Trident FAQ (official)

[TheHarold]

Oh, I know as I just purchased the almost $50 for a 6 week supply today from Marine Depot because there are never 6 month reagents anywhere in stock. The $200 a year sell on reagents is slowly slipping away at $50 for a 6 week max supply.

If the 4x a day testing is simple as keeping liquid in the lines and helping the tubes from glazing, etc. Then why couldn't they just make it so if you chose to test 2 times a day then it would actually run an additional two times a day sucking in aquarium water to keep the lines primed, etc.

Please don't take this in any way that I am bashing the Trident. I love my Trident with the controlled dosing with a DOS. One of my best buys to date. However, I wish there was an option or a workaround for those that don't want to test a min of 4x a day.

I do notice you are saying 6 weeks- is your trident throwing errors or getting bad readings before the full 8 weeks? That would worth looking into. I would recommend checking the reagent intake needles (not sure if they would be called tubes or needles; the metal bits ). There are some troubleshooting steps to do, such as cutting the side off of an old reagent bottle and then inserting the lid/needle assembly. It should basically be at the bottom of the container, pointed straight down. That fixes it for the majority of users, some even use a 3d printed needle guide to ensure the tubes stay straight.

Re flushing the lines with aquarium water: it is not just the salt water lines that have the precipitation. The reagent tubes themselves also have the issue, and one could not flush those tubes without contaminating the reagent. Automated testing is a competitive market, especially give the continued sales of reagents. If it was something simple, I really think they would have done it. I know several people who use other devices such as Alkatronic or KH guardian with their Apex units, and now GHL has a device coming up.

 

[JCOLE]

I do notice you are saying 6 weeks- is your trident throwing errors or getting bad readings before the full 8 weeks? That would worth looking into. I would recommend checking the reagent intake needles (not sure if they would be called tubes or needles; the metal bits ). There are some troubleshooting steps to do, such as cutting the side off of an old reagent bottle and then inserting the lid/needle assembly. It should basically be at the bottom of the container, pointed straight down. That fixes it for the majority of users, some even use a 3d printed needle guide to ensure the tubes stay straight.

Re flushing the lines with aquarium water: it is not just the salt water lines that have the precipitation. The reagent tubes themselves also have the issue, and one could not flush those tubes without contaminating the reagent. Automated testing is a competitive market, especially give the continued sales of reagents. If it was something simple, I really think they would have done it. I know several people who use other devices such as Alkatronic or KH guardian with their Apex units, and now GHL has a device coming up.

No errors other than it is time to replace the reagents. I never get a full two months out of the two-month packs. This seems to a big issue with most users judging by all of the reviews on forums and suppliers pages. I have tested at the minimum of 4 times a day since I purchased the Trident a year ago and I keep my parameters low so it doesn't take a lot of reagent to run a test. Every time I run out of reagent and perform a change I notice a substantial amount of reagent left in the bottles. I posted a thread a while back about this and posted a couple of pictures showing over 50ml of reagent left for Calcium and Magnesium. I called Neptune about this and the tech informed me that this is normal and considered it a safety feature so that it doesn't suck air. I explained that I understand that but 50ml seems like a lot just to be safe.

I am not the only one with this issue. This is an issue with a lot of users as well so there is obviously something going on.

 

[SeeFu]

there's a video on youtube where the guy used reagent from the past and just put them all together to fill a bottle. the test results came out fine.

 

[User1]

there's a video on youtube where the guy used reagent from the past and just put them all together to fill a bottle. the test results came out fine.

The video really doesn't matter. What matters is that the reagent bottle has a lot number, shelf life, and the merging or combing of bottles goes against the documentation and recommendation of Neptune.

 

[uhupong]

Is there any update on Maintenance Info ?

 

[EJReef]

Where's the trident maintenance and 6 month reagent supply? This whole rollout has been a disaster.

 

[Kyl]

6 month supplies are being blamed on Covid, for what it's worth. Some retail up here are stating they have been told no 6 months for the remainder of the year.

I'm not sure why the maintenance information still hasn't been provided, it has been over a year since the retail release.

 

[sgrosenb]

Hi all - do you know if there is a way to remove/delete a measurement from the Trident Alk/Mag/Ca log? I tested my replacement water and I want to remove those readings from my charts. I looked on this thread but couldn't find the answer. Thanks!

 

[((FORDTECH))]

Hi all - do you know if there is a way to remove/delete a measurement from the Trident Alk/Mag/Ca log? I tested my replacement water and I want to remove those readings from my charts. I looked on this thread but couldn't find the answer. Thanks!

No

 

[infinite0180]

Hey, anybody with a trident using controlled dosing with ESV Bionic 2 part? I have always dosed ESV in equal amounts and prefer to continue to do it that way moving forward. Can i have the trident adjust both parts in equal amounts based solely off my alk readings? Thanks!

 

[brianbigoats]

Hey, anybody with a trident using controlled dosing with ESV Bionic 2 part? I have always dosed ESV in equal amounts and prefer to continue to do it that way moving forward. Can i have the trident adjust both parts in equal amounts based solely off my alk readings? Thanks!

