[cvrle1]

I want to purchase an emerald crad or sally lightfoot withing next day or 2. I was just wondering what are the differences between the two and which one should I go for.

Aquarium is 33 gallon reef (or at least i will be one of these months after I put more corals)

Thanks for the help

[BlueWater]

Defintely get the Emerald. There's too many horror stories
with Sally's. You can gamble with them. Alot of them can just "snap"
and start taking out corals, fish, and other tank mates.

Haven't heard any negatives about an Emerald. But they can probably
do the same if hungry? I dunno? he cleans up my tank and does an
awesome job at it.

[mastaJ]

Do a search for them either here or at RC, you will find negatives about both of them. However, I think they will both behave fine if they are well fed. HTH...

[Ninong]

Here is a previous thread on Emerald Crabs: Mithrax Crabs?

Ninong

[Papa Doug]

Not a good pic, but here is one I took today of my large red emerald out for a rare peek at me. Looks like he,s trying to get himself a feeding bristle worm.

[bongobrian]

I have both in my tank and I like them equally as much. Either one would be a good choice. I think the emeralds do more grazing on algea. I don't trust the sally very much, I've seen him eat a couple snails and a shrimp (not sure if they were dead first). Just know that the sally will want a taste of meat once it gets bigger. The emeralds seem to stay happy munching on algeas. I havn't seen either one touch my corals.

[organicreefer]

ime,as they grow, emeralds may present a risk to corals,sallys may present a problem for small fish.the sally is much more "outgoing"and visible than the mithrax,but is also lightning fast and somwhat "territorial".you hardly see the emeralds,but they are soo slow ,i doubt they could ever take out anything that can move.

[addicted2fish]

I had two emeralds that ate a lot of algae when they were small, but they grew fast and then they got destructive. When I caught one snapping the ridges off my bubble, they were outta there.

[Toadally]

I also had an emerald that was destructive. He was constantly knocking corals over. I never could place corals where I wanted them. It's amazing how strong these little creatures are. I finally caught him and back to the LFS he went. I lucked up and found someone in the store shopping for one. I sold him right on the spot. Even though I warned about all the trouble I had with him.