Great news update from Neptune!

hybridazn · Mar 30, 2018

Just saw this on their Facebook page.

Update on the trident, and awesome news for classic owners!

PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT UPDATE

TRIDENT
We know many of our Control Freaks are eagerly awaiting the Trident that we unveiled last year at MACNA. And social media has been chattering non-stop asking for an update. Well we'll just will come right out and say it — it looks like we are slipping about three months on this product. This means that our Neptune Systems Insiders (NSI) should be able to get their hands on a Trident in 2-3 months. Our development teams have been working non-stop on this product. Technologically everything is rock solid - we've just have had some hiccups in component sourcing and manufacturing areas. A new production prototype of the Trident will be shown at Reefapalooza (RAP) in Orlando on April 7-8 so if you want to see it in the flesh, make sure to come out to that event.

VOICE IS COMING!
In other product development news, we have something great to announce. At RAP we will be showing off a beta version of Apex Fusion that has Amazon Alexa support. We plan on making voice control and IoT integration a key feature of the Apex going forward and this is the first step. We are starting with Alexa and then from there we will be examining the viability of Apple Homekit (Siri) as well as other voice tech out there. We will be demoing Alexa control and feedback at the booth at RAP so be sure to stop on by for a demo. Voice integration is not just a gimmick, there are some really helpful ways it takes your Apex to the next level and delivers on our promise of “less hassle”. And yes, it will work with an Apex Classic and Apex Jr.

AI HYDRA HD/ and PrimeHD SUPPORT
We will be releasing beta version of support for these lights in the coming weeks. No additional hardware is required. We will be demoing this at RAP as well.

FINALLY, APEX BASE UNITS WILL GO ON SALE SOON!
Since the introduction of our latest Apex model in 2016, a number of our customers have asked us to simply sell the Apex base unit separately so that they could swap out their Apex Classic and begin running the newer version. Other customers wanted to own one as a backup unit. Until now the incredible demand for complete Apex systems was such that we could not set aside base units alone to be sold for these purposes. The day has finally here where the Apex Base unit will be sold on its own. Not only that, there will also be an introductory discount. The new Apex base unit will retail at $399.95 and come with a set of calibration solutions. Availability will begin on 4/1/2018 from authorized Neptune Systems partners and through the end of April you will be able to purchase it for $349.95 ($50 discount).

Of course we have a number of other exciting things up our sleeves that we will be announcing in the coming months, so be sure to stay tuned to our FaceBook page and Twitter feed.

dragon99 · Mar 30, 2018

(mostly) good stuff!

Can't wait to try the PrimeHD integration

justingraham · Mar 30, 2018

Is it tho?

We were told the trident would be in the second quarter of 2018. In that time other competitors have brought there alk monitors to the market. But I for one have waited for the trident instead of getting the alktronic and once again have been fooled by Neptune. Also for the last three months Neptune has been quiet until today about the trident. Kinda reminds me of the Cor.

So although there is news it doesn’t mean much to me as we were told we were able to buy it in the second quarter this year. And what’s stopping them in another three months from postponing it again for another mechanical problem? Look at the post or the videos from the face of Neptune to which his cockiness claims the trident is ready to go already out to a select few with no problems. So somewhere someone was lieing to us and I can only think of one reason to give a fake date and that was to stop people from going to the competitors monitors. Now that I think about it another reason is to sell there apex 16s that we’re not flying off the shelves as they hoped so they say hey we have this new alk mag and calcium monitor but u need the new apex and there is no plan in the future for an upgrade path for the new apex head (and the face of Neptune pushed hard for everyone to sell there old apex’s for the trident that was coming out in the second quarter of this year)

If it gets postponed again at that point I plan on giving my money to alktronic as I feel Neptune needs to understand that there are consciences to there lies. (Just like the lie that you won’t be able to buy the apex 16 brain that magically can be bought now after everyone has upgraded to the apex 16 per Neptune saying it won’t do it and you should sell your old apex now to get the most money for it and buy the new apex)

So as far as I’m concerned they have lied to us consistently and ther excuse will be that technology blah blah blah but they lied and if we continue to support a company that lies they will never change

dealseer · Mar 30, 2018

The schedule slip is the least of my concerns about Neptune. I’m all Neptune right now (unfortunately) but moving away as I can.

