Trident vs Alkatronic vs KH Director vs kh guardian

[ACF930]

I have zero to gain from either of these companies. Trident feels cheap and like it’ll just fall apart. Alkatronic is better build quality for sure. Yes maybe a little louder but I am used to the noise now and just tune it out really.

I had to unplug my Trident to get it acting right. Testing normal again.

Were you having issues with Trident readings too? Did you calibrate in the beginning?

 

[mitch91175]

Yes i posted everything I did in this thread from the beginning. Calibration was exactly what was on the bottles.

I just would never at this point allow it to do anything but test.

 

[MnFish1]

So should I just assume my Trident readings are the most accurate (of all current consumer testing tools/kits) after performing proper calibration on the next Reagent batch - and that calibration will compensate/resolve any possibility of faulty mechanisms or software issues?

Yes

 

[ReeferBud]

Would like to share an update from operating the Alkatronic this week after installing last weekend.

The installation of the hardware, hoses, reagent was pretty straightforward. Nothing too interesting to report; very easy. However, the App and software part is definitely buggy. It took me a few days to get everything figured out but a huge plus, similar to what others have mentioned, is that focustronic customer support is excellent. They were responsive to my questions through the Facebook group and were able to resolve the issues.

Preparing the reagent was very simple, quick and gave accurate results. I used a simple kitchen scale and have made two batches, both giving me high precision results. I view the reagent as another huge plus for the Alkatronic. It’s inexpensive, I can make whatever quantity of reagent I like and a single 4L (110$) bottle of concentrated reagent can last for over a year and a half. Also, there’s reports of being able to make your own DIY reagent, further decreasing the cost to a negligible amount. I’ll attempt this when I run out of my current bottle.

I spent a few days comparing my Alkatronic results to my Hanna checker and they were incredibly close; within 0.1-0.2 dKH. I’ve been extremely pleased with the core purpose of the unit which is to test alkalinity. Below is a screenshot of my Alk results. It has enabled me to better control and stabilize my alkalinity, which can be seen my comparing the first couple of days to the last couple of days this week.

Connecting the Alkatronic to the Apex was very easy and I can now monitor and control based on Alk on the Apex.

Overall, I’m extremely happy with the Alkatronic and would recommend it.

 

[CDavmd]

...want to point out to those using the trident. When you change reagents or open the compartment, be very careful and make sure the lines are free when you close it.

It just so happens that I ran out of A yesterday. I was in a hurry so quickly changed it out with out much concern for the tubing.

The next set of results showed a major swing in Alk and Ca. I ran it again when I got home and received an Error Test A and B.

I opened the drawer and realized I had let the A and B tubing sit on the reagent caps and they had kinked. Fixing their positions and resetting the Trident and the results came back in line.

 

[mitch91175]

Yes

Yes that is an assumption that you can make until it goes wrong. I do not have mine dosing with a DOS, but could only imagine seeing my tank get nuked because my Trident reading are lower than they should be (yes I did proper calibration, will do so again in about 20 days). Good thing I have a calcium reactor and Alkatronic so do not have to worry about the accuracy/precision of the Trident nearly as much. Think it still needs some work, but what doesn't.

 

[mitch91175]

Would like to share an update from operating the Alkatronic this week after installing last weekend.

The installation of the hardware, hoses, reagent was pretty straightforward. Nothing too interesting to report; very easy. However, the App and software part is definitely buggy. It took me a few days to get everything figured out but a huge plus, similar to what others have mentioned, is that focustronic customer support is excellent. They were responsive to my questions through the Facebook group and were able to resolve the issues.

Preparing the reagent was very simple, quick and gave accurate results. I used a simple kitchen scale and have made two batches, both giving me high precision results. I view the reagent as another huge plus for the Alkatronic. It’s inexpensive, I can make whatever quantity of reagent I like and a single 4L (110$) bottle of concentrated reagent can last for over a year and a half. Also, there’s reports of being able to make your own DIY reagent, further decreasing the cost to a negligible amount. I’ll attempt this when I run out of my current bottle.

