Has anyone had a butcher of a Sally lightfoot?

[krux]

I have lost 3 fish in the last two weeks, all of them were very doscile fish that slept in the rock work. I have a fairly large sally that ove the last couple months seems to have gotten aggressive, chasing things areouns and snapping at things that swim by it. All three fish carcases have been held fast in his claws, half eaten in the morning when i awoke, and none o the fish had shwon any signs of being sick or slow in any way before we went to bed. Is it possible that the sally is grabbing them while they sleep? I know that they are scavengers, but the fact that all three died at night, all slept within reach of the sally, and that all three were half eaten in the morning is leading me to believe that the crab might be the culprit. Any imput would be great..... I'm more than happy to ditch the crab if he is going to continue to descimate my population.
My girlfriends clown was the latest victim, and when she gets home I'm going to have to explain to her that her prized fish is gone.... I'd like to not have her lose I'ts mate as well.
Thanks.

 

[pat]

ok dude, first night i had it, damn sally lightfoot ate the brand new maxima clam...i wanted to put it in solitary

 

[mr_wrasse]

Once had a sally that was a snail killer. Bottom line....Never trust a crab!

 

[brian'sreef]

couldn't agree with you morw MR.wrasse.. crabs are scavengers as you said and they hunt at night often looking for food hiding in the cracks and crevises of LR.. like my chromis and my bicolor blenny that i lost to a stone crab.. mean little sh*t.. anyway.. i'd get rid of the sally ..crabs are unpredictable and my reco. to anyone wanting them and small fish.. forget it.. to you krux good luck i hope your girlfriend isn't too upset about the fish..
Brian

 

[crazy4reefs]

i agree my sally also killed 2 of my smaller fish at night. another one of my fish wouldnt sleep in the rocks until i got rid of the crab..

 

[heavenly damsel]

Anything will eat when it is hungry, even humans resort to cannibalism if no other food source is available. Feed your crabs and you will not have a problem. I feed my condy anemone cocktail shrimp, since I thaw a whole shrimp and he only eats half I give the rest to the crabs. Havn't lost any fish yet to a crab. You can't blame the crab IMHO since he is under your care in your tank...feed him.

 

[jagnmeg99]

I had a sally lightfoot, but it died 2 days after, so by the sound of it that was a good thing....i got enough probs. without a crab killing the fish off. Thanks for the info

 

[krux]

The sally was pretty cool.... it skittered all over the tank and frequently attacked its reflection in the glass..... but I probably won't get another one until I have a larger tank, with larger inhabitants. I know a lot of people keep them, so it might be an individual personality thing.