WWIII · Mar 30, 2018

I still don't see how they will be able to deliver a dependable long lasting trident at under $600. I don't know all that much about it, but sure seems like a lot of hardware that needs to be rock solid and have some longevity for that price. I hope they do deliver, and hope that it is in fact rock solid, which would be great for the industry, but have my doubts.

Labridaedicted · Mar 30, 2018

Hopefully google home support is also being developed in addition to amazon. *fingers crossed* I already have them throughout the house including the fish room (so the wife can actually contact me while I'm in the cave. Plus timers and music make testing less tedious)

Greenstreet.1 · Mar 30, 2018

Well time will tell. I for one will be waiting. Also like the hydra upgrade as I love hydras also liking the fact that I don’t have to buy a full new apex so so far I’m happy I waited.

WWIII · Mar 30, 2018

I wonder if it will still be shaped like the Rock of Gibraltar? "New production prototype"

All in all exciting times in this hobby for monitoring, control and automation! Will be more exciting to see it actually work for us average consumers!

hybridazn · Mar 30, 2018

justingraham said:
Is it tho?

We were told the trident would be in the second quarter of 2018. In that time other competitors have brought there alk monitors to the market. But I for one have waited for the trident instead of getting the alktronic and once again have been fooled by Neptune. Also for the last three months Neptune has been quiet until today about the trident. Kinda reminds me of the Cor.

So although there is news it doesn’t mean much to me as we were told we were able to buy it in the second quarter this year. And what’s stopping them in another three months from postponing it again for another mechanical problem? Look at the post or the videos from the face of Neptune to which his cockiness claims the trident is ready to go already out to a select few with no problems. So somewhere someone was lieing to us and I can only think of one reason to give a fake date and that was to stop people from going to the competitors monitors. Now that I think about it another reason is to sell there apex 16s that we’re not flying off the shelves as they hoped so they say hey we have this new alk mag and calcium monitor but u need the new apex and there is no plan in the future for an upgrade path for the new apex head (and the face of Neptune pushed hard for everyone to sell there old apex’s for the trident that was coming out in the second quarter of this year)

If it gets postponed again at that point I plan on giving my money to alktronic as I feel Neptune needs to understand that there are consciences to there lies. (Just like the lie that you won’t be able to buy the apex 16 brain that magically can be bought now after everyone has upgraded to the apex 16 per Neptune saying it won’t do it and you should sell your old apex now to get the most money for it and buy the new apex)

So as far as I’m concerned they have lied to us consistently and ther excuse will be that technology blah blah blah but they lied and if we continue to support a company that lies they will never change

One thing we need to remember is that the trident isn't just an alk monitor, it's going to monitor the big 3 and that will be an industry first.

Delaying a product is frustrating for the end user but honestly I'd rather wait a bit for a quality product than one that is rushed to market and then users are the ones figuring out issues after paying top dollar for equipment (ie, vectra pumps, cerebra controller, etc).

I also don't ever remember Neptune saying there will never be an upgrade path for classic owners to the new 2016. They kept the base off the market by itself because the 2016 was selling well and demand was high. That was of course 2 years ago now so the base being available now is def good news for ppl who still have the classic.

Labridaedicted · Mar 30, 2018

hybridazn said:
One thing we need to remember is that the trident isn't just an alk monitor, it's going to monitor the big 3 and that will be an industry first.

Delaying a product is frustrating for the end user but honestly I'd rather wait a bit for a quality product than one that is rushed to market and then users are the ones figuring out issues after paying top dollar for equipment (ie, vectra pumps, cerebra controller, etc).

I also don't ever remember Neptune saying there will never be an upgrade path for classic owners to the new 2016. They kept the base off the market by itself because the 2016 was selling well and demand was high. That was of course 2 years ago now so the base being available now is def good news for ppl who still have the classic.

This is 100% accurate. When you're relying on this puppy to control your reef, you don't want bugs making it dump a gallon of alk solution into the tank.

justingraham · Mar 30, 2018

hybridazn said:
One thing we need to remember is that the trident isn't just an alk monitor, it's going to monitor the big 3 and that will be an industry first.

