Moving on from the Trident. Alkatronic vs KH director

m.kristoff · Feb 8, 2022

Hello
I am moving on from my Trident. It's not quit what I wanted. I was told it could do things that it cant when I bought it. I do have an apex for my controller

I am researching the Alkatronic and the KH director. I am leaning towards the Alkatronic

Both have great points

I have read that both can adjust dosing based on my set DKH level.
Alkatronic can control a calcium reactor out of the box
Adding a dosatronic can equally dose calcium and mag. Maybe unnecessary, but is a plus

GHL has solid equipment. I cant find many complaints about the KH director
Can also dose calcium with the Director, but more $$$

Looking for feedback on both, the operation, interfaces, dependability

Will also have a fairly new Trident for sale shortly!

MnFish1 · Feb 8, 2022

Curious - what 'cant' it do? I have no real opinion about the other 2 - I was thinking about GHL

m.kristoff · Feb 8, 2022

MnFish1 said:
Curious - what 'cant' it do? I have no real opinion about the other 2 - I was thinking about GHL

I am finding that the GHL and Alktronic do a better job of adjusting to the set DKH number that I want to maintain. The trident will technically do the same but.. You still have to calculate the tanks needs, set that amount and the trident keeps to the number within a +/- of 50. In my mind, if you set your DKH to 8.5 and the test result is 8.9, it will keep dosing. That is based on several presets and how much you calculate the dosing amount. For some this is no big deal. I don't like that if the Calcium is on the high side of the preset +/- it will revert to normal dosing and dose based on the ML you calculated for the tank needs.

As the Alk needs grow, the trident will need to be massaged. from what I understand, the GHL and alkatronic do not. They also stop dosing when the limit is reached. Idid work with Neptune on this and its by design. I don't like the design. I get their explanation, but I'm looking for a tool that I am comfortable with.

vic5hands · Feb 8, 2022

m.kristoff said:
I am finding that the GHL and Alktronic do a better job of adjusting to the set DKH number that I want to maintain. The trident will technically do the same but.. You still have to calculate the tanks needs, set that amount and the trident keeps to the number within a +/- of 50. In my mind, if you set your DKH to 8.5 and the test result is 8.9, it will keep dosing. That is based on several presets and how much you calculate the dosing amount. For some this is no big deal. I don't like that if the Calcium is on the high side of the preset +/- it will revert to normal dosing and dose based on the ML you calculated for the tank needs.

As the Alk needs grow, the trident will need to be massaged. from what I understand, the GHL and alkatronic do not. They also stop dosing when the limit is reached. Idid work with Neptune on this and its by design. I don't like the design. I get their explanation, but I'm looking for a tool that I am comfortable with.

I have no problems with my Trident controlling my Co2 solenoid and keeping my Alk steady as can be as shown

m.kristoff · Feb 8, 2022

vic5hands said:
I have no problems with my Trident controlling my Co2 solenoid and keeping my Alk steady as can be as shown

Im dosing.

FishyFishFish · Feb 8, 2022

How did you get more $$ for the GHL?

Alkatronic is $990. GHL is $925 with a stand-alone doser (which will already have one spare doser head).

Dosetronic is $715. GHL dosers are $450 for the slave ($500 for the standalone).

No problem with getting GHL spares, and there’s even used ones every so often (and dosers fairly frequently) if you wanted to save even more.

I’m still getting a little inconsistency with the KHD, but it’s probably me. I’m happy enough with it to have bought a second one.

m.kristoff · Feb 8, 2022

FishyFishFish said:
How did you get more $$ for the GHL?

the alkatronic can dose equal parts of calcium and Mag with the added dosatronic.

From what I understand, the KH Director cant do that and I would need to buy another doser and the ION director??

FishyFishFish · Feb 8, 2022

The Ion Director tests other things (e.g. Ca, Mg, K). You don’t need that to dose and, in any case, it’s going to be months/years before you get one if you order now, as they’re still catching up with pre-orders from 2019. The Ion Director is closer to the the Mastertronic, but the Ion Director uses a probe, whereas the Mastertronic uses test kit reagents.

If you wanted to dose Ca and Mg with GHL (based on Alk readings), you would need the standalone KHD set and one extra doser (which could be a slave). Total cost $1375 and you would have 3 spare dosing heads to use for other stuff. Equivalent for the Alkatronic would be $1705 with three spare dosing heads (with 2 of the 5 used for Ca and Mg).

