Trident FAQ (official)

[evolved]

Off topic posts to this official Neptune Trident FAQ have been moved to a general Trident discussion thread (here).

Please keep posts in this thread relevant to the immediate topic (Trident FAQs); thanks!
-R2R Moderation

 

[leepink23]

There is a lot of noise in this thread already. And, while I would like to go back through each and every post to see what are actually inquiries, I just don't have the time do it right now.

So, if some enterprising person wants to go back and look for popular questions, or any question for that matter, that has yet to be answered here, or in the content at one of the links in the OP, I will respond to that question summary post to the best of my ability. Fair?

I have specific questions:
How sensitive is it to micro bubbles? Can I put it in my skimmer section? What is the recommended section of the sump?
Will it know my night schedule if I have two sets of lights running different times, plugged into eb outlets?
Are there videos or will there be videos on how to do the service yourself as that is an option I am interested in?

Thanks in advance!

 

[evolved]

There is a lot of noise in this thread already. And, while I would like to go back through each and every post to see what are actually inquiries, I just don't have the time do it right now.

So, if some enterprising person wants to go back and look for popular questions, or any question for that matter, that has yet to be answered here, or in the content at one of the links in the OP, I will respond to that question summary post to the best of my ability. Fair?

It's significantly shorter now; might be short enough to view again.

 

[David S]

Hi Terence

Like you I haven't had time to go through everyone's feedback but I know there has been a demand for 2/1/1 testing.
Could you tell us if there any plans for this kind of testing in the pipeline?
Thanks
David

Terence
Saw your reply on YouTube.
Basically need a minimum of 4/2/2 testing to work properly

 

[dcmartinpc]

I am an NSI tester so I will take a stab at the first 2 questions.

As far as sump placement, I would aim for an area as free of micro bubbles as possible. Potentially immediately after your filter socks or after a bubble trap.

Can you clarify your question regarding knowing your light schedule? I’m not understanding what you are asking. Assuming you are asking about automatic dosing, The trident doesn’t take in to account your light schedule, you set the baselines and the trident adjusts up and down from your baseline.

Don

 

[Terence]

Can you clarify your question regarding knowing your light schedule? I’m not understanding what you are asking. Assuming you are asking about automatic dosing, The trident doesn’t take in to account your light schedule, you set the baselines and the trident adjusts up and down from your baseline.

Don

Actually it does. If you run the task, and check the box, it will intelligently determine your light cycle and adjust dosing accordingly. This automated feature went into NSI later in the game of ADC testing, and it was in a task, so you might have missed it.

 

[Billldg]

Actually it does. If you run the task, and check the box, it will intelligently determine your light cycle and adjust dosing accordingly. This automated feature went into NSI later in the game of ADC testing, and it was in a task, so you might have missed it.

This only works if you are using Radions with a WXM module, correct?

 

[Terence]

I have an APEX classic, is a new APEX head available for purchase to upgrade my system to be compatible for the trident?

You have a couple of options. You can buy the new Apex base unit alone at $399. Then you will also need an AquaBus cable and power supply for the Trident because you do not have a 1Link connection (they exist on the EB832) - those together will run you, off the top of my head, about $25 OR
You can buy an ApexEL for $499 and still use all your existing gear - it comes with the EB832 which has the 1Link port and the Trident comes with a 1Link cable OR
You can buy the Apex for $799 and still use all your existing gear - it comes with the EB832 which has the 1Link port and the Trident comes with a 1Link cable

I recommend either of the later two because they are a much better value.

Can the vendors just do a preorder and put us in line so I don’t have to anxiously keep checking back to buy one? Just a thought

Take my money!

Authorized dealers are not allowed to take your money and preorder the Trident for you.

Whats the weight of the trident with the reagents? Since i will need a shelf to have the trident above the aquarium (aio tank no sump).

About six pounds.

When will 6 month reagent packs be available?

We do not know yet when other purchasing option will be available or what exactly they will be. A six month kit is something we have have bounced around and discussed at events and is likely to come down the road at some time.

Can you please note what the shelf life of unopened reagents is in general? Trying to figure out how far in advance I should buy new reagents

One Year.