Delaying a product is frustrating for the end user but honestly I'd rather wait a bit for a quality product than one that is rushed to market and then users are the ones figuring out issues after paying top dollar for equipment (ie, vectra pumps, cerebra controller, etc).

I also don't ever remember Neptune saying there will never be an upgrade path for classic owners to the new 2016. They kept the base off the market by itself because the 2016 was selling well and demand was high. That was of course 2 years ago now so the base being available now is def good news for ppl who still have the classic.

While I agree with your statements Neptune shouldn’t tell us one thing and then do another.

If it’s going to take them a year then tell me that I’ll respect ur honesy don’t keep telling me it’s coming in three months every three months four times. When I am saving my money and waiting for it as I would have rather bought an alktronic and then when it was ready the trident. Like I am going on vacation soon and I would have rather bought the alktronic so I know my dkh when I’m away then be lied to and trust my tank sitter can test it right.

Also as of right now they CLAIM it can test all the big three but has anyone seen it test anything other then alk? In fact has anyone ever seen it test anything besides what Neptune wanted it to test? And call me whatever but I don’t trust Neptunes word for anything.

Also Look back on when they announced the trident at the time there was multiple post by a Neptune employee who said as of right now there is no way to upgrade to the new brain and it is better for you to sell your old apex and get top dollar for it plus your going to eventually need probes so to me that meant there isn’t an upgrade path but now magically the quarter in which the trident is suposed to be released and the people who wanted to make sure they could use the trident did what a certain employee of Neptune said we can now buy the new brain.

I would just respect them more if they didn’t lie is all I’m saying
If they thought there was going to be an upgrade path tell us that instead of tell us to sell our old apex for top dollar

But I agree I rather have all the bugs out of it before it comes to market but if u think it’s going to take a year tell us that don’t string us along every quarter especially since they have been quiet since January about it you’re telling me that they just found out about the problems or the knew and just decided not to tell us?

One last thing ur happy about the news and that’s great but I’m not it’s the same news that was released at macna 17 but since they have been hush hush on it since January it’s now big news because we have something from them!!!

I love my apex I do it has saved me tons but just because they have great products doesn’t mean the way they do business is ok and they shouldn’t be called out on it. How long do we have to keep saying “well I rather them get it right the first time?” Or “technology man “ or blah blah insert excuse in here and we start saying hey you told us something (they told us second quarter we didn’t say it Neptune did) and you didn’t come thru. And we start holding them to there word.

If I told u I have this coral (that other people have right now but mine comes with a “name”) but you need this light for for me to sell it to u. Even tho u have a perfectly good working light. I will sell it to u in the second quarter next year. So you go and buy the new light and In January you tried getting in touch with me and I never replied to you. Then almost on the first day of the second quarter I came out and told you hey sorry ran into some problems and the coral won’t be ready for another three months but good news u can keep your old light!! And you can now talk to ur old light as well thru Siri or alexia.
Would you now wait again to buy my coral because it has a “name” associated with it? Would you not be mad at me for not telling you the truth? Or would you go to someone down the street that has the coral growing already but doesn’t have the “name”?

mitch91175 · Mar 30, 2018

justingraham said:
While I agree with your statements Neptune shouldn’t tell us one thing and then do another.

If it’s going to take them a year then tell me that I’ll respect ur honesy don’t keep telling me it’s coming in three months every three months four times. When I am saving my money and waiting for it as I would have rather bought an alktronic and then when it was ready the trident. Like I am going on vacation soon and I would have rather bought the alktronic so I know my dkh when I’m away then be lied to and trust my tank sitter can test it right.

Also as of right now they CLAIM it can test all the big three but has anyone seen it test anything other then alk? In fact has anyone ever seen it test anything besides what Neptune wanted it to test? And call me whatever but I don’t trust Neptunes word for anything.

Also Look back on when they announced the trident at the time there was multiple post by a Neptune employee who said as of right now there is no way to upgrade to the new brain and it is better for you to sell your old apex and get top dollar for it plus your going to eventually need probes so to me that meant there isn’t an upgrade path but now magically the quarter in which the trident is suposed to be released and the people who wanted to make sure they could use the trident did what a certain employee of Neptune said we can now buy the new brain.

