The trident can be set to do as many tests really as you want in a day but will burn through more Reagants that way. It tests for alk, cal, and mag on mine 4 times a day. That’s why I’ve been able to stabilize the tank more after only having it up for 4 days I get to see my consumption throughout the day so I know when to dose proper chemicals. Since then my tank has been the most stable allowing me to dial in my dosage perfectly. Like I said only been a week but it was the right choice for my tank. I don’t do autodosing but that’s an option with a dos. I have a ghl so I just use it to fine tune my numbers then adjust the ghl to dispense at times I know see these elements are being depleted
I like my Trident and it has also helped me out a lot and that is why I recommended it to the OP.
With that said your at the one week mark so I can guarantee you that your enthusiasm will wane a bit as time goes on. The biggest issue with the Trident is that it's construction is so flimsy that your on pins and needles every time you have to change the reagents or even move the thing. I have learned not to touch it or move it an inch once it's working.
The main issues listed in order of worry.
1) The L shaped plastic hose connectors on the top of the reagent bottle look like they could snap if even the slightest force is put on them and unfortunately for a 5 cent item Neptune does not include any spares in the box nor do I see where they sell them. So changing reagents is something I do very delicately.
2) The hoses on this thing are so thin that it is very very easy to get them crimped or clogged. I have had this happen twice on the input line and the end result is that I get lower readings like Ca drops from 420 to 380. The second time this happened to me was right after a reagent change and I thought that the previous reagents must have been bad or the unit had gone out of calibration. So stupidly I upped my dosing slightly figuring in a week I could get it back to normal. By the second day I noticed the response to dosing was not as expected so I did what I should have done before and broke out the Hanna test Kit. My calcium was now at 430 on the Hanna. I removed the input line cleaned it out and put it back and re-calibrated using the solution from my spare pack and everything was back to normal. Also it's annoying to find out that Neptune seems to be permanently out of calibration fluid for the Trident. So I am going to have to get creative when I use the next set. I have also had the reagent lines get crimped and seen the reverse problem.
3) The Front Red Plastic cover is always popping out and the Reagent tray is so flimsy that it's a nightmare. It just boggles my mind that the reagent tray is not fitted into sliding groves so it cannot fall out.
Overall the unit works great but it's the most fragile piece of Aquarium equipment I have ever owned. They really needed to spend a few extra dollars and make it more robust. I honestly think that the plastic could not get any thinner on this thing, it's like someone kept making a prototype with thinner and thinner plastic until the last one just broke under it's own weight so they just moved back one gauge in thickness and said success!
As for the Reefbot, I have just heard way to many complaints about it and I am really turned off by the fact that it only works if their cloud system is up and running and the tests take way to long.