I spent a few days comparing my Alkatronic results to my Hanna checker and they were incredibly close; within 0.1-0.2 dKH. I’ve been extremely pleased with the core purpose of the unit which is to test alkalinity. Below is a screenshot of my Alk results. It has enabled me to better control and stabilize my alkalinity, which can be seen my comparing the first couple of days to the last couple of days this week.

Connecting the Alkatronic to the Apex was very easy and I can now monitor and control based on Alk on the Apex.

Overall, I’m extremely happy with the Alkatronic and would recommend it.

The thing about the Alkatronic is the initial setup. Once it has been setup, those flaws aren't nearly as bad. They still need to make that process smoother for setup, but man the unit is just rock solid. No finicky lines to deal with. I had to also reset my Trident after changing reagent A. Didn't have any kinks in A, B, or C lines, but all measurements were messed up. They have gotten a little more to what I expect, but still off enough where I will not rely on the data.

 

[CDavmd]

Yes that is an assumption that you can make until it goes wrong. I do not have mine dosing with a DOS, but could only imagine seeing my tank get nuked because my Trident reading are lower than they should be (yes I did proper calibration, will do so again in about 20 days). Good thing I have a calcium reactor and Alkatronic so do not have to worry about the accuracy/precision of the Trident nearly as much. Think it still needs some work, but what doesn't.

Not sure how you could nuke the tank. The trident cannot “runaway dose”. You set the nominal amount and give it guard rails. If a result is grossly out of line it reverts to the nominal amount. I personally also have alerts set for these guard rails so I am warned if it were to happen.

My Dos is under trident control in two systems. No issues. Case in point- I kinked my calcium and alk reagent lines on Friday while changing the Alk reagent. The trident picked up in the spurious result, sent me a warning and reverted to baseline dosing. I investigated, figured out the problem, fixed and no issues since.

 

[MnFish1]

Yes that is an assumption that you can make until it goes wrong. I do not have mine dosing with a DOS, but could only imagine seeing my tank get nuked because my Trident reading are lower than they should be (yes I did proper calibration, will do so again in about 20 days). Good thing I have a calcium reactor and Alkatronic so do not have to worry about the accuracy/precision of the Trident nearly as much. Think it still needs some work, but what doesn't.

I think you read a little too much into my words. I didn't mean blindly follow any result the trident gives you - For example - lets say you calibrate your trident - and it says your alk is 9. I'm saying thats all you need to follow. You shouldn't get a Hanna checker and worry if it says 8.7 or 8.5. Just keep following the trident. On the other hand - if you measure the Alk - and all the sudden its 3 - I would think some care would be warranted.

Im mostly talking about the people who are worried about .3 or .5 differences in alk between (any) tests. PS - I have said many times - I would not trust Trident (or other automation) to dose anything - including the alkatronic and a calcium reactor.

 

[MnFish1]

Yes that is an assumption that you can make until it goes wrong. I do not have mine dosing with a DOS, but could only imagine seeing my tank get nuked because my Trident reading are lower than they should be (yes I did proper calibration, will do so again in about 20 days). Good thing I have a calcium reactor and Alkatronic so do not have to worry about the accuracy/precision of the Trident nearly as much. Think it still needs some work, but what doesn't.

BTW - curious - why do you have a trident and an alkatronic?

 

[mitch91175]

BTW - curious - why do you have a trident and an alkatronic?

Because I wanted to compare the 2 devices and see which works best for my situation. I have quickly come to the conclusion that for my display tank the Alkatronic is king. I might just move the Trident over to my frag tank or sell. Undecided at this point. Nothing against the Trident or Neptune, but for me and the time I have had it running, I just do not want something that it finicky like it being the main control of my system. Could be user error, could not be. Everyone will have a different experience. Like you might not like the Alkatronic. Difference strokes for different folks.

