Reef Kinetics, ReefBot a Review...

drernesto · May 14, 2019

siggy said:
My nitrates were very low and Elos was the only kit to give me a reading I could track in the 0-5 range I recently tried the Nyos but the color chart is difficult for me distinguish the color gradient but it does tell me Im in the range.

Tropic Marin and fona Marin will detect low readings

ChrisW · May 14, 2019

dang... knew there was a catch. Those tanks are gorgeous though. Any reason why you chose Reefbot over Trident?

Elder1945 · May 14, 2019

ChrisW said:
dang... knew there was a catch. Those tanks are gorgeous though. Any reason why you chose Reefbot over Trident?

No choice..

I own the KHD and will order the Ion Director and Abex when released. I will also own the Trident soon fingers crossed

.

Overall I do not see the Reef Bot as a competitor to the Trident. I am using this machine to test multiple tanks off one unit. The Reef Bot to me is more of a Testing station then a testing device I would hook up to a tank directly. I see every Saturday or Sunday bringing a beaker full of tank water to the Reef Bot and leaving it. a few hrs later I have all my tests done from Calcium, Po4, No3, Alk and whatever else they push out in the next year or so. This would be more testing then I have ever done for any system I have owned.

The Trident and KHD are a full ecosystem of products though that integrate quite well.

BUT...

The others can not test PO4 and NO3 these are what end up crashing my systems and causing the most issues in my personal systems. Also there are no plans with the others to test Copper and In my particular need I need to test copper 3-4 times a day in my QT.

As of now Neptune has no announced product that can test PO4 and NO3 also from what is known there is no plans on adding different tests to the Trident.

road_runner · May 14, 2019

Elder1945 said:
No choice..

I own the KHD and will order the Ion Director and Abex when released. I will also own the Trident soon fingers crossed .

Overall I do not see the Reef Bot as a competitor to the Trident. I am using this machine to test multiple tanks off one unit. The Reef Bot to me is more of a Testing station then a testing device I would hook up to a tank directly. I see every Saturday or Sunday bringing a beaker full of tank water to the Reef Bot and leaving it. a few hrs later I have all my tests done from Calcium, Po4, No3, Alk and whatever else they push out in the next year or so. This would be more testing then I have ever done for any system I have owned.

The Trident and KHD are a full ecosystem of products though that integrate quite well.

BUT...

The others can not test PO4 and NO3 these are what end up crashing my systems and causing the most issues in my personal systems. Also there are no plans with the others to test Copper and In my particular need I need to test copper 3-4 times a day in my QT.

As of now Neptune has no announced product that can test PO4 and NO3 also from what is known there is no plans on adding different tests to the Trident.

If reefbot is perfected and proved to be stable machine it will blow every other tester out of the water...reefbot have the advantage of using the kit you like and add new kits support via OTA updates. Which means they do not force you on testing things you do not want..

Trident and khd do not fall in the same category of the reefbot.

Btw how do you like your KHD? Just ordered P4 package and KHD to switch my system to GHL...

JoshH · May 14, 2019

Elder1945 said:
Also there are no plans with the others to test Copper and In my particular need I need to test copper 3-4 times a day in my QT.

Totally trying my hardest to get GHL on board with an automatic copper tester/monitor as I think that would be a serious game changer for QT where there has been very little effort in the tech department wise. Does the reefbot do this as well I must have missed it??

Elder1945 · May 14, 2019

JoshH said:
Totally trying my hardest to get GHL on board with an automatic copper tester/monitor as I think that would be a serious game changer for QT where there has been very little effort in the tech department wise. Does the reefbot do this as well I must have missed it??

They are working on Copper right now

I hope in the next few weeks to a month it is out. The same time i am going to start stocking.

Elder1945 · May 14, 2019

Ohashimz said:
If reefbot is perfected and proved to be stable machine it will blow every other tester out of the water...reefbot have the advantage of using the kit you like and add new kits support via OTA updates. Which means they do not force you on testing things you do not want..

Trident and khd do not fall in the same category of the reefbot.

Btw how do you like your KHD? Just ordered P4 package and KHD to switch my system to GHL...

I have LX7s to the KHD and overall love the GHL ecosystem.

JoshH · May 14, 2019

Elder1945 said:
They are working on Copper right now I hope in the next few weeks to a month it is out. The same time i am going to start stocking.

Seriously?? Pfft if that is indeed the case I'd buy one solely for my QT.

road_runner · May 14, 2019

Elder1945 said:
I have LX7s to the KHD and overall love the GHL ecosystem.

Do you have the controller as well? I got the p4 controller package.
Agreed, ghl ecosystem looked impressive. Might look intimidating at first, but it's very impressive spec wise and controllability wise...
I think they will grow fast in NA market.

Elder1945 · May 14, 2019

drernesto said:
Thanks for this amazing thread! looking very informative.

Sure we are working on copper.

I would recommend looking on the lowest reeding of each parameter. some kits don't read very low concentration. as API phosphate will not read 0.01 ppm. This kit is suitable more for fish only tanks or ponds.

Cheers,

Copper is in the works @JoshH see above quote.

Elder1945 · May 14, 2019

Ohashimz said:
Do you have the controller as well? I got the p4 controller package.
Agreed, ghl ecosystem looked impressive. Might look intimidating at first, but it's very impressive spec wise and controllability wise...
I think they will grow fast in NA market.

