Trident with Calcium Reactor

[Chris Spaulding]

This week I am going from 2 part over to a Calcium Reactor. I test Alk with Hana every morning and the others every Sunday. I have been thinking about adding a Trident. The question is , is it worth getting the Trident being I am moving over to the calcium reactor or is it a waste ?

 

[SuncrestReef]

Regardless of your method of supplementing your tank with alkalinity and calcium, it's important to monitor those levels. While some people think daily testing or weekly testing is sufficient, you'd be amazed at the range of parameter swings that happen on a daily basis that the Trident can reveal.

I used to test my alk daily at 9:00am each day, and I thought it was pretty stable, but after I got the Trident I discovered the daily swings in my alkalinity due to the lighting schedule. In the graph below, the red line is my daily 9am Alk test, but the orange line is the Trident testing Alk every 6 hours. You can see that it actually fluctuates as the corals react to your lighting schedule consuming more alk during the peak lighting and less at night:

I don't have a calcium reactor, but use 2-part dosing and adjusted the dosing schedule to compensate for more consumption during the day and less at night, and was able to reduce the daily swings to +/- 0.05 dDK per day:

So the bottom line is that the Trident can reveal what's actually happening in your tank regardless of what method you use to suppliment alkalinity and calcium.

 

[Chris Spaulding]

Thank you. That is what I have been thinking. I have been reading where others are actually using the Trident readings to control the reactor but I am still trying to wrap my head around this and would not go this route until the tank is running smoothly on the Calcium Reactor. Plus’s that would mean adding a 3rd Eb832