Does anyone know if there is any head lift to the waste line? I have a manifold that runs to a drain, but it is about 2 1/2 feet above where I planned to put the unit. I have left a port available just for the waste but hadn't thought about lift.

Not a problem

Ok here is an actual question. If you shutdown your trident for say a tank move or something. How long is the reagent still in the unit good for? I assume it’s less than the 1 year shelf life since the bottles have been opened to air.

We do not have an exact number on this, and it likely depends on how much is left in the bottle, but our best guess is that after a few months there will be some degradation.

Guess I’m getting the new apex meanwhile while they re stock! Super excited about this product.

Is it mandatory to test Mg ?

Yes - but you don't have to look at the result if it upsets you

Can the Trident can be configured to test water from more than one tank ( or will there be a model with multiple inputs in the future)?

Is the Trident capable of on-demand measurement or can it only measure according to the set schedule? It would be helpful for testing water from multiple tanks on one unit to have a “measure now” function.

Due to the way the Trident functions, it is not set up for this kind of operation. The trident is intended to be run on one system.

@Terence does the trident offer the programming option to test Alk at a lower frequency than 4x/day? Or is that a pre-programmed “minimum”? Thanks.

No

@Terence what happens if I lose/break the sample line holder? Will this affect the test?

No

Question now how many apex dos would I need to run alk mag and cal I see theres two pumps on each so if I buy 2 that would be 4 pumps I would I have a left over one correct?

Yes, but two DOS are NOT required. You could choose to manually dose Mg.

How does the trident work with calcium reactors to keep alk stable?

Some of our NSI team, and myself, are doing this by altering the pH level in the reactor based on the alkalinity reading. There is no official documentation on this but I encourage you to go to our community forum or the FB user group to find out more.

Sorry if this was answered before. Large tank run primarily with calcium reactor supplemented with two part using DOS. The tweaking for Alk using dose is 80ml /day. If I were to use the Trident to control the DOS and my calcium reactor went down...would the Trident drive the DOS to a higher volume, say 300 to 400ml/day automatically, or would I have to go into the Tident set up and modify the expected dose?

No, the beauty of the automated dosing control are its safety stops. So dosing 5x your normal level would never happen. However, you could get an alert (high pH level in CaRx), go to your phone, pull up your DOS config, and set it for 350 and turn on ADC.

Set up my trident yesterday and am loving it so far. This will be a game changer for stability.
Is it possible to display alk in ppm.

No

Two actual questions:

1. Are there constraints to how far above or below the sump water level trident must be located?
2. Does trident purge stale/old water from the feed line so that each test represents current tank status?

1. No, the tube is only 5', that is your limit.
2. Yes

Curious on optic process: Does this shoot threw a glass tube or vessel and is it common for all three tests?

Yes

Neptune or Jim, the test vile looks like it’s near the front of the unit. If that’s true, is there any concern about either ambient light or a bright light source (fuge or ats light) causing incorrect readings? I see there’s a smoked plastic cover as well. I know other similar test units that use colorimeter sensors warn of light contamination screwing up tests. Should users be aware of this with placement?

With the smoked plastic cover, normal stray or ambient light will not be an issue. Remove the cover and have a bright light nearby and there may be a side effect. So leave the cover in place.

I applaud Neptune for being upfront about the need for and cost of routine maintenance on the Trident. I wish other vendors of other products were as forthcoming.

My question is how we will know when it's time to do the routine maintenance? Is there an indicator based on usage or based on some internal detection of impending failure?

This is something we are exploring. We are storing this information now. How and when we might present it has yet to be decided.

 

[leepink23]

Actually it does. If you run the task, and check the box, it will intelligently determine your light cycle and adjust dosing accordingly. This automated feature went into NSI later in the game of ADC testing, and it was in a task, so you might have missed it.

Thanks! Will this work if I have 2 separate lighting sources running at separate times, halides cut off at 730, Orphek at 10? Both plugged into eb832. If not will it just dose the same amount during the day and night, this was an exciting feature!

 

[dcmartinpc]

Actually it does. If you run the task, and check the box, it will intelligently determine your light cycle and adjust dosing accordingly. This automated feature went into NSI later in the game of ADC testing, and it was in a task, so you might have missed it.

