Alkalinity monitor/controller -experiences

[FarmerTy]

FarmerTy you took the plunge, that’s awesome. I been reading your stuff and you have an awesome DT. I am sure you are gonna be trimming much more than usual now. I am loving the piece of mind it offers. Went out of town and it was great having it supplement my dosing regiment as usage increased.

It is absolutely incredible to be able to chat with Jonas if needed too.

Yes I did and I'm very happy I did! Thank you for your honest assessment of it.

My alk stays pretty stable with my CaRX but the Alkatronic will help me sleep better at night, whether it's when I'm home or traveling. [emoji16] Thank you for the compliments!

 

[FarmerTy]

Alkatronic User here
Cost to get going seems pretty reasonable the entry fee for the alkatronic was $799 but that has now gone up to $899.
No controller used on my end, but it will send a signal (bnc connector) to it
results have been pretty good, reagent mixing is key to steady results (premixed reagent would be better imo, would take out a step of error)
customer support has been great, i read the manual but still did things wrong and they would tell me exactly what was wrong!

pros:
I can check my alk pretty much on spot or have the program run and plot it every few hours (even if reagent isnt mixed correctly you can see a trend)
sense of security
happy corals

cons:
mixing reagent (i have mixed reagent 4 times now and you have to be as accurate as possible to get exact results) The first time i used a graduated cylinder that was not very accurate, the 250ml of reagent that came with the unit was premeasured, but the ro water i used was probably not a try 1000ml, next i did the same thing but had to use the other reagent i purchased(4l bottle) poured 250ml into not accurate measuring device and then ro water, 3/4th time i used a scale to weigh the water/reagent 250 grams and 1000grams mixed exactly correct. I see that the alk # seems to differ from the salifert test when i do a test to 4.5 ph (not sure if that is the same metric that the alkatronic does, and i use a different ph probe (so there is a bit of error there)

other con is the android app, it constantly asks for bluetooth connection and if your screen goes to sleep you better restart the alkatronic to get it to connect again.

The Android app is beta... I have the same issues with it so I've been using the wife's IPad instead.

I'm happy mixing my own reagent... Saves me money. You can set the offset in settings after each batch so I don't worry too much about being a little off.

 

[mitch91175]

Alkatronic User here
Cost to get going seems pretty reasonable the entry fee for the alkatronic was $799 but that has now gone up to $899.
No controller used on my end, but it will send a signal (bnc connector) to it
results have been pretty good, reagent mixing is key to steady results (premixed reagent would be better imo, would take out a step of error)
customer support has been great, i read the manual but still did things wrong and they would tell me exactly what was wrong!

pros:
I can check my alk pretty much on spot or have the program run and plot it every few hours (even if reagent isnt mixed correctly you can see a trend)
sense of security
happy corals

cons:
mixing reagent (i have mixed reagent 4 times now and you have to be as accurate as possible to get exact results) The first time i used a graduated cylinder that was not very accurate, the 250ml of reagent that came with the unit was premeasured, but the ro water i used was probably not a try 1000ml, next i did the same thing but had to use the other reagent i purchased(4l bottle) poured 250ml into not accurate measuring device and then ro water, 3/4th time i used a scale to weigh the water/reagent 250 grams and 1000grams mixed exactly correct. I see that the alk # seems to differ from the salifert test when i do a test to 4.5 ph (not sure if that is the same metric that the alkatronic does, and i use a different ph probe (so there is a bit of error there)

other con is the android app, it constantly asks for bluetooth connection and if your screen goes to sleep you better restart the alkatronic to get it to connect again.

Something to do is completely close the app when done using it for setup and use the web app to read measurements. That’s what I do now and don’t run into having the unit not switch between BT and WiFi until that software glitch is resolved. You only really need to open the app for setup and calibration really.

 

[mitch91175]

Yes I did and I'm very happy I did! Thank you for your honest assessment of it.

My alk stays pretty stable with my CaRX but the Alkatronic will help me sleep better at night, whether it's when I'm home or traveling. [emoji16] Thank you for the compliments!

I am gonna switch to a CaRX now that I have the Alkatronic. Tired of filling the 2 part

 

[FarmerTy]

I am gonna switch to a CaRX now that I have the Alkatronic. Tired of filling the 2 part

Been running one for 6-7 years now... Super easy once you get it set up. Just don't go cheap on the reactor and the regulator... You'll thank yourself in the end.

 

[mitch91175]

This is how awesome their support is:

Which other companies in the industry will communicate this to a user directly?

 

[mitch91175]

Been running one for 6-7 years now... Super easy once you get it set up. Just don't go cheap on the reactor and the regulator... You'll thank yourself in the end.

