Sally Lightfoot Crab: Heaven-Sent or Hell-Raiser

Flipper

Flipper

Sturgeon General
I'm exploring the addition of a Sally Lightfoot for algae control in my 7 gallon. I've heard that they are one of the most effective consumers of hair algae, and they are reef safe. I also understand that this will be a permanent addition, as I will not catch one once it's introduced. I've also heard negatives abot this species, as well. Any opinion on the addition? Thanks.
 
mnreefman

mnreefman

Well-Known Member
if you need help with alge get some reg legged hermits, once the sally gets big. they have been know to go after fishies.... id pass if i were you
 
BoomerD

BoomerD

Well-Known Member
I had always read the same thing about the Sallys. Got one, put it in with several fish, including 4 baby Bangaii cardinals. Kept losing babies...one by one, over a couple of days...finally caught the Sally stalking the last one. Poof! Off to the sump it went. Not a good addition IMHO. Plus the will get fairly big, and might not be "nano" material" for long.
 
Mary

Mary

Evil Angel
I had placed a small one in my reef and it's huge now. We've been trying to catch it for months. I've seen it lunge at my Tang swimming by and wonder if it took down my clown gobies. I wouldn't put one in my reef again! They are lightening fast to catch and it's become a challenge now on what way to capture that hosebag! :mad:
 
Craig Manoukian

Craig Manoukian

Well-Known Member
How does a Sally LF compare with Mythrix crab for hair and bubble algae control. They are listed as 2" max growth!

:) :D :cool: ;) :p :smirk:
 
Witfull

Witfull

Well-Known Member
i see the Crabs Are Good Ad counsel is hard at work.....please listen to these folks..and remember my Motto!
 
Flipper

Flipper

Sturgeon General
Suggestions then? I've got eight blue-legs who barely put a dent in the hair algae that's been springing up. I do massive water changes, and manually remove the stuff, but I fear it's going to get ahead of me. :(
 
NaH2O

NaH2O

Contributing Member
Flipper, how bad is the algae? Maybe we can figure out a why the hair algae is sprining up, while we are figuring out control methods. What are the specs of your 7 gallon, and maintenance?
 
Flipper

Flipper

Sturgeon General
I've got a 32w 50/50 over the tank. I keep it 1.025 @ 79 degrees. It has 2-3 inches of southdown, 11 lbs. of LR, a minijet 404 which moves 106 gph, a whisper 10 for additional circulation and carbon. I've got seven or eight blue-legs and a serpaent star for cleanup, and a variety of shrooms and zoos. Probably the root of the problem is two fish; an ocellaris and a magenta dottyback. I know this is a heavy fish load. I change a minimum of 20 ounces a day of water, and do closer to a gallon on Fridays. I've run a phosphate sponge and an adsorbtion resin, as well, and I've manually taken out what I can. Everything in the tank appears quite healthy, but I'm afraid if I let down my guard for a minute, the hair will overcome some of the corals.
 
NaH2O

NaH2O

Contributing Member
RO/DI? What is your feeding schedule? Sounds like you have a great plan in trying to keep it from getting out of control. Oh, how long has the tank been up?
 
Flipper

Flipper

Sturgeon General
The tank is a bit over 3 months old. I set it up with RO and have topped off with RO. The past 6 weeks or so, I've actually been using the Catalina ocean water (mainly for convenience sake). I feed the tank 3 (sometimes 4) times a week. It is rarely fed 2 days in a row.
 
Flipper

Flipper

Sturgeon General
Incidentally, my probs with the hair really began after upgrading the lights, whether coincidentally or not. My photo period, BTW, is about 9 hours.
 
tommyp

tommyp

Member
I am battling the same thing in my 5.5 I think you hit it right on the head with the fish being the cause. I use the 5.5 as a quarantine and had hair problems. When the fish went in to the main tank the hair algae growth has since slowed down. I added an emerald crab but it doesn't seem to do much. I wouldn't put a sally in. I have one in my 65 and he ate a ton of hair algae when I had it but he is big and I imagine he will start after the fish if I didn't keep him fed well. I say do one gallon WC every three days and possibly a small fuge? maybe even a small skimmer.

I might think about taking some of the sand out. I run 1/2-3/4 in my nano. Don't know if that would help any though.

Hair is hard in a nano my hermits don't seem to be doing anything ether. Do you have any snails? They can work wonders if you yank out the hair and let them chomp at the roots

Tom
 
P

Playa

Active Member
You guys might want to give a shot to a couple of Seahair algae eaters. They are doing a good job in my reef.
 
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