That’s great! This was a feature I requested during the hangout. I didn’t realize it made it in. Not sure how I missed that! Another example that Neptune is listening.

Thanks!

Don

 

[Terence]

That’s great! This was a feature I requested during the hangout. I didn’t realize it made it in. Not sure how I missed that! Another example that Neptune is listening.

Thanks!

Don

Oops, my bad. Paul mentioned this in the livestream, I know we looked into this (and who knows someone in engineering might be tinkering with it), but he must have had your post in his head when he said it, this is incorrect. Checking this box will have more dosing from 8AM to 8PM than it does from 8PM to 8AM overnight. So for now that may or many not coincide well with your light schedule.

 

[eschulist]

Oops, my bad. Paul mentioned this in the livestream, I know we looked into this (and who knows someone in engineering might be tinkering with it), but he must have had your post in his head when he said it, this is incorrect. Checking this box will have more dosing from 8AM to 8PM than it does from 8PM to 8AM overnight. So for now that may or many not coincide well with your light schedule.

Ya I just turned this on hoping it would match my 0-10v intensity but it did not.

Also I’m surprised I didn’t ask or figure this out during NSI. How do I adjust or turn off the automatic alarms that are created during the controlled dosing task. My Alk went above the top range and it’s going off non stop and it’s not in the base email alarm or looks to be accessible from the Trident gear options.

 

[eschulist]

How do I adjust or turn off the automatic alarms that are created during the controlled dosing task. My Alk went above the top range and it’s going off non stop and it’s not in the base email alarm or looks to be accessible from the Trident gear options.

K figured this out after thinking about it in the shower of all places. Then noticed Russ sent me a message.

Trident alarm values and turning them on and off are located inside the Input tab or the new System View if you open up the Trident module and click the gear for the respective test.

 

[Albertastorm]

You can run manual tests outside of the normal schedule.

You cannot test more than one tank on one Trident.

you really could by moving intake line to different tanks daily or weekly

 

[leepink23]

Will the trident make auto adjustments to alkalinity, calcium and magnesium or does it just make auto adjustments to one?

 

[eschulist]

you really could by moving intake line to different tanks daily or weekly

You can but you shouldn’t use Dos Control as it would be inaccurate each time you switch. You also only get one graph so the values are going to jump frequently and be hard to follow the trends.

If you have 2-3 tanks you can run it for a few weeks on one, slowly adjusting your dosing manually until you flatten out your levels. Then switch the Trident to a new tank and repeat. After all the levels are stable to your satisfaction place the Trident on your favorite tank and use DOS control and enable the alarms.

 

[mikus]

Does the system somehow completely cycle the test water before testing? Depending on timing between testing and length of supply from source water to the unit, being that the system uses such a small amount of water for testing, tests could be skewed?v

 

[Terence]

Does the system somehow completely cycle the test water before testing? Depending on timing between testing and length of supply from source water to the unit, being that the system uses such a small amount of water for testing, tests could be skewed?v

All test water is always fresh from the tank at that time.

This has been answered. Probably 20 posts back. Please people read through this thread and become informed before asking questions already answered. It keeps the thread clean and it allows me to have the time necessary to get the new questions answered for you all.

 

[MnFish1]

OK - I read the FAQ - I didnt not see the answers to these questions: Thanks

1. I've seen several people with the trident placed on what 'looks like' the bottom of their cabinet - yet I have heard they need to be mounted above the sump - are they doing it incorrectly - or can the trident be placed on the floor level.
2. What is the story with the ease at which the Trident can be started/stopped. Ie - some have said one needs to wait 2 weeks or so after starting up before getting 'reliable' measurements - so I m curious when doing maintenance - with a hot-swap for example - how long do you have to get the unit in your tank to trust the results - and once it comes back - how long does it take to get back online? If one is going to do a 'hot swap' my assumption would be (am I right or wrong) - that the unit would have to have a deposit or something before you would ship a unit on a hot swap basis?

 

[Krazie4Acans]

Will the trident make auto adjustments to alkalinity, calcium and magnesium or does it just make auto adjustments to one?

If you have a DOS connected for each additive then yes you can set the trident up to control each one.