Catching sally Light Foot ?

ridomart

Member
I want to get the sally light foot out of my tank, (think she's eating new fish) but its fast. Is there an easy way? Can't take out 160 lb of lr.
 

bang guy

Moderator
If you hold your hand near it in a non-threatening manner it should jump on your hand and start cleaning it just like a Cleaner Shrimp would. If you're holding a piece of food that will help.
After a few/several days of this it should trust you enough to hold on while you move your hand. Once that happens you can submerge a container and slowly move your hand into the container while the Crab is cleaning your hand. Don't use a net. If you try using a net and it doesn't work then I doubt you'll ever get the opportunity again. I don't understand how they can have much memory capacity but they seem to remember certain things for a long time.
Other than spending the time getting it to trust you I don't know how to catch a Sally, they are just too fast.
 

aztec reef

Active Member
i would try the feed on your hand trick.. that's how i do it when i try to catch fish. i hand feed my fish. they're so comfortable that everytime i clean the glass they start nipping on my arm specially the clowns. they are never scare of my hand. but they do know the green fish net. cause anytime they see it they run and hide.
 

integral9

Member
First I tried to catch mine like I used to catch Blue Crabs in the Chesapeake (using a chicken neck) but the bugger wouldn't hold on long enough. So, I cut the top off a 20oz gatorade bottle, tied a string around the neck and put some pellets food in the back of it. Dropped the thing in the water near the rocks (so snails and hermits couldn't get in) and then just waited. In about 10 min, the sally came over, inspected it for a while and crawled right in. A quick yank on the string and he was outta there. The trick here is to make sure *all* of it's legs are inside the trap before you yank on it or it will be able to pull itself out.
Speaking of memory, I also think they communicate. I had 3 of em in my tank at one point and when I pulled the first one out, I left him hanging in my net in the tank until I could get the 2nd one out. But the second one wouldn't go into the bottle, no matter how much I enticed him. I even put a whole silver side in the bottle. I eventually gave up, pulled his buddy out and bagged him. Not long after I did that, the second sally walked right into my trap.
 

ridomart

Member
I thought I'd try a mayonnaise jar on a 45 deg angle with a piece of shrimp in it? Like all the ideas. Why couldn't I think of any.
 

miaheatlvr

Active Member
Originally Posted by RiDoMart
I thought I'd try a mayonnaise jar on a 45 deg angle with a piece of shrimp in it? Like all the ideas. Why couldn't I think of any.
Make sure you really clean that jar good,, get all that oil off..
 

bang guy

Moderator
Originally Posted by RiDoMart
I thought I'd try a mayonnaise jar on a 45 deg angle with a piece of shrimp in it? Like all the ideas. Why couldn't I think of any.
That works for most crabs but... Sally can swim!
 
If you leave your net in the water, the crabs/fish will become less afraid. I would bait him/her into some sort of bottle or take out a piece of rock when it's inside.
I have a small one, do they nip fish?
It's missing a claw and leg, do you know how often they molt and will it regenerate? It's only an inch long, how big will it get over the next year or so?
Sorry to steal your thread, I just wanted to ask about the Sally. I had trouble catching a blue damsel and finally had to remove a bunch of rock and trapped him inside a piece and put it on a towel till he popped out needing to be in the water. A crab might be different.
 

integral9

Member
Mine have taken a swing at fish before, but havn't actually done any damage. More likely their just saying "back off". Molting frequency depends on their diet. If they eat a lot, then they will molt a lot. I don't know how often mine do it. I never see the skeletons. I do know their limbs will regenerate. When I had 3 in my tank (2 males, 1 female) the males got into it w/ each other and one guy lost a pincer and a leg. Took about 2 months for it to grow back. It wasa kinda wierd too, he never had a stumpy one. he just showed up with the whole leg back one day...
 

larryndana

Active Member
Originally Posted by Integral9
It wasa kinda wierd too, he never had a stumpy one. he just showed up with the whole leg back one day...
thats what i was wondering, if they got a little leg and then it grew to normal size. oh well.
mine past, i think him and my brittle had a show down.
 

townsdp

Member
My little SOB killed two fish and a bunch of my snails in my 75g within 2 weeks of being added even thou I fed him shrimp pellets every other day. He would run out to the food and swing at the fish and shrimp too scaring them off. The last straw was when I caught him in my xenias pinching the heads. I tried 45 degree angle jar, the infamous net chase, and eventually netted him when he was busy eatin shrimp pellets against the front glass. I was a straight ninja! Now he lives alone in my fuge. In hindsight, he sat in my hand with legs hanging over both sides. A lil big, maybe.
 
Top