Does a Trident make all the difference?

[trmiv]

After holding out for a long time I finally bought a Trident today from BRS. The calcium/mag tests don’t matter so much to me but I’m super excited to get alk tested 4 times a day. As my current tank matures and demand increases I’ve been testing alk so much to get my dosing right I’m completely sick of it. Also I’ve gotten busy a few days and forgotten which makes it hard to get a handle on my demand. So just being able to look at what my alk is will be a huge game changer for me.

 

[Shanel]

It's in my future plans. I just don't have time to do testing on a regular basis. Well worth it for my situation.

 

[Cabinetman]

Mine just saved me already. Added what I thought was a small amount of alkalinity supliment to my top off water and over the next few days I could see my tanks alk rising with every test. Last night I had to pull the feed line from my auto top off container and take it from a fresh bucket of Rodi water. The rise stopped and I actually seen some decline this morning. This thing is a life saver. I know I wouldn’t have caught this testing manually because I just don’t test that often. I know stabilizing alk has done wonders for my coral! My euphillia is swelling up like never before. Would the tank have crashed if I had of let it go? Probably not but I would’ve probably had a bunch of ticked off coral and been left wondering why. Then who knows what stupid thing I would’ve done to try to correct it. Thinking back I’ll bet most of my problems have been caused by big alk swings...

 

[piranhaman00]

I love testing my aquarium water! One of my favorite parts, Trident would take that away although seeing Live paramater on phone would be killer.

 

[Brian_68]

Have to wonder what the failure modes are, can a pump relay / switch stick in the on position etc. and cause harm. Seems to be a testing time saver though from those that have one. I am concerned relying too much on automation that one day when you do not suspect it fails.

 

[User1]

Have to wonder what the failure modes are, can a pump relay / switch stick in the on position etc. and cause harm. Seems to be a testing time saver though from those that have one. I am concerned relying too much on automation that one day when you do not suspect it fails.

As it has already been stated even if you do Trident assisted dosing if something was to go wrong with let us say an Alk reading it automatically defaults back to your scheduled DOS amount. It tunes and adapts to help keep it steady but should something happen it will not over dose.

As you note - it is a time saver. A tool. Shows trends. It is a good tool to be honest but just another tool like a controller or skimmer. Lots to choose from but not all are needed.

 

[Brian_68]

As it has already been stated even if you do Trident assisted dosing if something was to go wrong with let us say an Alk reading it automatically defaults back to your scheduled DOS amount. It tunes and adapts to help keep it steady but should something happen it will not over dose.

As you note - it is a time saver. A tool. Shows trends. It is a good tool to be honest but just another tool like a controller or skimmer. Lots to choose from but not all are needed.

I was more looking at an electrical failure not a reading out of line, say a pump relay / switch fails in an on or off position and the trident / APEX has no control. Eventually all things fail and it is just a matter of what that failure mode is and can it be accounted for.

 

[User1]

I was more looking at an electrical failure not a reading out of line, say a pump relay / switch fails in an on or off position and the trident / APEX has no control. Eventually all things fail and it is just a matter of what that failure mode is and can it be accounted for.

Sure, fully understand and thanks for the clarification. However, this would be true even if there wasn't a trident.

You raise a really great point that is often over looked I think. Not intentionally but in general as it relates to redundancy or other fail safes designed in. It is an added expense. Spare pumps, power heads, redundant pumps, generators, controllers, and separate circuits supplying power. As you suggest it isn't if but a matter of what and how it can be accounted for.

Really great point. I try to keep critical spare parts (power head and apex energy bar) and run two return pumps. The pumps are not on separate electrical circuits but they should be. I do have one plugged into the energy bar and the secondary to a wall outlet. A bit better but not idea. In any case the if fail, when, and accounted for is a great nugget

 

[Sthomp01]

The Trident has really helped in keeping stable ALK/Calc. Our stability has improved 10 fold since we got the Trident.

 

[LiamPM]

The Trident has really helped in keeping stable ALK/Calc. Our stability has improved 10 fold since we got the Trident.

Out of curiosity, what did you change from seeing the test results to give you more stability?

Obviously the Trident doesnt actually give stability just shows you numbers so just wondering what it revealed that you acted on. They are just starting to be available in the UK and more and more people are looking into them over here.

 

[Jowieg]

I’ve had significant improvements with alkalinity stability. It’s worth it for me because I lost a lot of corals from alkalinity swings. Also, I have three young children which makes it difficult for me to check parameters daily. The trident makes keeping my reef tank manageable and I’m enjoying my tank again.

 

[Jowieg]

I also have the Neptune apex doser so I can tweak the amount of alkalinity and calcium being dosed remotely. The trident gives me readings four times daily and the doser allows me to make immediate tweaks if needed.

 

[bam123]

ONe minute every other day to use my Hanna tester for alkalinity. One minute to adjust my doser.
Time to change the Trident Reagents every month or so? Time to recallibrate? Time every year to mail the Trident back for routine YEARLY service?? It's probably a wash. My tank is mostly softies. I will pass on the trident for now. Hopefully mindstream got bought out by ecotech)

 

[Dana Riddle]

The Trident combined with DOS pumps has reduced lab time considerably. Love it.

 

[Cabinetman]

It’s funny to read the folks comments that don’t have one lol. Until you have one you just can’t comprehend the usefulness of this device.

 

[User1]

Out of curiosity, what did you change from seeing the test results to give you more stability?

Obviously the Trident doesnt actually give stability just shows you numbers so just wondering what it revealed that you acted on. They are just starting to be available in the UK and more and more people are looking into them over here.

