SLF problems

tank a holic

tank a holic

Active Member
Ok so SLF's are supposed to be peaceful right?
well.....
a month or so ago I saw my SLF sitting on a rock during feeding time, and while my anthias was going after the food the SLF kept jumping up trying to grab at him....
I dismissed it as he must have been trying to grab the food although it seemed obvious to me he was going after the fish himself
2 days later my anthias appears with a clouded up eye like it has been blinded, when he swims to the right, I poke at the glass and he does nothing but when he turns and goes left I poke and he swims away and hides
I checked all my water parameters to make sure quality was in check to avoid stress / infection problems and all was well
next day my y-tail blue damsel has a chunk out of his dorsal fin and is hiding but now he seems to be healing fine and is out of hiding now... again I tested and all is well
last week I come home to see my SLF eating "something" on closer inspection I see that it is my watchman goby(who has showed absolutly no ill signs thus far), face and inards gone and working on tail.... again water test and no issues
night before last I notice one of my green chromis is missing, I hoped it was that he was hiding but last night he was still gone... again water tests show nothing
do I need to take back my SLF? he's pretty big (bout 3 inches leg tip to leg tip)
I havent added anything to tank in about 6 months
water:
amm - 0
trItes - 0
trAtes - 10
temp - 78 (been that way since I started tank so no changes)
phos - 0
ph - 8.2
sal - .024
kh - 12
cal - 420
 
reefaholic33

reefaholic33

Member
Sally light foot. IMO this is very possibly the culprit. When I had one my fish would lose bits of fin overnight and I was never for sure who did it and noone thought it was the SLF. But since he has died noone has lost any fins. JME....do you have a sump you could put him in and see if anything else happens?
 
tank a holic

tank a holic

Active Member
sorry bout that... yes a SLF is a sally lightfoot crab, part of the clean up crew
and sorry too that the OP was long winded lol - just being thorough
sump..... thats a good idea, but will he bother anything as far as stirring up the sand bed?
how long should he be in there before I can confidently say he was indeed the problem?
maybe I can just set my QT up for him
 
rondo

rondo

Member
Interesting to see this thread. I recently lost(like missing) an orchid dottyback. One day he was there the next he wasnt. I too have a SLF. I'm now wondering if he is the culprit. He is about the same size as yours(3 in or so). I have heard they are next to impossible to catch though. I'm interested to see if anyone else have thoughts on this.
 
calbert0

calbert0

Member
a little off subject but....
i had a green emerald crab that nearly killed my fuzzy dwarf lionfish...
it would sit in the rock and nip away at the fins... the lionfish would get hit, swim away and then re-rest on the rock because it had no idea what was going on...
In one night the entirety of his dorsal and some of his pectoral fins were ripped off by the crab...
moral of the story: animals are not all the same.... even if it is considered a docile, or reef safe species, there will still be individuals that can reek havoc
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
Originally Posted by calbert0
http:///forum/post/3127868
a little off subject but....
i had a green emerald crab that nearly killed my fuzzy dwarf lionfish...
it would sit in the rock and nip away at the fins... the lionfish would get hit, swim away and then re-rest on the rock because it had no idea what was going on...
In one night the entirety of his dorsal and some of his pectoral fins were ripped off by the crab...
moral of the story: animals are not all the same.... even if it is considered a docile, or reef safe species, there will still be individuals that can reek havoc

True, there are always exceptions... had a coral eating Hippo tang..LFS took it off my hands, but didn't believe me..Next visit the owner said I was right. He said at first he thought the tang must have been after some algae on a coral...found out it really was a coral eater.
 
spanko

spanko

Active Member
Damn critters, why don't they read the books so they know how they are supposed to act!!!!!!!!!
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
Originally Posted by bfeire922
http:///forum/post/3186973
Same prob here. i want him out. How are we supposed to catch him tho. Any tips?

Remove every rock and then it can be caught. They are so fast no other method will work that I know of.
 
trouble93

trouble93

Member
I use to think that SLF was one of the coolest critters you could have in your tank. About a year and half ago I went to my LFS and they had the biggest one I had ever seen about 7 or 8in across. The man couldn't get in the bag fast enough for me. I took it home added it to my reef tank and all was well for about a week. That secound week it had eaten a cleaner shrimp a coral banded shrimp and 3 peppermint shrimp. I didn't know what was happning until I saw it grab the last peppermint into a cave as it went by. I called back to the store only to find out then it was brought back to the store for the same reason. Needless to say everything that looks good to you is not always good for you. I had to almost take the tank down to get that thing out.
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member

Bang Guy has a solution! He said the SLF will take food from your hand...when it gets to the point it trusts you, then lower it slow into a container and remove it.
Hey its better than removing a 100 lbs of rock...right..%% So it is worth a try.
 
bfeire922

bfeire922

New Member
Yeah, I am goin commando on him today. there is no way that I am takin my rock out. Any other recommendations for voracious algae eaters. Maybe some fish?
 
truperc

truperc

Member
There is a product I have called the AccliMate made by reef gently.
I use it to help acclimate new additions.
But it also can serve as a “guillotine” style trap.
 
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