Convince me otherwise

[thelonereefer1]

Alright guys I’ve been doing a few days worth of research. I am considering getting an apex with a trident for my IM50. I really like how i can see the parameters on a daily basis without me having to physically do the testing myself. I’m imagining this will help greatly with stability as well as the ability to just monitor the tank if I’m not home in general. I’ve looked at a few other controllers but they don’t seem to have the same monitoring features. Am I wrong?

 

[n2585722]

The Hydros will integrate with the Alkatroinic and the Mastertronic.

 

[Yates273]

I can’t speak for other controllers but I can say love my Apex and Trident. I love the ability to check my tank at anytime anywhere I am. My Trident has been pretty solid for the most part. There are so many things I do with my Apex to the point I really don’t have to do anything manually although I enjoy tinkering with my tank. It’s a great piece of mind knowing my inhabitants have many failsafes to keep them protected. You will be not be disappointed. Don’t let the negative reviews discourage you from buying an Apex.

 

[1ocean]

So far myself and a few others having great experiences with GHL..

 

[thelonereefer1]

So far myself and a few others having great experiences with GHL..

Does ghl have an equivalent “trident”?

 

[thelonereefer1]

The Hydros will integrate with the Alkatroinic and the Mastertronic.

What’s your experience with the Mastertronic? As in good bad worth it etc?

 

[thelonereefer1]

I might add whichever route I go I most probably will use it for its basic features. I more than likely won’t be adding any special functions that require coding or anything similar

 

[thelonereefer1]

I might add whichever route I go I most probably will use it for its basic features. I more than likely won’t be adding any special functions that r

 

[thelonereefer1]

I can’t speak for other controllers but I can say love my Apex and Trident. I love the ability to check my tank at anytime anywhere I am. My Trident has been pretty solid for the most part. There are so many things I do with my Apex to the point I really don’t have to do anything manually although I enjoy tinkering with my tank. It’s a great piece of mind knowing my inhabitants have many failsafes to keep them protected. You will be not be disappointed. Don’t let the negative reviews discourage you from buying an Apex.

This is what I’m leaning towards. My tank is only about 8 months old. I know some people get these from the jump. I don’t mind manual testing but I’m too busy:lazy to test as frequently as the trident does and I know stability is key. My toss up is is sooner better or is there a certain time in the future where it’s like wait until point x

 

[n2585722]

What’s your experience with the Mastertronic? As in good bad worth it etc?

I do not have a Mastertronic but do have the Hydros. I am very happy with the Hydros. I have had one for 2 years now. I think @JeffB418 might have one integrated with his Hydros. Here is a link to a video on how to connect them together .

 

[bobssecrtsn]

If you do get the trident, just be aware don’t be bent on exact numbers. My alk is usually off by 1.5 dkh.

 

[Sean Clark]

I would get the Apex and hold off until the second generation Trident comes out. If you can't trust the automatic test results and need to verify them manually to verify that they are indeed incorrect then what is the point? Save your money for now.

 

[thelonereefer1]

I would get the Apex and hold off until the second generation Trident comes out. If you can't trust the automatic test results and need to verify them manually to verify that they are indeed incorrect then what is the point? Save your money for now.

I couldn’t agree more. They’re not cheap and I don’t mind paying extra for quality. There’s a strong correlation between how much something cost and how accurate I expect it to be in whatever it is doing or testing

 

[thelonereefer1]

If you do get the trident, just be aware don’t be bent on exact numbers. My alk is usually off by 1.5 dkh.

Wow. That’s disappointing to hear

 

[thelonereefer1]

I do not have a Mastertronic but do have the Hydros. I am very happy with the Hydros. I have had one for 2 years now. I think @JeffB418 might have one integrated with his Hydros. Here is a link to a video on how to connect them together .

This is super cool. I do like how the Mastertronic can test for more than the trident. It appears that it would be fairly easy to connect based upon that video

 

[n2585722]

This is super cool. I do like how the Mastertronic can test for more than the trident. It appears that it would be fairly easy to connect based upon that video

The Hydros is fairly easy to use. When setting up an output you set it up independent of an actual output port. You can select any unused output port that is compatible with the output type you setting up from a list or that can even be left unused if you are using the output for logic to control another output. If you decide to use a different port the only thing you would need to change is the output device which is the port you want to use. As an example below is a couple of screenshots of my skimmer output settings. I used the generic output type for this with the control inputs. You can choose anywhere from 0 to 9 inputs. I have my sump high, tank leak sensor and skimmer full sensor controlling it. The active when is just a way of saying on when. It just so happens that they are all active when dry on these. The combiner mode is set to AND. This means they all have to meet the active when statements for the output to be on. I do not have a schedule setup on this but if you wanter to you would just turn has schedule to on and the scheduling sections will show up so you can set them up. The output device 1 setting is the port it will control.In this case it is outlet 2 on my XP8 at my tank. The power save range sets the power use were it is considered ok. If it get out of that range it is set to send an alert. The active i modes settings are which modes that this output would be active in. This one is active in all but the water change and low power modes. You would click on this to show the list of modes and settings. The depends on setting is an output that this output would depend on. This could be none but here it is set to the return pump. The dependency mode is off if off. So if the return pump output is off then this output will also go off. The enable advanced settings is turned on to show the more advanced settings. If I has has schedule set to on it would show more advanced setting for scheduling here also. I have it on so I can set a minimum off time for the skimmer. I have it set for 10 minutes. So if it turns off it will stay off for 10 minutes before turning back on. The depends on mode is different in that it holds the start of the minimum off time count until the depends on is no longer active. In this case it will keep the skimmer off for 10 minutes after the return pump is turned back on. This is all done without any coding.