Does this sound workable?

[klongo]

I've got a 35 gallon up and running for a few months now, but have a few problem inverts in it... keep eating each other and my coralline!
I'm thinking about setting up my old 5-gallon tank - use some of my LR and LS from my established tank, start with some water from my tank and then move my pencil urchin and my red-legged crabs into it - and that's about it!
Do I need a protein skimmer on a tank this size? or just a small HOB filter for water flow? Can I use my old fluorescent fresh-water tank lights and hood or do I need something better for just these inverts?
Thanks.. I really don't want to have to get rid of these guys as I love to watch them, but the urchin is plowing through my coralline and the hermits are decimating my snail population and I think they ate part of my serpent stars legs!

 

[barry cuda]

Don't know about the urchin, but the hermits should be fine under whatever lighting you care to use.
I've been investigating the skimmer-on-a-nano issue for a while, as my wife wants a nanocube for her birthday and we're really inexperienced...seems like a skimmer would be a good idea to help us not crash the tank. What I'm finding out is that a lot of people don't skim nanos, but rely on frequent water changes instead. Either way, the power filter sounds like a wise idea to me.

 

[overanalyzer]

hey urchins eat calcerous algea so if you put them in a smaller tank he will slowly starve unless you feed him. You can grow out halimeada (Money plant) which is a clacerous algea - but I am not sure they will eat that. That or you can rotate rocks into the small tank that are coraline covered and let him munch on them for a while and pull them out.
The grabs will be fine. The urchin might have to get traded into an LFS if you can't get him to eat!
For filtration - do you plan to feed the tank?? if so then a small HOB for water movement is fine and you can run carbon if the water gets yellowed. The NO lighting should be fine - also @ wal-mart they sell work lights that are 13 watt 6500K PC lights which are nice for that sized tank!
Good luck and HTH!

 

[klongo]

overanalyzer -- thanks for the info! If I rotate my LR so that he has something to eat, do you think my LR will recover quickly enough? I've had the urchin for about 6 weeks, but for the last week it's been deteriorating rather quickly.

 

[overanalyzer]

Originally posted by klongo
overanalyzer -- thanks for the info! If I rotate my LR so that he has something to eat, do you think my LR will recover quickly enough? I've had the urchin for about 6 weeks, but for the last week it's been deteriorating rather quickly.

I'd say as long as he had a bunch of Coraline covered rocks to choose from he should be fine. They are very much harmed by mild PH swings. You should keep an eye on your PH