So I have the alkatronic, reefbot, and trident.
I started with the Alkatronic as at the time it was the only one available and I read great reviews. After running it for just over year I’ve had zero issues with it. Calibration is easy, and you can connect it to an APeX system to get the readings to show up on your dash board. Only issue I’ve had is not being able to find pump replacements, so if anyone can link me to these that’d be great. Ideally it’d make sense to replace the peristaltic pumps after 1 year.
I picked up the reefbot the day they were released. Almost 1 year later of use, I still love it. I use it for phosphate, nitrate, and magnesium. I have had a few issues with it, though both times the issues were resolved and I can honestly say the customer support was outstanding. One issue resulted in having to get a whole newreefbot which was covered under warranty, and the most recent required a reflash of the software. It’s still working great. I primarily use this like my lab assistant so I can spot check levels while I’m at work.
Of note, both the Alkatronic and reefbot utize raspberry pi’s. So sometimes you can run into log in issueswhen you go between blue tooth and WiFi. I typically only use blue tooth for calibrating my Alkatronic. Software upgrades h e made this much better, though when it gets stuck a simple power on and off does the trick.
I’ve had the trident since December, and it’s really been the easiest to use of the 3. To me it’s like the iPhone of automatic testers And integration with my apex is really easy. Only thing I wish is that I could reduce alk tests as each bottle lasts about 1 month. Mag and Calcium are close to 2 months. I do travel for work and can be away for long periods of time and missing a regrant change messes things up. I was able to purchase a years worth of regents over the Black Friday sales for a significant discount, and would recommend that as a route to save a few dollars. It will be interesting to see how the required maintenance goes at the 1 year mark, as I don’t know how Neptune will be handling this. Hopefully it’s as easy as mailing it in for service or they come up with a really simple DIY kit.
so, if you can, I’d recommend a few auto testers. The reefbot is good for those random spot checks, and one of the others for daily tests. If I only could have 1, if you have the apex system, get a trident. If you don’t, I’m a big fan of the Alkatronic.
