Trident vs Alkatronic vs KH Director vs kh guardian

[Xclusive Reef]

You can monitor and or dose with the KH Director. I have 3 of them, I calibrate the PH probe every 6 months, all my tanks are steady at 7.5KH. One is controlled by a calcium reactor and is connected to a P4. I have a stand alone unit for my frag tank which is also monitor and dosing and has a second slave doser connected to it which is dosing aquaforest 3 part.

Sounds complicated lol

 

[leepink23]

Can someone summarize the thread please. Read a few pages but too much.. Overall what was the best monitor ?

Trident - Monitoring only 3 tests
Reef Bot Monitor / dosing multiple
Alkatronic - 1 test only (Alk or cal/mag)
KH Guardian - 1 test ALk
KH Director- Monitor / dosing 1 test ALK


KH director you can choose to monitor or monitor and dose. Anyone have any experience with KH Director?

I don’t think there is a best, rather what best fits you. I love the trident, no regrets buying it. With that said there seems to be plenty of success with all of them. I chose the Trident because it integrated with my system, I really like dos controlled dosing. If you have ghl then get the director, if you don’t have either and just want alkalinity, get the alkatronic. That’s my opinion at least. Also ghl has an ion Director coming out that can be paired with the kh Director and be able to test many more parameters, they can be ran without a ghl controller which seems like a great option.

 

[Xclusive Reef]

I don’t think there is a best, rather what best fits you. I love the trident, no regrets buying it. With that said there seems to be plenty of success with all of them. I chose the Trident because it integrated with my system, I really like dos controlled dosing. If you have ghl then get the director, if you don’t have either and just want alkalinity, get the alkatronic. That’s my opinion at least. Also ghl has an ion Director coming out that can be paired with the kh Director and be able to test many more parameters, they can be ran without a ghl controller which seems like a great option.

I am trying to convince myself to get one. One thing with the trident is that it’s only monitor and does not dose does it? I will wait for ion director to come out and see some reviews but will be the most expensive option out of all of them

 

[leepink23]

I am trying to convince myself to get one. One thing with the trident is that it’s only monitor and does not dose does it? I will wait for ion director to come out and see some reviews but will be the most expensive option out of all of them

You have to have the apex dos in addition to a trident and an apex 2016 for it to dose.

 

[leepink23]

I am trying to convince myself to get one. One thing with the trident is that it’s only monitor and does not dose does it? I will wait for ion director to come out and see some reviews but will be the most expensive option out of all of them

If you don’t have anything from apex here is 1 left of a package you would need.

ApexEL Trident DOS Package - Neptune Systems

Free Shipping on Everything, Rewards, Free Swag, Price Matching & Free Returns.

www.saltwateraquarium.com

 

[mitch91175]

I personally won't suggest one way or the other, but I'd say get something that is standalone. Meaning that if your controller dies that you can still utilize your unit and not be forced into buying another aquarium controller unless you ABSOLUTELY need one. More and more I am finding that for me the Apex is a glorified timer.

 

[Xclusive Reef]

I personally won't suggest one way or the other, but I'd say get something that is standalone. Meaning that if your controller dies that you can still utilize your unit and not be forced into buying another aquarium controller unless you ABSOLUTELY need one. More and more I am finding that for me the Apex is a glorified timer.

I agree. as ,much as i like the Apex, I would want something that is independent.

 

[Xclusive Reef]

does anyone know if the older doser is compatible with the kh director and ION ? anything i should know about the older non white box doser? are they wireless for one?

 

[mitch91175]

Ok finally got time to mess around with a KH Guardian. Anyone here can help point me to be best way on getting one setup? It is a used unit that might need some upgrades, etc.

 

[leepink23]

Ok finally got time to mess around with a KH Guardian. Anyone here can help point me to be best way on getting one setup? It is a used unit that might need some upgrades, etc.

