Sally Lightfoot. Jekyl or Hyde?

[kmc]

I recently added a Sally Lightfoot and an Emerald crab to my 29gal biocube. The tank has been cycling for over two weeks and the algae was just about to take over. The guy at the lfs said the Sally was better for hair Algae than the Emerald . He also said the Sally was safe to put in the tank. I added them a few days ago and they have been on a non stop feeding frenzy. The tank looks much beter because of it. Yesterday the Amazon shipment arrives and one book says the Sally is peaceful while another described it as Jekyl and Hyde saying it might even eat fish. Anyone have experience with this critter they care to share? The tank has no fish yet but we do have two scarlett crabs, "Butch and Sundance" and 4 blue leg crabs "the hole in the wall gang" plus 5 astrea snails.

 

[jake21ld]

I personally don't have a Sally but, I recently watched one totally decimate a scarlet hermit at my lfs...what was really funny is that the lfs lady told me that they were reef safe while the sally was feasting on the crab right in front of her eyes...gotta love those people

 

[mrdc]

Some folks here say that their Sally causes no problems. My book source and LFS say that they are algae grazers when they are younger but not so much when they mature. Once they mature, they may take a liking to some corals, hermits, ...

 

[poniegirl]

I have had a sally for about 9 months. She was initially very much an algae grazer, but now has almost tripled in size and finds mysis also to her liking. I really have no doubt that if she felt underfed, she wouldn't hesitate to take things into her own claws.
The one thing that does surprize me is that she has NO interest in Formula2..

 

[shelley]

I was told my Sally Lightfoot would be reef/fish safe. Sounds like I was given the same story as you guys. I've really had no problems, but the other day I bought a Peppermint Shrimp (about 1" long). When I added him to the tank, I saw the Sally Lightfoot advance rapidly toward it and I haven't seen the shrimp since. I am also losing my yellow polyps I just placed in my tank. The LFS swears something is eating them. I'm now wondering if it's that darned crab!

 

[psusocr1]

i have a huge sally in my tank along with 7 pep shrimp , 2 cleaner shrimp lots of snails and hermits and all he does all day long is eat algae..hopefully he doesnt change!!

 

[farslayer]

I had one that was just fine when small, but when she got big she got aggressive and ate two gobies, shrimp, and an arrow crab.

 

[bobwire]

Don't know about Sally, but I am suspicious of my Emerald. He is a suspect in the death of a bicolor. Check out my CSI: Death of Mr. Blenny post for more info about this suspect.

 

[1journeyman]

Sally's get pretty big... and crabs in general are opportunistic. You put two big claws on a big opportunistic animal and it's going to find a use for them eventually...

 

[stanlalee]

Its a crab....as it gets bigger so does its balls. Mine never bothered hermits (probably couldn't do anything with them anyway with their shells), never bothered emeralds (they fight back), never bothered my fire shrimp (just as big as it) and it never went after any fish but it went right for button polyps. I may have jut gotten unlucky because they are suppose to be reef safe (other than walking over stuff). I wouldn't trust a full grown one. no crab has any business being that fast.