Linkfalcon
Active Member
Hey so the apex trident is there a way to do less testing then 4 times a day other then manual testing in the app
apex trident less testing
- Thread starter Linkfalcon
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SuncrestReef
That Apex guy
The minimum automated schedule is 4 alk/2 cal/2 mag tests per day. You can schedule more frequently than that, but not less. Neptune does not recommend fewer tests per day because the reagents can dry up inside the tubing resulting in inaccurate test results.
You'd be surprised to see how much your parameters can fluctuate during the day. I used to test my Alk every morning at 9am with my manual test kit. Based on those tests, I thought it was pretty stable day to day. But after getting the Trident, I realized that those single daily tests were hiding the true daily swings caused by my coral's uptake during the peak lighting schedule. This graph shows the multiple Trident tests in orange, with my daily manual tests in red:
Using that data, I was able to fine-tune my dosing schedule to dramatically reduce the daily swings:
You'd be surprised to see how much your parameters can fluctuate during the day. I used to test my Alk every morning at 9am with my manual test kit. Based on those tests, I thought it was pretty stable day to day. But after getting the Trident, I realized that those single daily tests were hiding the true daily swings caused by my coral's uptake during the peak lighting schedule. This graph shows the multiple Trident tests in orange, with my daily manual tests in red:
Using that data, I was able to fine-tune my dosing schedule to dramatically reduce the daily swings:
Brett S
Valuable Member
There are some hacks that allow you to do fewer tests, but they are not supported by Neptune at all and could potentially affect the accuracy of the results. Really I think the better question is why do you want to do fewer tests? I totally get that 4 alkalinity tests a day sounds excessive, especially if you’re used to only testing once a week, but it doesn’t hurt anything to do more frequent testing and as @SuncrestReef said, it can be beneficial to see the alkalinity fluctuation throughout the day. It’s also helpful if you want to start using trident controlled dosing.
Additionally, the trident is really designed to operate with that 4/2 test minimum. The reagents have a very limited shelf life once they have been opened and exposed to air, so it‘s possible that the results could become less accurate over time. Additionally the reagent is used to clean and maintain the testing cuvette and running fewer tests could cause buildup on the cuvette, which again, could affect your results.
The 6 months supply of reagent is $99, so that works out to only $16.50 a month for the reagent at 4/2 tests a day. Trying to do fewer tests won’t save a significant amount of money and could affect the accuracy of your results.
Additionally, the trident is really designed to operate with that 4/2 test minimum. The reagents have a very limited shelf life once they have been opened and exposed to air, so it‘s possible that the results could become less accurate over time. Additionally the reagent is used to clean and maintain the testing cuvette and running fewer tests could cause buildup on the cuvette, which again, could affect your results.
The 6 months supply of reagent is $99, so that works out to only $16.50 a month for the reagent at 4/2 tests a day. Trying to do fewer tests won’t save a significant amount of money and could affect the accuracy of your results.
easyreef
New Member
I run into this issue. I wanted to do fewer tests because with mature and stable tank it's simply useless to do them so often. Another factor is reagent availability, this spring I was about 1.5 month without reagents, because I couldn't buy them anywhere.
So I developed small automation which allow me to run Trident tests at any time with any schedule. It simply emulates manual test button in Apex web.
Currently I'm running 1 combined test and additional alkalinity test per day. Or 1/mg/cal and 2/alk tests per day.
This saves reagents twice, plus I can schedule tests to my desired time.
I have run this setup more than one month and don't see any issues with accuracy or reagents dry up.
I've run Trident for 6 month and already learned parameters fluctuations during the day. Now I don't need so detailed information. But I can always switch back to automatic schedule if I need it.
Here is automation setup - https://github.com/rvoitenko/trident-scheduler if someone interested.
Before setup Trident should be switched to manual mode.
So I developed small automation which allow me to run Trident tests at any time with any schedule. It simply emulates manual test button in Apex web.
Currently I'm running 1 combined test and additional alkalinity test per day. Or 1/mg/cal and 2/alk tests per day.
This saves reagents twice, plus I can schedule tests to my desired time.
I have run this setup more than one month and don't see any issues with accuracy or reagents dry up.
I've run Trident for 6 month and already learned parameters fluctuations during the day. Now I don't need so detailed information. But I can always switch back to automatic schedule if I need it.
Here is automation setup - https://github.com/rvoitenko/trident-scheduler if someone interested.
Before setup Trident should be switched to manual mode.
mdb_talon
2500 Club Member
Because testing calc twice a day is overkill. Testing magnesium more than ever few days at the absolute most is unnecessary(personally i think every couple weeks is plenty). Testing alk 4x a day is nice when measuring consumption and how it may change through the day but again is about four times more than reasonably needed most of the time.
I understand there are technical limitations, but that is not a selling point but rather a limitation of the product. $200/year is still a good chunk of change for many people who like the idea of automated testing, but not the idea of paying for forking out that money to do extra tests that serve almost no value to many reefers.
