Sally Lightfoot crabs and Coral Banded shrimp ok w/ LR?

[Kaos]

I'm in the process of turning my FO into a FOWLR and was wondering if I should take out my two Sally Lightfoot crabs and Coral Banded shrimp? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Oh, yea, the LR is fully cured and has been at the LFS in their tanks for over a month, and I'm only adding 10lbs. at a time to a 55gal. TIA.

 

[Kaos]

I am worried these guys will eat the coraline and stuff growing on the LR. Anyone have experience, please post. TIA.

 

[HippieSmell]

The sally won't eat coralline, but it might eat your fish and nip at coral if it gets big enough. Mine got really aggressive eventually.

 

[Kaos]

I'm thinking I may go on and move them out. They're pretty out going and trusting (sometimes feed w/ tongs so they see them and think food). I don't think they will be too hard to catch, but I do need to do it before I get too much rock.

 

[Red Serpent]

I will tell you that they will not be easy to catch! I tried to remove one from my 55 gal for over an hour after trapping failed. In the end the crab did not survive. I had to remove the sally because it started to chop up and eat my favorite Red Serpent Star. The shrimp will be just fine in the tank.
Good luck with the up grade.

 

[starseed]

I don't think there is any reason to get rid of either, unless you catch one doing something you don't want.

Neither will affect corelline growth in anyway. I have both and after three years, everything is heavily covered in various shades.

 

[reefD]

yeah they can be harmful when large but not always ...the above post is a good plan to follow.

 

[Sk8r]

The sally lightfoot (a very engaging crab) gets about the size of a dinnerplate. At that stage you (and two friends) can probably catch it if you want.

 

[discusfreak2005]

i have a full grown coral banded and he just hangs in his cave all day looking pretty, never messes with live rock or anything for that matter

 

[Kaos]

Well, so far they've been model citizens. But it has only been a few hours. I guess I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and let them stay under close supervision. Thanks for all the responses. If anyone else has any experiences feel free....

 

[Kaos]

Disregard my last statement. The Sally's are going to be gone tomarrow. My tank lights are off and I come in to check things out w/ a flashlight only to find one of the Lightfoots going to town on some of my LR. She was picking everything she could get her claws on. I am going to try and catch them tomarrow and return them to the LFS along w/ my Coral Banded that is presently eating some kind of coral/sponge he found on the LR.

 

[hypermikie]

I would not stress out that it was picking stuff off the rock. I doubt he is eating anything that is greatly beneficial.

I have a sally in my mixed reef and he is always "picking" at my rock, but not eating coraline or anything I have deemed "pretty or beneficial"

My only concerns with him (as with mine) is how will his temperment be 1 year from now.

 

[HippieSmell]

That's what they do, they're great scavengers but they can get mean.

 

[Kaos]

Ok, so the sally's were pretty easy to catch (I caught both within an hour). Now, the CB is giving me trouble. What I did to catch the sally's was take my net and stick a couple of pieces of shrimp in it and let it sit on the bottom near their hangout. I surfed the net and watched the tank while waiting. Sure enough within a few minutes they would start checking out the net. It wouldn't be long before they would venture inside to get the shrimp. Then, just pull the net out.

My CB is smarter. He will go to the front of the net and check it out but won't go inside. He's trying to reach for the shrimp pieces but can't get them. I guess I'm gonna have to come up w/ a different approach.