Trident vs Hanna for Alk Accuracy

[road_runner]

I guess you meant dKH instead of ppm.

Sorry, yes you are right I meant dkh.

 

[roberthu526]

Time your trident has been testing will be your gauge of precision.

As an example say you are using the trident to test 4 times a day.
You are dosing by hand everyday, once a day, the equivalent of 53 mg dry solution in a 100 liter system.

The precision of the tests will be how well they confirm your systems usage, when compared to your lighting schedule. For the sake of simplicity this system will only populated with new frags, that have not started growing yet. You should see roughly a tank usage of .537 ppm daily during this time frame.

For ulns numbers i find that attempting to achieve the accuracy you are referring to probably impossible as even lab grade testing is not going to be accurate down to .02dkh.

Forgive me if my math or logic is off, nursing a shoulder injury atm.

I think you are missing the point here: trend or stability is more important than just the real test numbers. But 1st the actual ALK level has to be within a reasonable range. You can't grow healthy sticks in 5 DKH no matter how stable it is. 2nd, people are saying the test results actually drifts instead of being constantly off by a certain number so it is impossible for the user to know how stable the water actually is.
A side note: I think it's ridiculous to say it's Okay for the test result to be off.

 

[bigjgmac]

I would follow precision not accuracy. If your trident is giving predictable results based on how you are dosing. How accurate it is, is kinda irrelevant. And again all the tests you have used have an error range of +\-5% at a max variance of .92% difference between them. This is all in the ranges they have. Unless you use actual laboratory grade equipment to test with you are not going to get an exact alkalinity for your tank.
How precise the tests you use are what is important for stability. My 2 cents anyway.

Spot on reply.

 

[rustyreefer]

I'll respond to the OP here as there as already a good deal of back forth.

- The 8.3 Hanna that has a stated error of +/- 5% that is 7.89- 8.72 dKH.
- The Trident at 7.68 with a precision of +/- .05 dKH is between 7.63-7.73.
- So they are a bit off, on your next calibration I would use the left over solution and test it with your Hanna to see what the Hanna reports the calibration dKH is. As we have encountered this with other users already, most people find that the Hanna reports to the same degree off on the calibration standard as well. Then once they check their hanna with the available reference check set it is also off at that same level. Not saying that is the case here, it is just what we typically see in most situations like this.
- Are you pulling your water at the for the Hanna at the exact time the Trident is testing? Are you certain the Trident is not pulling in any air bubbles during its testing? Air/micro bubbles can introduce a considerable amount of error into your measurements.

As others have mentioned, the most important thing to consider here is the precision. If that is showing consistency, then that is what I would focus on most. Based on the information here, I do believe the Trident is accurately reporting your dKH, but if you feel the Hanna is more the "right" number, then feel free to calibrate the Trident to your aquarium water and use the Hanna number for the dKH in the calibration process.

If you have more questions, then please reach out to our team. We are happy to help.

Once the calibration fluid is opened, how long is the shelf life?

 

[NeptunePaul Verified Sponsor]

Once the calibration fluid is opened, how long is the shelf life?

As soon as the calibration solution is opened it is introduced to air which will affect the measurements (dKH most). The calibration reference will no longer reflect the reference solution within 8 hours of being open. It cannot be capped and used again later. We recommend that it is used as soon as it is opened.

 

[rustyreefer]

As soon as the calibration solution is opened it is introduced to air which will affect the measurements (dKH most). The calibration reference will no longer reflect the reference solution within 8 hours of being open. It cannot be capped and used again later. We recommend that it is used as soon as it is opened.

Thanks for the quick reply. So given that, it seems it would be beneficial to either get 2 solutions in the 2 month supply kit(since there are two ALK bottles) or be able to purchase calibration fluid for the trident separately. I just ordered some

Fauna Marin Saltwater Multi reference solution so that I could calibrate my trident when i swap out the ALK bottle.
Usually when calibrating you only use half the bottle and if you cannot use the other half once opened it would be best if that solution was split into two bottles giving reefers the ability to calibrate every time they swap a regent.

Hoping the Fauna Marin works ok as I have never tried it.

 

[NeptunePaul Verified Sponsor]

Thanks for the quick reply. So given that, it seems it would be beneficial to either get 2 solutions in the 2 month supply kit(since there are two ALK bottles) or be able to purchase calibration fluid for the trident separately. I just ordered some

No, there is no need to calibrate when changing over to the second bottle of reagent A, because each bottle comes from the same batch.

 

[Jon's Reef]

I just started a new box of reagents and am seeing similar issue.

I "thought" I was going into this at 8.0, 425, 1400

Bottle Label (Lot# B-1046): 8.3, 390, 1195
Calibrated
Tank measured with Trident (after calibration): 7.42, 461, 1407

Tank measured with Hanna: 8.0, 426, NA
Bottle measured with Hanna: 8.8, 376, NA

Tank measured with Red Sea Pro: 7.6, 430, 1380
Bottle measured with Red Sea Pro: 8.4, NA, 1200 (ran out of water in bottle)

End Result: I recalibrated the Trident with tank water to 7.6, 430, 1390

 

[robbyg]

Thanks for the quick reply. So given that, it seems it would be beneficial to either get 2 solutions in the 2 month supply kit(since there are two ALK bottles) or be able to purchase calibration fluid for the trident separately. I just ordered some

Fauna Marin Saltwater Multi reference solution so that I could calibrate my trident when i swap out the ALK bottle.
Usually when calibrating you only use half the bottle and if you cannot use the other half once opened it would be best if that solution was split into two bottles giving reefers the ability to calibrate every time they swap a regent.

Hoping the Fauna Marin works ok as I have never tried it.

Who did you order Trident calibration fluid from? Every time I check Neptunes website it says out of stock.

 

[bigjgmac]

Who did you order Trident calibration fluid from? Every time I check Neptunes website it says out of stock.

BRS has it in stock. Ordered a six month supply on Thursday.

 

[Woodneers]

For what it’s worth, I’ve been running trident for a year or so alongside a weekly Hanna test. They are generally close enough IMO. Just did this today and I got 8.3 on Hanna and trident is reading at 8.6.

 

[robbyg]

BRS has it in stock. Ordered a six month supply on Thursday.

No, he said he got the calibration fluid not the reagents.
I got a 6 month pack already but I am short one calibration fluid bottle. I will probably have to use tested SW for the calibration of one of the 2 month boxes.