I would just respect them more if they didn’t lie is all I’m saying
If they thought there was going to be an upgrade path tell us that instead of tell us to sell our old apex for top dollar

But I agree I rather have all the bugs out of it before it comes to market but if u think it’s going to take a year tell us that don’t string us along every quarter especially since they have been quiet since January about it you’re telling me that they just found out about the problems or the knew and just decided not to tell us?

One last thing ur happy about the news and that’s great but I’m not it’s the same news that was released at macna 17 but since they have been hush hush on it since January it’s now big news because we have something from them!!!

I love my apex I do it has saved me tons but just because they have great products doesn’t mean the way they do business is ok and they shouldn’t be called out on it. How long do we have to keep saying “well I rather them get it right the first time?” Or “technology man “ or blah blah insert excuse in here and we start saying hey you told us something (they told us second quarter we didn’t say it Neptune did) and you didn’t come thru. And we start holding them to there word.

If I told u I have this coral (that other people have right now but mine comes with a “name”) but you need this light for for me to sell it to u. Even tho u have a perfectly good working light. I will sell it to u in the second quarter next year. So you go and buy the new light and In January you tried getting in touch with me and I never replied to you. Then almost on the first day of the second quarter I came out and told you hey sorry ran into some problems and the coral won’t be ready for another three months but good news u can keep your old light!! And you can now talk to ur old light as well thru Siri or alexia.
Would you now wait again to buy my coral because it has a “name” associated with it? Would you not be mad at me for not telling you the truth? Or would you go to someone down the street that has the coral growing already but doesn’t have the “name”?

Just buy one of the other units. I did and am glad that I did. I bought the Alkatronic and am loving it. It does what it is supposed to do, measure my ALK and dose when necessary.

It is sold out right now at CoralVue, but I’d bet they are getting more in. Plus they have been awesome thus far with support.

They also have a Dosetronic that was mentioned to be coming this year as well. I was told Autumn 2018 for release, but will have to see. Hope it is then so I can buy it as well.

ca1ore · Mar 30, 2018

Labridaedicted said:
This is 100% accurate. When you're relying on this puppy to control your reef, you don't want bugs making it dump a gallon of alk solution into the tank.

I would strongly suggest to NOT let it control anything. I plan to buy trident, but only as a monitor/alerting mechanism, not as a trigger for dosing of any kind. Most unwise in my view.

Greenstreet.1 · Mar 30, 2018

With the amount of safety triggers I would think that it would be ok to allow the trident to control dosing. With that said anything can happen.

Dom274 · Mar 30, 2018

justingraham said:
While I agree with your statements Neptune shouldn’t tell us one thing and then do another.

If it’s going to take them a year then tell me that I’ll respect ur honesy don’t keep telling me it’s coming in three months every three months four times. When I am saving my money and waiting for it as I would have rather bought an alktronic and then when it was ready the trident. Like I am going on vacation soon and I would have rather bought the alktronic so I know my dkh when I’m away then be lied to and trust my tank sitter can test it right.

Also as of right now they CLAIM it can test all the big three but has anyone seen it test anything other then alk? In fact has anyone ever seen it test anything besides what Neptune wanted it to test? And call me whatever but I don’t trust Neptunes word for anything.

Also Look back on when they announced the trident at the time there was multiple post by a Neptune employee who said as of right now there is no way to upgrade to the new brain and it is better for you to sell your old apex and get top dollar for it plus your going to eventually need probes so to me that meant there isn’t an upgrade path but now magically the quarter in which the trident is suposed to be released and the people who wanted to make sure they could use the trident did what a certain employee of Neptune said we can now buy the new brain.

I would just respect them more if they didn’t lie is all I’m saying
If they thought there was going to be an upgrade path tell us that instead of tell us to sell our old apex for top dollar

But I agree I rather have all the bugs out of it before it comes to market but if u think it’s going to take a year tell us that don’t string us along every quarter especially since they have been quiet since January about it you’re telling me that they just found out about the problems or the knew and just decided not to tell us?