If you wanted more control, then you could add a Profilux controller to the KHD/Ion D, but it is not required. There is no equivalent controller from Focustronic.

t5Nitro · Feb 8, 2022

Has KH director been updated recently? There have been loads of negative reviews threads on this forum about the inconsistencies.

m.kristoff · Feb 8, 2022

t5Nitro said:
Has KH director been updated recently? There have been loads of negative reviews threads on this forum about the inconsistencies.

I haven't seen to many negatives about it

t5Nitro · Feb 9, 2022

There were quite a few inaccuracies although I haven't recorded the thread counts. Similarly, there are numerous trident failure threads, too, so I guess we just have to take it with a grain of salt. Im sure all of these are relatively cheaply built. Im interested in the same decision moving forward though between these two auto testers so I'm following along the thread. It would definitely be nice to have additional doser heads with the KHD set up.

FishyFishFish · Feb 9, 2022

Bear in mind that if you search for problems, you will find many more for the KHD, because there are hundreds/thousands of units out there. I don’t know how many people have Alkatronics but it will be tiny in comparison.

Sean Clark · Feb 9, 2022

I do not have an Alkatronic or a KH Director. I use a KH Guardian. I also had a Trident which I sold after a year of use. I would lean to the GHL just based on the company's tenure and likely long term support.

m.kristoff · Feb 9, 2022

I found that I could preorder a Alkatronic for Aquatic Sea life in New Orleans. I spoke to the owner about the ETA for the alkatronic. We were discussing the KH director and he highly advised to get the KH director. HE said that they run both and have more issues with the Alkatronic. the KH has caused 0 issues other than it dropped wifi and he said it was a problem with his Wi-Fi. he went out of his way to say how trouble free the Director was. Mentioned that they are always calibrating the PH and the pump for the alkatronic and it loose connection between it and the dositronic. real world use is what i was looking for and that was a check for GHL

m.kristoff · Feb 9, 2022

FishyFishFish said:
Bear in mind that if you search for problems

same with the Alkatronic

Sean Clark · Feb 9, 2022

Of course there is this to go off of for Alkatronic's customer service... but no need to beat a dead horse.

Post in thread 'A warning around purchasing an Alkatronic 2nd hand' https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/a...ng-an-alkatronic-2nd-hand.882884/post-9754053

Rillo Boy said:
Right guys … we have now had an eMail from the original owner and this is sorted … for those of you who couldn’t get their head around what was happening .. think about buying an apple phone and the person did not reset it … do you think you can go into an apple shop and ask them to reset it for you ?
Of course not … well the AT works the same way, hence the “unlink” button on the app…
So maybe think before you get on your high horses and become keyboard warriors in the future please !!!

m.kristoff · Feb 9, 2022

1 plus for Alkatronic is it can connect to the apex to display results.. not a big deal. I have an Apex environment and it runs without any issues.
Considering that the KH can run standalone or with a GHL controller is a nice option. I don't think GHL can match function to function with the apex. example Optical sensors. This is not really relevant but I might as well consider that there are options to go to a different controller in the future.

Sean Clark · Feb 9, 2022

FishyFishFish · Feb 9, 2022

m.kristoff said:
1 plus for Alkatronic is it can connect to the apex to display results.. not a big deal. I have an Apex environment and it runs without any issues.
Considering that the KH can run standalone or with a GHL controller is a nice option. I don't think GHL can match function to function with the apex. example Optical sensors. This is not really relevant but I might as well consider that there are options to go to a different controller in the future.

What do you mean that GHL can't match the Apex function for function?

The GHL Profilux is one of the most capable controllers out there. Sometimes it is too capable, as the software can be pretty confusing (think computer programming) and had lots of quirks; I am not the greatest fan of the GHL software but it can do a lot. I haven't used Apex but I'm guessing that the software is much nicer/easier to use, but I would be surprised if it was more capable.

What is the optical sensor example you mention?

m.kristoff · Feb 9, 2022

After I posted, I did find that GHL make an optical sensor so I stand corrected. I have been watching youtube for both the alkatronic and the KH director.. they both have pros and cons. good thing is I don't have to make a decision today!
It would be nice to demo the software for each one. Hopefully owners of both will chime in with their experience with them

I am invested in Apex. My apex stuff is running great. there are plenty of post b!tching about apex as well! Some say GHL software is better once you get the hang of it