Kat's Fabulous Max

metrokat · Sep 9, 2013

neuwave said:
Lol did ZephNYC buy it? I had to ask.

no, his heart is set on Dr Macs aquacultures Maxima's at the moment.

alberthiel · Sep 9, 2013

neuwave said:
Lol I'm always around, somewhere.

Yes .. a bit like me ....

nitro'sreef · Sep 9, 2013

Colorful tank great job on the pics

metrokat · Sep 10, 2013

alberthiel · Sep 10, 2013

metrokat said:
Tank Pic

Looking good Kat ...

revhtree · Sep 10, 2013

Beautiful shot and awesome job!

metrokat · Dec 1, 2013

Dec 2013 FTS
Happy 2nd Birthday to my tank

rollermonkey · Dec 1, 2013

A lot easier to find the updates on this board...

Mr. D · Dec 1, 2013

Beautiful tank for sure! What are those huge green palys to the left?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk

ShippD · Dec 1, 2013

Looks amazing

Lilmatty5dimes · Dec 1, 2013

great fts. love the variety of color in your tank

skinz78 · Dec 1, 2013

Looking great!

josh4107 · Dec 2, 2013

Wow great looking tank! How often do you do water changes? And what are your avg water params if you don't mind me asking?

metrokat · Dec 2, 2013

rollermonkey said:
A lot easier to find the updates on this board...

Lol. Lot less chatter.

Mr. D said:
Beautiful tank for sure! What are those huge green palys to the left?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk

Thank you. Those are Grandis palys, pretty eye catching in real life and under all kinds of light.

ShippD said:
Looks amazing

Thank you.

Lilmatty5dimes said:
great fts. love the variety of color in your tank

Thank you so much

skinz78 said:
Looking great!

Hey there!! Thanks

josh4107 said:
Wow great looking tank! How often do you do water changes? And what are your avg water params if you don't mind me asking?

Thank you. I run a dirty tank, very dirty in fact. I do water changes whenever I feel like it. :blush:
My methodology and husbandry does not make for good advice, especially if a new hobbyist is reading. I will say however that I observe every inch of my tank every day, like a sentry. One polyp out of place or ****** off and I put on my inspection hat and dig in there to find out what is going on. Parameter wise I have always been rather low on ALK and Calcium but they are stable because I have dosers. They don't fluctuate much, as a result corals get used to the levels you have and learn to thrive.

Here's a video
[video=youtube;PfH68KpOTrY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfH68KpOTrY&feature=c4-overview&list=UURmR8dLH8F1QMo3WA-6e5Sg[/video]

josh4107 · Dec 3, 2013

Great video really digging the music haha. Do you have your mandarin trained on frozen or are there enough Copepods in there and the sump to keep him happy? Also curious as to what salt you use? I looked but don't think I saw it mentioned in the thread anywhere?

Reef_Insanity · Dec 3, 2013

Dang I always struggle to get a pic with just the blues =) whats your secret on this one?

metrokat said:
Started on Christmas 2011

Reef_Insanity · Dec 3, 2013

Great looking tank btw I love the zoa gardens

metrokat · Dec 3, 2013

josh4107 said:
Great video really digging the music haha. Do you have your mandarin trained on frozen or are there enough Copepods in there and the sump to keep him happy? Also curious as to what salt you use? I looked but don't think I saw it mentioned in the thread anywhere?

Thanks. I have a pair of mandarins in this tank. Bella is hydrated with eggs, she loves Sam who is a big boy and very skinny (but better than several weeks ago when I got him). He's a good sport though, he eats frozen brine, mysis, OVA, and live black worms, amphipods. I have a tisbe pod culture going at the moment (not yet ready to harvest though)along with an amphipod culture (which has ended as of yesterday). I had him in a breeder net for a few days but that stressed him out a lot. Prior to putting him in there to train him, he was so skinny he made me nervous. My fav fish was Draco the mandarin who died in the summer. He had lived with me for well over a year and was a pig, he ate everything in sight. But he was a bit small so when I added Bella, she din't care for him

She certainly stressed me out for several weeks but eventually trained herself to eat everything including pellets. I added an enormous mandarin that came to me from blue zoo, I swear he was as big as a salmon! Bella liked him but he never even pecked at the rocks for pods which Bella does all day long. He basically never ate and didn't make it

I yelled at blue zoo who assured me he was eating before he left their facility, eating what I would like to know!

Anyway, I saw several mandarins at several LFS before I brought Sam home. He is a curious fish, a good fish. But he still hasn't figured out that food won't sit around for very long unless he gobbles it up quick. So he is still thin but not bad at all. Was that a long answer or what! I love my mandarins, they are truly my favorite fish. Now I just have to train Sam to eat pellets.

I use reef crystals and find the water quality much lighter and better than the red sea coral pro salt I used to use. I also tried ESV but I much prefer IORC.