbling on it - fairly aggressively. I know people use the name of this crab for different species, but the one I am referring to is this one:
http://www.saltwaterfish.com/m-inver...foot-Crab.html All the major shops online and off seem to say it is "reef safe" (I tried to do my research before I bought the thing), but it seems that maybe it is really not. Does anyone here have any ideas if this is really reef safe, and if not - how do I get it out of my tank? I have other things in my tank that it seems to leave alone for now - like Xenia, ricordia, some small SPS, and some mushrooms. Thanks, Josh |
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#2
07/13/2005, 01:13 AM
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"Reef Safe" is a term that can have more than one meaning. I got some baby bangaii cardinals from ReefRian and Undergrad a year or so back, and all of a sudden, I'd lose one, then another, and ond day, when I was doing that chore that makes people scratch their heads at us, watching the tank, I observed the sally lightfoot I had stalk and kill one of the babies. Whoosh, out of the tank, and into the sump, till my next trip to the LFS. Dang thing ate 3 of them in less than a week. The remaining one lived about 5 months, till the LTA it took up home in got it, when I startled the anemone, and it closed up, taking the cardinal with it.
Between that episode, and watching an emerald mithrax crab try to dismember a serpent star, and the numerous hermit crab/snail killers, I've come to the conclusion that all crabs are evil.
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If you ain't cheatin, You ain't tryin! |
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#3
07/13/2005, 02:43 AM
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I ditto BoomerD's experience. I've actually seen my male sally lightfoot (fondly named Gordon Lightfoot) eating a fish, holding it with one pincher like a barbarian would hold a turkey leg. He also jumps at fish who swim close by. He's now in my isolation tank.
If you know who Gordon Lightfoot is, you're showing your age. Jim
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People don't plan to fail ... they just fail to plan. |
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#4
07/13/2005, 03:16 AM
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I saw mine stalk a newly added cleaner shrimp...pretty scary.
When they get bigger they become more aggressive. I will never add another one to a main tank again. They are too much of a risk IMHO.
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I said fraggit! |
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#5
07/13/2005, 04:12 AM
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Hopefully it was just eating algae off of em(which Im sure there was a lil on there..)?Watch both of em as closely as you can, if you notice a chunk outta the polyps time to make a quick decision. So many stories of weird crab behaviour regardless of being "reef safe" or primarily "algae eater" the general consensus is that all most if not all crabs are oppertunistic feeders. If theyre hungry enough, there just about dumb enough to eat anything, like my story I told you when you were over bout my emerald who kicked the bucket after eating to much mushroom, mushroom gone and in his place a crab that was keeled over
 . Bottom line, you just dont know until you try, and try at your own risk. Sorry about the stress, hopefully he'll see that there not for him or his appetite.( Good way to slow aggression is make sure that the aggressor is well fed  )-Justin |
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#6
07/13/2005, 01:15 PM
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Thanks for all the advice, I think I could move him to the refug. if I could just catch the quick little bugger. Any suggestions on removal? It seems both BoomerD and jimsar have remove them, and I would like to avoid Justin's removal method (ie, the let it eat the shrooms :-).
So far, it has just nibbled a little at them, and left them alone today. I'm keeping my eye on him though. He is definately well fed, and has grown quite a bit since I added him (a move I am starting to regret). Thanks, Josh |
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#7
07/13/2005, 02:49 PM
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Dude...I would just take it back to your lfs.
I had to catch mine with a net (well actually two nets, a stick and a lot of counting 1-10). It was hard because they are just so darn fast...but SuperNerd is faster and eventually I captured it. That's right baby. I put mine in the sump...but the darn thing kept jumpng over to the refugium until I finally decided to just take it back to the lfs for some store credit ( I was worried that it would become destructive to the things growing in my fuge as well). Good luck!
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I said fraggit! |
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#8
07/13/2005, 03:07 PM
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No crabs are reef safe, except for porcelain, anemone, and acro crabs. I don't even trust hermit crabs anymore. I guess I do have a couple very small boxer crabs but they're the size of my pinkie nail and just eat detritus as far as I can tell.
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#10
07/13/2005, 04:43 PM
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That's a pom-pom crab. Very reef safe IME/O. They ward off predators with their little anemones. Very shy and doesn't do well if there is a lot of activity in the tank with big fish (easily frightened). Need to be target fed if tank not fed heavily IMHO.
 Don't mix them with more aggressive crabs or fish such as dottybacks/pseudo.
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I said fraggit! |
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#11
07/13/2005, 05:23 PM
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I guess they sell them as boxer crab also. I've had mine about 7 months now and they seem to do fine. I don't target feed them at all but my tank is fed heavily. They both lost their little anemones too. Keep in mind these guys are about 1/2" wide.
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#12
07/13/2005, 05:36 PM
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Sorry, boxer AND pom-pom
 Sometimes they lose them when they molt. They also split so a crab with one anemone can suddenly have two later on. I found that when you feed the tank with brine shrimp eggs along with cyclop-eeze, etc the anemones get...HUGE. But I definitely think the eggs come into play because since I've ran out they have gotten much smaller. Porcelain crabs and anemone crabs (the filter feeding ones) also love the eggs.
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I said fraggit! |
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#13
07/13/2005, 08:17 PM
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i moved my emerald once i got my corals, figured i'd take no chance, moved into the 16 gallon, found it wedged behind the heater dead the next day, i am not sure if the water quality killed it (set up for 3 days) cuase the 2 hermis are fine, or if he commited suicide. iether way i guess i'm okay with it, i did not want him and it saved me the trouble of catching him a second time. (now hes dried out and with my sea shell collection in a jar)
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#14
07/13/2005, 08:21 PM
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Quote:
 
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I said fraggit! |
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#17
12/21/2005, 09:11 PM
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I had one emerald get fairly large, and got predatory as well. During feeding time one day, my striped serpent came "galloping" out to the front, and the emerald reached down out of the rock where "he" was hiding, and grabbed a tentacle and pull the serpent into the rocks. Fortunately I saw it happen, and was able to rescue the star, and banished the emerald to the sump.
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If you ain't cheatin, You ain't tryin! |
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#19
12/22/2005, 01:23 AM
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I agree with past statements : All crabs are evil (except acro crabs, which if I recall, are not actually true crabs, but I forgot where I read that, so taht being said, all crabs are evil.....)
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- Tom |
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#21
12/22/2005, 03:11 PM
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#22
12/22/2005, 03:13 PM
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Quote:
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#23
12/22/2005, 04:26 PM
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Quote:
http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...hreadid=732662 Jeni |
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