Yes the GHL ecosystem is large.. I am looking into there pond controller to run on a freshwater plated tank I want to do..

ChrisW · May 14, 2019

Elder1945 said:
No choice..

I own the KHD and will order the Ion Director and Abex when released. I will also own the Trident soon fingers crossed .

Overall I do not see the Reef Bot as a competitor to the Trident. I am using this machine to test multiple tanks off one unit. The Reef Bot to me is more of a Testing station then a testing device I would hook up to a tank directly. I see every Saturday or Sunday bringing a beaker full of tank water to the Reef Bot and leaving it. a few hrs later I have all my tests done from Calcium, Po4, No3, Alk and whatever else they push out in the next year or so. This would be more testing then I have ever done for any system I have owned.

The Trident and KHD are a full ecosystem of products though that integrate quite well.

BUT...

The others can not test PO4 and NO3 these are what end up crashing my systems and causing the most issues in my personal systems. Also there are no plans with the others to test Copper and In my particular need I need to test copper 3-4 times a day in my QT.

As of now Neptune has no announced product that can test PO4 and NO3 also from what is known there is no plans on adding different tests to the Trident.

Interesting. Thank you for the response. I am certainly not at the level you are at so I dont think the Reefbot is really something I need. I am having issues getting accurate CA readings to start a dosing program, however after reading through the last few threads, it seems I am misguided, and ALK is where I should be striving for a baseline off of. Thanks again

road_runner · May 14, 2019

ChrisW said:
Interesting. Thank you for the response. I am certainly not at the level you are at so I dont think the Reefbot is really something I need. I am having issues getting accurate CA readings to start a dosing program, however after reading through the last few threads, it seems I am misguided, and ALK is where I should be striving for a baseline off of. Thanks again

I use salifert for CA testing. Just make sure reagent is not too old. It should be accurate.
Your statment is correct, kh is what you want to make sure you dial in and stable. CA dosing will follow kh dosing.
Read randy holms article about kh and ca relationship. Its great.

ChrisW · May 14, 2019

Ohashimz said:
I use salifert for CA testing. Just make sure reagent is not too old. It should be accurate.
Your statment is correct, kh is what you want to make sure you dial in and stable. CA dosing will follow kh dosing.
Read randy holms article about kh and ca relationship. Its great.

I see alot of @Randy Holmes-Farley posts and they are very informative. I will look for that article. I just got the Salifert kit b/c I was getting wildly inaccurate readings from the Hanna tester. I was considering the Reefbot as an albeit expensive, but more accurate way to know where my water parameters are, and keep me on the right path to my tank looking somewhat close to @Elder1945 's

road_runner · May 14, 2019

ChrisW said:
I see alot of @Randy Holmes-Farley posts and they are very informative. I will look for that article. I just got the Salifert kit b/c I was getting wildly inaccurate readings from the Hanna tester. I was considering the Reefbot as an albeit expensive, but more accurate way to know where my water parameters are, and keep me on the right path to my tank looking somewhat close to @Elder1945 's

I do not like hannah, I feel it trades the ease of use with accuracy.

FSBBN · May 15, 2019

I just received a reef bot. Very excited. I tried to run the first test and the needle broke. So I ran a second test with the acrylic door open. I saw the moving arm moved sideways into position and bent/broke my second needle. I think it should move up first and then sideways. Have you guys had this happen and is there something I am over looking or is something jammed? I have only run the two tests as there is no point is breaking the remaining two needles. Any help is appreciated.

drernesto · May 15, 2019

FSBBN said:
I just received a reef bot. Very excited. I tried to run the first test and the needle broke. So I ran a second test with the acrylic door open. I saw the moving arm moved sideways into position and bent/broke my second needle. I think it should move up first and then sideways. Have you guys had this happen and is there something I am over looking or is something jammed? I have only run the two tests as there is no point is breaking the remaining two needles. Any help is appreciated.

I believe we got an email from you on support. We will get back to you shortly.

vanpire · May 15, 2019

This is a great tool, and I would consider if it has some simple controls. It doesn't have to be complex. It would be nice if it can turn on/off a device based a test reading.

For example, it would be useful if it can turn off a switch/outlet if ALK is over 8.5 dKh and turn the switch/outlet back on when it drops below. Auto testing for me is to take preventative action due to some potential issue before they become major problems.

drernesto · May 15, 2019

vanpire said:
This is a great tool, and I would consider if it same simple controls. It doesn't have to be complex. It would be nice if it can turn on/off a device based a test reading.

For example, it would be also if it can turn off a switch/outlet if ALK is over 8.5 dKh and turn the switch/outlet back on when it drops below. Auto testing for me is to take preventative action due to some potential issue before they become major problems.

Van.

Thanks for the feedback.

FSBBN · May 15, 2019

drernesto said:
I believe we got an email from you on support. We will get back to you shortly.

Yes you did. I appreciate the fast reply. I was hoping it was a mistake on my part and someone here had the same issue and could point me to a quick fix. Just anxious to see this in operation. It has great potential. One comment I will have is that your should consider making your own reagents and selling in bulk. I think it would be a win- win.