 

[mitch91175]

So did the Trident update the other day and suddenly my measurements are looking better:

Don't know what was included in the update, but going to try to find the release notes.

 

[User1]

So did the Trident update the other day and suddenly my measurements are looking better:

Don't know what was included in the update, but going to try to find the release notes.

5.05_7C19 release notes:

• The Trident is now quieter when performing initialization, priming, and testing. The robot-like / R2D2 sounds have been eliminated. All Trident owners should update to this AOS and included Trident firmware.
• Trident will now report a low regent level error when an estimated 4-5% of a given reagent remains; previously, it was at 8-9%.
• Addresses an issue seen in a few cases in the field where a FMM resets unexpectedly. See the notes below before updating your FMM!

Edit: Full details here: https://forum.neptunesystems.com/showthread.php?27319-AOS-5-05_7C19-is-now-available!

 

[ACF930]

Although we have been questioning the accuracy of the Trident, it did just save me from a crash. Last night, I got an alert that my CA dropped to 336 (from previous 434). At first, I thought it was an error, so I immediately re-ran another Combination test and got 338. I then ran to check on my tank. The end of my CA dosing line was clogged up and had a nice 1 inch cone of precipitate hanging off the end. I've never had this issue before. Before the Trident, I would manually test CA 1x per week, so I wouldn't have noticed until things got bad.

It's still odd that my tank depleted about 100 ppm of CA over 12 hours (maybe that's the case), but I'm glad I had the Trident. So far, this is the 3rd time that Neptune systems saved me from a crash.

 

[User1]

Although we have been questioning the accuracy of the Trident, it did just save me from a crash. Last night, I got an alert that my CA dropped to 336 (from previous 434). At first, I thought it was an error, so I immediately re-ran another Combination test and got 338. I then ran to check on my tank. The end of my CA dosing line was clogged up and had a nice 1 inch cone of precipitate hanging off the end. I've never had this issue before. Before the Trident, I would manually test CA 1x per week, so I wouldn't have noticed until things got bad.

It's still odd that my tank depleted about 100 ppm of CA over 12 hours (maybe that's the case), but I'm glad I had the Trident. So far, this is the 3rd time that Neptune systems saved me from a crash.

That is actually a great story. If you haven't done so shoot Neptune a email to say as such. At the same time you could ask about the 100 drop in Cal and what they think about it as it relates to consumption.

Good catch and glad everything worked out.

 

[mitch91175]

Reagent is out on mine and haven't even added any new reagent yet. Right now just sitting there, lol.

 

[mitch91175]

Well Trident is still offline right now as I am undecided on what I want to do. But Alkatronic still running strong and growth increasing so had to adjust the calcium reactor a little.

 

[DivingTheWorld]

Does anyone using the Alkatronic with an Apex have a good recommendation for a BNC cable to connect the two? I've read that some BNC cables can cause the Alk reading to be off from actual. Has someone has found a particular BNC cable which reads accurately?

 

[ReeferBud]

Does anyone using the Alkatronic with an Apex have a good recommendation for a BNC cable to connect the two? I've read that some BNC cables can cause the Alk reading to be off from actual. Has someone has found a particular BNC cable which reads accurately?

I’m using this BNC cable and it’s working fine:

TNP BNC Cable (15 Feet) - BNC Male To Male Extension Connector Adapter RF Professional RG-58/U Grade Coaxial Wire Cord Cable Jack Plug for Video Secur

 

[DivingTheWorld]

I’m using this BNC cable and it’s working fine:

TNP BNC Cable (15 Feet) - BNC Male To Male Extension Connector Adapter RF Professional RG-58/U Grade Coaxial Wire Cord Cable Jack Plug for Video Secur

Cool, thanks. With this cable is Fusion reading the same figure(s) as the Alkatronic app?