Is ANYONE else's Sally lightfoot a KILLER?!!

[ntvflgirl]

I came home from vacation, and my precious clownfish had disappeared. This isn't the first fish that I suspect her of snatching in their sleep. Sally has gotten a taste for fish as well as a huge colony of Xenia. 2 KINDS! Has this happened to anyone else, and how can I get it OUT OF MY TANK???!!! It's one of the first things I put in my tanks once it cycled, and now it's a killer. Surely I'm not the only one.

 

[legend]

man i would take my whole reef apart to find that lil guy. When you find him just throw him outside. That lil crab does'nt play nice and already damaged things that are worth more then him. I have heard of these crabs to do such things.
Have fun taking him out.......dont even both bring him to the pet shop for store credit. Someone else might end up with this guy and he'll do it all over again.
sorry about your loses

 

[buzz]

As these crabs get bigger, they can get more aggressive. However, I have not seen any such behavior in mine, or in friend's. I have 2 of them.
Are you spot feeding the crab at all? If not, you should. It will help to curb it's appetite. Also, did you actually see the crab attack anything? It may simply have been scavenging an all ready deceased clownfish.
If you want the crab out, maybe take a specimen container, tupperware bowl, etc., and place some food in it on the bottom of the tank. It will climb in there to get the food. Then scoop it up. Otherwise, sit very patiently with a net and wait for it to come far enough into the open where you can sneak up behind it.
Oh...and I would not advocate killing anything in your tank. Bring it back to the LFS, even if they don't credit you (which they probably will).

 

[simpdaddy]

Mine will try to catch them if they're near but never gets a hold of my fish. My Sally is just getting bigger and bigger but plays nice in the tank. Everyone keeps thinking I have spider in the tank.

 

[jmesmcm]

I had one for quite a while with no problems that was fed daily, then all of the sudden fish started disappearing. My wife and I were looking at the tank one night and said whatever happened to the orange cardinal? A few days later it was another fish. Needless to say the Sally earned a ride on the porcelain express.
I found that to catch it I simply lifted the rock it was hanging out under up and stuck the net under him and he was out in 2 minutes with no fuss or bother.
EVIL CRABS when they get big.

 

[rwhite]

Just how big is "big"? Our Sally is,say, 2.5" from <--leg--body--leg--> or maybe bigger. It's never bothered any of the fish unless they got "too close". It has definitley scavenged carcass', but we can't hold that against it, it is a crab after all. It seems to spend 24 hrs eating algae and we're surprised it's not bigger. Hopefully it won't become a problem 'cause we think it's cool. Love the yellow markings and neon "face paint". We'd love to know more about this particular crab 'cause it was one of our first inhabitants, too. Posting a Pic next.

 

[rwhite]

Sally.

 

[nicky1.8t]

those crabs are scary looking