One last thing ur happy about the news and that’s great but I’m not it’s the same news that was released at macna 17 but since they have been hush hush on it since January it’s now big news because we have something from them!!!

I love my apex I do it has saved me tons but just because they have great products doesn’t mean the way they do business is ok and they shouldn’t be called out on it. How long do we have to keep saying “well I rather them get it right the first time?” Or “technology man “ or blah blah insert excuse in here and we start saying hey you told us something (they told us second quarter we didn’t say it Neptune did) and you didn’t come thru. And we start holding them to there word.

If I told u I have this coral (that other people have right now but mine comes with a “name”) but you need this light for for me to sell it to u. Even tho u have a perfectly good working light. I will sell it to u in the second quarter next year. So you go and buy the new light and In January you tried getting in touch with me and I never replied to you. Then almost on the first day of the second quarter I came out and told you hey sorry ran into some problems and the coral won’t be ready for another three months but good news u can keep your old light!! And you can now talk to ur old light as well thru Siri or alexia.
Would you now wait again to buy my coral because it has a “name” associated with it? Would you not be mad at me for not telling you the truth? Or would you go to someone down the street that has the coral growing already but doesn’t have the “name”?

Your analogy makes no sense whatsoever. Do you boycott every company that has missed a deadline? Companies miss deadlines, it happens. Claiming they "lied" to you is overly dramatic and it just sounds like you have an unrelated bone to pick with them.

justingraham · Mar 30, 2018

Dom274 said:
Your analogy makes no sense whatsoever. Do you boycott every company that has missed a deadline? Companies miss deadlines, it happens. Claiming they "lied" to you is overly dramatic and it just sounds like you have an unrelated bone to pick with them.

No not really analogy works fine in fact it’s exactly what they did.

Sounds like your blinded by the Neptune name and they can never do any wrong

And if you think they didn’t lie to you what did they do? Stretch the truth?

And no I don’t boycott every company that misses a deadline but when you consistently miss deadlines yeah I tend to stay away. (Cor, fmm, atk, and now trident)

Tell the truth don’t go silent don’t be shady pretty simple stuff and what every business should try strive to do.

So please tell me how hey didn’t lie open up my mind to your thought process. Let me remind you at macna they claimed first quarter nsi second quarter sales at the time no way to upgrade your head unit so your best bet is to sell your old apex for top dollar and get new probes. After three months of silence they now say it’s going to take another six months for us to buy the trident but u can now buy a new head unit and u think we are suposed to just say hey it happens? If there wasn’t a track record of products being pushed back I could let it go but it’s not and with customers that sit back and accept this Neptune will never change and they will continue to push back product releases.

Search any alk monitor thread from after macna and look at the bashing some Neptune employees gave other alk monitors without it even being run on a tank.

So to get back on track of this thread
I do not believe this is good news I believe it was the same news that was delivered at macna and to me it is bad news as i should be able to buy this product on Sunday but now have to wait another six months. If you can’t stand buy a date YOU promised then why even say a date? Unless of course there was motiv behind it (ie everyone released there alk monitors and Neptune wants people to wait for there’s so they lied about a date as waiting 6 months isn’t as bad as waiting for over a year)

justingraham · Mar 30, 2018

mitch91175 said:
Just buy one of the other units. I did and am glad that I did. I bought the Alkatronic and am loving it. It does what it is supposed to do, measure my ALK and dose when necessary.

It is sold out right now at CoralVue, but I’d bet they are getting more in. Plus they have been awesome thus far with support.

They also have a Dosetronic that was mentioned to be coming this year as well. I was told Autumn 2018 for release, but will have to see. Hope it is then so I can buy it as well.

I agree but I like my apex beleive it or not I do and Neptune products with an apex is amazing to me I don’t like going to two diffent apps to control one thing. And I understand don’t put all your eggs in one basket but Neptune has a pretty strong basket in my mind.(product wise not marking wise)

mitch91175 · Mar 30, 2018

justingraham said:
I agree but I like my apex beleive it or not I do and Neptune products with an apex is amazing to me I don’t like going to two diffent apps to control one thing. And I understand don’t put all your eggs in one basket but Neptune has a pretty strong basket in my mind.(product wise not marking wise)

Well why complain really? It’s meaningless.