Yes it can you just need to select Alk as the controlled measurement and Cal/mag as the dosing pump i am doing this for the balling method

 

[salty150]

I know you can manually test - but what are the "limits" of manual testing...?

Can you manually test each Calcium, Alk, and Mag - just once a day...?

 

[TheHarold]

I know you can manually test - but what are the "limits" of manual testing...?

Can you manually test each Calcium, Alk, and Mag - just once a day...?

You can add as many additional manual tests per day as you like. The trident still needs its minimum automatic testing interval (4x alk, 2xCa/Mg per day) to operate correctly and not have reduced accuracy due to precipitation, etc.

 

[User1]

I know you can manually test - but what are the "limits" of manual testing...?

Can you manually test each Calcium, Alk, and Mag - just once a day...?

Not sure I understand the question. You can run a manual test right now then again once it is complete. There isn't really a limit other than the time it takes to run the tests. I mean you can start a manual test but not test again until it is complete, idle.

You do not have to run any manual tests. In fact, I do not. I test using the lowest option of 4/2/2. So no manual tests.

 

[Thales]

Where's the trident maintenance and 6 month reagent supply? This whole rollout has been a disaster.

Come on friend, you know that there is a global pandemic on right?
FWIW, I have one of the oldest running Tridents in the wild, right about 18 months of continuous use with no real problems, so I don't think worrying about the projected 18 -24 month maintenance is something to worry about yet.

 

[salty150]

You can add as many additional manual tests per day as you like. The trident still needs its minimum automatic testing interval (4x alk, 2xCa/Mg per day) to operate correctly and not have reduced accuracy due to precipitation, etc.

Thanks, that is what I meant...

Who needs their Alk checked 4 times a day? And their Calcium or Mag checked 2 times a day?

They should have went back to the drawing board - once a day for each is more than enough - with the option to do additional manual tests.

 

[Thales]

Thanks, that is what I meant...

Who needs their Alk checked 4 times a day? And their Calcium or Mag checked 2 times a day?

They should have went back to the drawing board - once a day for each is more than enough - with the option to do additional manual tests.

This has been covered ad nauseam. Proper running of the instrument requires 4/2/2. Lots of other reasons to test alk 4 or more times a day - but that doesn’t meant that this machine is for you.

 

[salty150]

This has been covered ad nauseam. Proper running of the instrument requires 4/2/2. Lots of other reasons to test alk 4 or more times a day - but that doesn’t meant that this machine is for you.

I realize that in order for the Trident to run "properly" it needs to do 4 Alk, 2 Cal, and 2 Mag, tests a day.

That is why I said they should have went back to the drawing board.

Did anyone test their Alk 4 times a day; Cal 2 times a day, and Mag 2 times a day - before getting the Trident?

 

[TheHarold]

Did anyone test their Alk 4 times a day; Cal 2 times a day, and Mag 2 times a day - before getting the Trident?

No, but that’s why most of us bought it. It wouldn’t not be worth doing automatic testing if it only tested once a week, or every couple days. I can do that by hand easily enough.

The purpose of all these automatic testers such as Trident, KH guardian, KH Director, Alkatronic, etc is to enhance stability via more tests , as well as active adjustment of dosing.

I agree with you- if you don’t want all the tests, don’t buy one. It’s like 75 cents per day of reagent (At the 2 month box cost) to test 8 times (4 Alk, 2 Ca, 2Mg). I can afford that and think it is worth it. Testing those parameters by hand would cost similarly, plus your time.

 

[User1]

No, but that’s why most of us bought it. It wouldn’t not be worth doing automatic testing if it only tested once a week, or every couple days. I can do that by hand easily enough.

The purpose of all these automatic testers such as Trident, KH guardian, KH Director, Alkatronic, etc is to enhance stability via more tests , as well as active adjustment of dosing.

I agree with you- if you don’t want all the tests, don’t buy one. It’s like 75 cents per day of reagent (At the 2 month box cost) to test 8 times (4 Alk, 2 Ca, 2Mg). I can afford that and thing it is worth it. Testing those parameters by hand would cost similarly, plus your time.

I'll go a step further. I didn't test. Period. And the only tests I did somewhat frequently are those that are easy and repeatable AND consistent. That ended up being Hanna phosphate, Alk, and Nyos Nitrates. Everything else was inconsistent or took longer than what I wanted to sit around for. Same is true for water changes. Until I got a system and process in place that reduced the effort it didn't get done.

The Trident made testing a lot easier so guess what? It gets done I use also use 4/2/2 and very happy with the product as a whole. Sometimes it helps to see what a change may or may not do. In the example below you can see on the left side a dip. I was dosing Tropic Marin All For Reef over 24 hours. Trident was giving me some interesting results. I was reading a thread in the Chem sub forum, asked about dosing the TM AFR product, and they replied you can but remember the corals are growing during the day or lighting period.

I guess it made sense so I changed the dosing window to lights on and I can see a much more stable test pattern. If I didn't have it and was testing by hand, well, I wouldn't see it because I wouldn't do the test Lazy reefer. I'm not going to lie.