Definitely not going cheap, never do on equipment unless not critical. I have a 240 SPS dominant and was thinking about the vertex with the CarbonDoser regulator. What do you think?

 

[mitch91175]

Been running one for 6-7 years now... Super easy once you get it set up. Just don't go cheap on the reactor and the regulator... You'll thank yourself in the end.

Are you needing to do any other trace elements running the CaRX? My plan is no water changes.

 

[FarmerTy]

Definitely not going through cheap, never do on equipment. I have a 240 SPS dominant and was thinking about the vertex with the CarbonDoser regulator. What do you think?

I like the carbondoser... Just a heads up... There is a faint audible clicking with each bubble released. In a stand no issue but if its out in the open, may drive you nuts if you can't stand old clocks.

I've never used Vertex so can't say.

 

[mitch91175]

I like the carbondoser... Just a heads up... There is a faint audible clicking with each bubble released. In a stand no issue but if its out in the open, may drive you nuts if you can't stand old clocks.

I've never used Vertex so can't say.

Which one are you using? And if you had to would you buy it again?

 

[FarmerTy]

Are you needing to do any other trace elements running the CaRX? My plan is no water changes.

I don't... I don't even change my water. [emoji16]

You'll have to dose Mg from time to time depending on your system... That or add neomag to the media.

 

[FarmerTy]

Which one are you using? And if you had to would you buy it again?

MTC Procal... I'd buy it 1,000x over.

 

[mitch91175]

MTC Procal... I'd buy it 1,000x over.

Is this the one: http://www.marinetechnical.com/page12.html

Looks well built, but I definitely don't need for 700 gallon. Sucks they don't have a model between that one and the Minical.

 

[FarmerTy]

Is this the one: http://www.marinetechnical.com/page12.html

Looks well built, but I definitely don't need for 700 gallon. Sucks they don't have a model between that one and the Minical.

Yes, that's it. 700g is a stretch. I'm at 300 gallons total and heavy SPS in display and frag tank. The media needs to be refilled every 6 months. Not bad in my opinion and again, my usage is probably higher than most normal reefers needs.

 

[mitch91175]

Yes, that's it. 700g is a stretch. I'm at 300 gallons total and heavy SPS in display and frag tank. The media needs to be refilled every 6 months. Not bad in my opinion and again, my usage is probably higher than most normal reefers needs.

On yours are you running a stream versus a drip?

 

[FarmerTy]

On yours are you running a stream versus a drip?

Its more of a heavy drip... Close to a full stream.

 

[Ken Lee]

Anybody with a KH Guardian that can chime in? Please? There, you made me beg. [emoji17]

I have KHG monitor, it is not realiable product, product setup is very technical & sensitive, customer service is not responsible at all, user interface is not user friendly (no phone app), not wifi/bluetooth build in, i gotten 2 monitor units in separate time period & after 2weeks messing with it, turn out to be all faulty & send back for repair. Here i have not much choice, only KHG or GHL is available. I wanted to get Alkatronic but they not willing to send me one here.
The main concern of general Alk device, it consumes your saltwater daily like 700ml to 1L daily or more, if your tank is smaller, u away from your tank for sometimes, without saltwater top up, u are risking salinity drop. The test waste is not safe to dump back to your DT (though some claimed it is, but not for my experience so far). i have some issue with my sps after couple weeks doing that.

 

[mitch91175]

I have KHG monitor, it is not realiable product, product setup is very technical & sensitive, customer service is not responsible at all, user interface is not user friendly (no phone app), not wifi/bluetooth build in, i gotten 2 monitor units in separate time period & after 2weeks messing with it, turn out to be all faulty & send back for repair. Here i have not much choice, only KHG or GHL is available. I wanted to get Alkatronic but they not willing to send me one here.
The main concern of general Alk device, it consumes your saltwater daily like 700ml to 1L daily or more, if your tank is smaller, u away from your tank for sometimes, without saltwater top up, u are risking salinity drop. The test waste is not safe to dump back to your DT (though some claimed it is, but not for my experience so far). i have some issue with my sps after couple weeks doing that.

I am adding mine back to the tank and SPS are doing fine. Even growing great. I have the Alkatronic though.

 

[Ken Lee]

I am adding mine back to the tank and SPS are doing fine. Even growing great. I have the Alkatronic though.

how long u have been doing this? what i understand Alkatronic don't encourage u to do so right? maybe now u can, as i didn't follow closely those thread anymore. Maybe your tank is more mature than mine . Whenever u are tweaking your Alk unit, never dump the waste back to your DT, if it is all ready dial in & stable, maybe u can do it with close monitoring.

 

[mitch91175]

Yeah I got the go ahead directly from Jonas that the reagent was fine to add back with a minimal affect on dkh