Do you still have your trident? It would be cool to see all three in action

 

[mitch91175]

Do you still have your trident? It would be cool to see all three in action

No I sold the Trident, but from my usage for testing dKH, the Alkatronic wins hands down. Now I'll mess around with the KH Guradian some to see what I think about it.

Need to make some reagent for it so gotta find the home made formula online. I will say that on initial impression, I am not overly impressed with the design/lack of mounting capability. Without even running the first test, I'd have to rate them in this order for pure dKH measurement (NOTE: KH Guardian position simply because no external web UI and design. I haven't done testing yet but even if it performs well, it would likely stay where it is rated comparatively).

Alkatronic - durability, ease of maintenance, overall low cost operation, web UI/app, standalone, integrates into Apex
Trident - Test calcium and magnesium, long term durability questionable, integrates into Apex, cannot use if Apex dies
KH Guardian - support concerns, no outside web ui/app, no built in wifi

Just some thoughts that I have about each unit. From those that's why I rank the Alkatronic above the rest.

For the KH Guardian, I think it'll make a decent frag tank unit once I get it going, but not for my main system.

 

[mitch91175]

Well got the KH Guardian connected and pH probe calibrated with ready reagent. Only problem is not everything I try to de-gas or test the unit restarts.

 

[GoVols]

Well got the KH Guardian connected and pH probe calibrated with ready reagent. Only problem is not everything I try to de-gas or test the unit restarts.

@Rick.45cal @justingraham

Do you guys have any advice for Mitch?

Thank you

 

[justingraham]

@Rick.45cal @justingraham

Do you guys have any advice for Mitch?

Thank you

Nope sorry

 

[RedSea500MaxS]

Trident is sadly a surprise. Numbers are all over. Neptune said to calibrate with my water? Huh.

Numbers should be accurate. And calibrated to standard solution. Which I did and numbers were “supposedly” right on. Then back to my tank and I must add 1.2 to one and subtract 35 from another based of duplicate tests in two test kits.

Today...water change and pre change my Alkalinity was showing 8.4 but tested at 7.3. Not happy.
Ca was close showing 457, tested 425, and Mg shows 1301 and tests 1290.

Test your tanks! Check your Trident.

Anyone else seeing Inaccurate numbers?

 

[RedSea500MaxS]

Trident calibration was spot on. So far so good. The unit is super quiet and so far was what I was hoping for

thank you, but did you cross check results after on your tank water? My calibration was perfect, but. Tank water results were way off. So what good is that? Maybe mine...I agree. Working with Neptune. But please check your tank with test kits or lab to confirm. Good luck!

 

[leepink23]

thank you, but did you cross check results after on your tank water? My calibration was perfect, but. Tank water results were way off. So what good is that? Maybe mine...I agree. Working with Neptune. But please check your tank with test kits or lab to confirm. Good luck!

I have only checked a few times with my Hannah checker and compared to the trident tests and it was within acceptable range. For me my tank sps are growing extremely fast so I accept the trident to be true and watch for deviations. Just a few of my sps.

 

[Rick.45cal]

Well got the KH Guardian connected and pH probe calibrated with ready reagent. Only problem is not everything I try to de-gas or test the unit restarts.

The best advice I can give you is to find the KH guardian group on facebook, and ask the maker, he used to be very active on there, and I assume he still is. You can always try talking to coralvue, but in my experience they treat you like they are doing you a favor and talk down to you. It’s a real turn off in my experience and one of the reasons I no longer use the KHG and won’t deal with that company ever again. Sorry I can’t be of more assistance. I remember degassing the unit took forever when I had to do it.

 

[alex77619]

Well got the KH Guardian connected and pH probe calibrated with ready reagent. Only problem is not everything I try to de-gas or test the unit restarts.

double check if you got the right powersupply. it should be 12V/5A

 

[mitch91175]

double check if you got the right powersupply. it should be 12V/5A

Hey Alex waiting on the parts I ordered to come in