# mike's 20 gallons of bliss



## cablemike (Jan 7, 2009)

Well since selling my 90 two years ago I have felt lost. I had to return to my passion/obsession. Its a small start but its what I can afford and it will give me much satisfaction.
Here is the 20 I bought for 20 dollars. It came with a heater, hood, power filter. I bought a 130 watt PC unit from kijiji for 40.00 and now I'm pushing something like 6.5watts per gallon. Should grow pretty much anything. 








Rearranged live rock for more caves for fish.









Those are dead acros btw. 
I also added blue leds. Pic is from before I rearranged live rock.


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## altcharacter (Jan 10, 2011)

Nice tank! I love the new rockscape.

Welcome back to the darkside.


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## cablemike (Jan 7, 2009)

Well its finished cycling. In diatom bloom now and hair algae growing. I'll give it a month or so then I'll add a couple polyps or mushrooms to add some life and color. But I'm taking it slow as I know the first year is very unstable.


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## cablemike (Jan 7, 2009)

Got a new fish, he was getting bullied as the other two already set their turf. So I rearranged the rock work and I think I like it, let me know what you think.









Here is my new skimmer, biocube skimmer. It runs great. Not the prettiest skimmer but a couple larger corals will make it dissapear. Like a big leather or frogspawn.









Oh yeah I also got a new bulb, its a 50/50 coralife instead of the 6700k that was there before. I haven't used the second lamp yet as I have no corals and it will just be a waste of hydro. And it a 6700k also.


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## altcharacter (Jan 10, 2011)

I like how the rockscape looks, very basic and you can do alot with it.
Didn't I sell you some corals Mike? Where are they?!?!


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## cablemike (Jan 7, 2009)

no i havent bought any corals yet. system has only been running for a month. i need more live rock first but not too much more as i need room for the corals to grow. and im trying to find an aquaclear 110 or 70 to run on the tank as a sump/refugium. i want to put the skimmer and heater in there and also have some chaeto in it. im on a real tight budget right now so its gonna be a while before im looking at more then rock. unless you can spare me a couple frags and i would return the favor when i have stuff to give back? 
Realistically i wont have any money to do much until after summer, my wife is a teacher and summer is a month away and she doesnt get paid for the summer so money is gonna be tight. im just happy i got this much. since i had to give up my 90 ive been real depressed and this tank has made me feel alive inside again. if anyone has any live rock or frags they can spare it would be greatly appreciated and you will be rewarded two fold in the future.


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## cablemike (Jan 7, 2009)

these were my previous tanks, immagine what it was like having to give it up.
my 55 gallon










my 90 gallon


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## altcharacter (Jan 10, 2011)

Oh my god that toadstool is huge!!


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## cablemike (Jan 7, 2009)

yeh it out grew the tank, it was 18 inches in diameter. it was 4 inches when i bought it. in a year thats what happened. i sold it for 150.00 though and started going towards sps with the money from the leather.


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## iBetta (Jun 19, 2011)

DAT toadstool *.*. i hope your new tank will look like your old ones!


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## PACMAN (Mar 4, 2010)

wow love your old tanks! good luck with this one!


quick q, did the toadstool ever propagate with you?


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## cablemike (Jan 7, 2009)

Yes twice, but both times the babies died as the mother was so big there wasn't enough light below. The babies formed at the base.


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## PACMAN (Mar 4, 2010)

cablemike said:


> Yes twice, but both times the babies died as the mother was so big there wasn't enough light below. The babies formed at the base.


that's cool! was there a reason why you didnt cut them and move them for more light?


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## cablemike (Jan 7, 2009)

I tend to let nature take it course. I also never liked cutting softies, toxins can be released and stuff. I only fragged sps and lps.


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## PACMAN (Mar 4, 2010)

cablemike said:


> I tend to let nature take it course. I also never liked cutting softies, toxins can be released and stuff. I only fragged sps and lps.


Fair enough, good approach.


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## sig (Dec 13, 2010)

very nice tanks, but why you went with 20G now , since for sure by remembering your old tanks, you will always want to go bigger
I

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## cablemike (Jan 7, 2009)

Yes but I'm not going to let this hobby over take me again. It led me to major financial problems. I have to learn self control  or it will happen again.