It does although we may be talking semantics at this point or wording. Basically trident plus DOS system = working together. Apex uses the tridents results to automatically adjust dosing amounts. By doing so in theory it will smooth out the results yielding more stable results. The key is that it does it safely within limits and should something happen or go South it will fall back to the original DOS settings.

So stability, smooth, less variance over time. Steady and consistent. That is what it helps with using the results to increase or decrease +- a percentage.

 

[K7BMG]

God how did we ever keep corals before the trident?

Newbies getting into the hobby that setup a tank with it, will be quitting even sooner when all of a sudden their trident messes up(trust me anything made by humans, will eventually fail), and they have no idea on how to run a simple titration test.

Will it make a difference in your reefkeeping? Only if your lazy and don't like testing. This is not a lazy mans hobby if you want to keep high end corals and fish.

Only thing I see the trident doing is making it easier to perform tests, and you don't have to personally take the time out of your day to do them.

I personally cannot see spending the 1k(need to upgrade my apex also) to find out. My time testing is not worth that much to me.

I understand your point but feel you being a bit rude calling people lazy.

Newer tanks are not stable, so frequent testing is needed to keep things as stable as possible.
Testing is not my thing, its part of the requirements if I chose to have a reef tank.
But I did not make the choice so I could have a fun time testing water parameters unlike the other person who likes the process.
Plus the fact I travel weekly for work.
I cant test, nor control my dosing, nor top off my water, nor do water changes, if I am not there to do it.

I don't know Maybe I should just not have a tank then until I am retired and have few to no responsibilities anymore.

Maybe we should not have vehicles as well. We should all go back to the horse, bicycle, or walk. Horses need fed and picked up after yes. The theory is the same.

I have automated my tank as much as possible. Without the automation I doubt I would have been as successful and I would have failed, and been left with dust covered aquarium equipment in the garage.

All that said I am an old guy and yea some of the current tech is crazy overwhelming and most of it I do not understand.
If under the impossible for some reason humans from the age of 45 on up all died suddenly and the electronics went out for good I don't know that humans would survive.
Most under the age of 45 have no idea how to dig a hole or use simple hand tools.
ROTFL. If it aint on YouTube they could never make it, maintain it, nor fix it.

So the Trident helps because even the most diligent of reefers will never achieve the consistent testing the Trident gives us.

 

[fcmatt]

It makes a huge difference in my reef keeping.
My Alk is only swinging about .2 dKH per day versus some swings that would go 1-2 dKH between my erratic testing times prior to getting the trident. I am seeing the pay off already!

I think i am worse then robbyg when it comes to testing and swings. I can grow sps fine but they are never never optimal. I have a feeling someone like me would benefit a lot but the cost is ridiculous.

But if you are the type who spends 1000s on sticks alone i would prob buy it. I dont spend that kind of money cause I can keep what I have alive and I am ok with them. Plus I have too many anemones. They kill sps pretty easily on a whim.

 

[Jowieg]

I understand your point but feel you being a bit rude calling people lazy.

Newer tanks are not stable, so frequent testing is needed to keep things as stable as possible.
Testing is not my thing, its part of the requirements if I chose to have a reef tank.
But I did not make the choice so I could have a fun time testing water parameters unlike the other person who likes the process.
Plus the fact I travel weekly for work.
I cant test, nor control my dosing, nor top off my water, nor do water changes, if I am not there to do it.

I don't know Maybe I should just not have a tank then until I am retired and have few to no responsibilities anymore.

Maybe we should not have vehicles as well. We should all go back to the horse, bicycle, or walk. Horses need fed and picked up after yes. The theory is the same.

I have automated my tank as much as possible. Without the automation I doubt I would have been as successful and I would have failed, and been left with dust covered aquarium equipment in the garage.

All that said I am an old guy and yea some of the current tech is crazy overwhelming and most of it I do not understand.
If under the impossible for some reason humans from the age of 45 on up all died suddenly and the electronics went out for good I don't know that humans would survive.
Most under the age of 45 have no idea how to dig a hole or use simple hand tools.
ROTFL. If it aint on YouTube they could never make it, maintain it, nor fix it.

So the Trident helps because even the most diligent of reefers will never achieve the consistent testing the Trident gives us.

I agree that those who find the trident helpful are not lazy and it helps me keeping a thriving reef tank. COVID19 has changed a lot of lives and now I have three kids at home doing e-learning. I have less free time these days. To keep on top of water changes, ATO, cleaning skimmer, changing socks, maintaining refugium, and the list goes on. By eliminating alkalinity, calcium and magnesium checks, I have a little more time to just enjoy looking at my tank.

 

[Thales]

Only you can decide if it is worth it or not.

If you have experience manually testing so that you have a firm understanding of the parameters and how to test, the Trident is a must have for me. Same with Apex in general - it is a great addition once you have an understanding of how tanks work. Automating without that understanding can lead to frustration. Automating with understanding can free up time and help stabalize your system

The trident keeps alk in a good and stable range (testing 4x a day is perfect for this) by influencing my CaRx. I was happy with the prototype that just tested, having one that can influence levels is fantastic. Once you get used to it, reagent changes and calibration are a breeze.

I have a trident at home, that runs the home coral spawning lab and display system, and a spare, because I consider it a critical piece of equipment like my return pump, in tank water pumps, heater, and the apex iteslf, so I want backups onsite. If I was still involved with the day to day at the spawning lab at CAS, I would be running one there as well. I would run one on any serious SPS system.