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## shark (Jan 28, 2009)

ive NEVER seen a toad stool that huge in my life!!!!!!!!!!!! how long did you get it to grow that big?


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## cablemike (Jan 7, 2009)

Broke down and bought more live rock. I think its perfect now.


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## cablemike (Jan 7, 2009)

shark said:


> ive NEVER seen a toad stool that huge in my life!!!!!!!!!!!! how long did you get it to grow that big?


A year.



























All growth in a year.


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## cablemike (Jan 7, 2009)

Its been a couple weeks since my last update. I've gotten rid of my three damsels and gone with 3 baby clowns. Bought a hammer coral frag and a zoo colony. I've also added a small amount of argonite on top of the oolite because it kept blowing around making the water constantly cloudy. And because of the new argonite I'm having another diatom bloom. Corals look happy and so do the baby clowns so all is good right now. I'm gonna sit back and wait for growth before adding more corals.


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## solarz (Aug 31, 2010)

Nice! Your old 90 was kick ass! Let's hope that your new 20 turns out just as awesome!


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## cablemike (Jan 7, 2009)

I won't go as big again. We were getting $1000.00 hydro bills every two months. It was bankrupting me. My dream tank now is a 46 bow, I will get it in a year or so. I want this tank to mature so when I do upgrade I will seed it properly and it will mature rapidly. I have 130 watts of light on this 20 gallon and I'm a bit worried the corals may grow too quickly but I guess I will just have to frag them. I will post updates to my tank this weekend. Its coming along nicely. I'm up to 5 corals now and I'm seeing pods and bristle worms and feather dusters all over the place so I know its maturing properly. I love bristle worms also, never had an issue with them and they eat all the crap better then crabs or snails. Imagine what my 90 would have been like now if I didn't have to sell it, it would have looked like the tanks on reef central.


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## cablemike (Jan 7, 2009)

solarz said:


> Nice! Your old 90 was kick ass! Let's hope that your new 20 turns out just as awesome!


Let's not kid our selves here, its only a 20 so I can only cram so much in there before it becomes a ticking time bomb. If I get a canister filter dirt cheap then I will have more confidence to stock it more.


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## cablemike (Jan 7, 2009)

Yes I did it. 








My new 34 gallon solana.


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## fesso clown (Nov 15, 2011)

cablemike said:


> Yes I did it.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


If that's the one from the classifieds last week Someone HAD to. I almost jumped on it even though I had ABSOLUTLY no room for it anywhere... 
Great buy man.


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## cablemike (Jan 7, 2009)

I got this of aquarium pros. I got a better deal then the one that was here.


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## sig (Dec 13, 2010)

cablemike said:


> Yes I did it.
> .


It was fast , but I think it is time to upgrade again. This is too small 

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## cablemike (Jan 7, 2009)

Its not big, but I fell in love with the solana 3 years ago when they had one set up at big als. I had my 90 back then but still loved the look and everything built in. The skimmer is working quite well pulling dry skimate. The light is awesome, but I will have to get used to no actinic bulbs but it is a 20k and looks quite blue. The corals are glowing nicely. But I came home to 82 degrees and quickly put on the fan the guy included. Its an eye sore but I don't want to boil my corals. The rocks are a mess, I have to scape it tonight. I'm going to have to start a new thread now. Anyone want my old 20 for a good price?


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## cablemike (Jan 7, 2009)

Here's the solana after the water cleared


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## altcharacter (Jan 10, 2011)

I've seen this tank before. I don't remember who's it was

Love the tank, not a fan of the light though like you say there's no blue.


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## cablemike (Jan 7, 2009)

I bought it from a guy named Jamie in Oshawa.


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## cablemike (Jan 7, 2009)

I'm probably gonna get a stunner strip to add the actinic. The 20k bulb is fairly blue but it just not the same.


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## zk4444 (Mar 8, 2012)

cablemike said:


> I bought it from a guy named Jamie in Oshawa.


I met Jamie before too, I got a large monti cap from him -- nice guy. How did you guys deal with the massive xenia colonies he had stuck on the glass?


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## cablemike (Jan 7, 2009)

The tank was already cleaned out when I got it, I bought some from him the week before though and it was a crazy colony of Xenia. He sold the colony for 40.00


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