Wait on trident or get a Alkatronic

[305Reefer]

In stock? I'm not interested but I looked and all the main vendors were out of stock.

The smaller shops have them.. In the reveal livestream they said they were going to roll out to all the small stores, fish stores, wholesalers etc in a prescribed manner vs just sending everything they have to the 3 big stores... My LFS has one sitting on the counter right now. The smaller vendors who sell Apex still have them.. Premium Aquatics and aquacave had them until just a couple hours ago. But apex mentioned that they will be continously shipping them to vendors, so it wont be waiting months to get the next batch...

 

[siggy]

Yes, Mindstream charges a monthly fee...

To put the disk with all the chemicals that dissolves in your tank..every month????NO THANKS!

 

[BigJohnny]

The smaller shops have them.. In the reveal livestream they said they were going to roll out to all the small stores, fish stores, wholesalers etc in a prescribed manner vs just sending everything they have to the 3 big stores... My LFS has one sitting on the counter right now. The smaller vendors who sell Apex still have them.. Premium Aquatics and aquacave had them until just a couple hours ago. But apex mentioned that they will be continously shipping them to vendors, so it wont be waiting months to get the next batch...

So who did you see that has them online?

 

[SneakyTortuga]

So who did you see that has them online?

I bit the bullet! Alkatronic on the way. Thank you for your input.

The free hat is what sold me. Step up your game BRS

 

[SneakyTortuga]

I just found 3 vendors online selling them. Try harder. They released at midnight, if you were looking for them before midnight, youre doing it wrong.

Funny thing is I talk to my LFS and they are getting shipments with more next week. Good luck to everyone jumping on the hype train

 

[yellojello]

Just ordered the KH Guardian Monitor

 

[mitch91175]

Just ordered the KH Guardian Monitor

I have a friend of mine that bought one of those and it never really worked well for him. He is now getting an Alkatronic.

 

[SneakyTortuga]

I should probably change the title... “ waited on trident, got a alkatronic”

 

[yellojello]

I have a friend of mine that bought one of those and it never really worked well for him. He is now getting an Alkatronic.

Was he an early adopter or tried it more recently? The KH Guardian seems to have a good Facebook page with quick responses for support. I know Alkatronic has the same. But for the price, I'm willing to try and if it works for at least a year or two or a lot longer, I think I'll get good bang for my buck. The monitoring market should be much cheaper and better by then too.

 

[siggy]

I bit the bullet! Alkatronic on the way. Thank you for your input.

Congratz, I have to think this had the most R&D then everyone copied it.

Funny thing is I talk to my LFS and they are getting shipments with more next week. Good luck to everyone jumping on the hype train

Very well staged release, they are sitting on a warehouse full creating an artificial demand. My LFS said that they will be getting a steady stream and that Neptune told him Not to take deposits

Just ordered the KH Guardian Monitor

I grabbed one too

I have a friend of mine that bought one of those and it never really worked well for him. He is now getting an Alkatronic.

I hope I'm not that guy

 

[danreefman]

Just set your calcium reactor and leave it.

Seems like so many gadgets now days. I've tried a few. Ends up more to go wrong.

People who rely on neptune. And say neptune saved there tank while gone. Lol. Your tanks most likely was malfunctioning because of your apex.

Everyone I know that bought any kind of alk monitor has them sold or sitting in a junk pile in the garage.

Some of the best tanks I've seen, just have pumps, heater, lots of rock in display and in the sump. No skimmer, uv, apex. Just rocks, lights, pumps, heaters, and reasonable weekly water change.

Good luck with your products guys.

 

[mitch91175]

Just set your calcium reactor and leave it.

Seems like so many gadgets now days. I've tried a few. Ends up more to go wrong.

People who rely on neptune. And say neptune saved there tank while gone. Lol. Your tanks most likely was malfunctioning because of your apex.

Everyone I know that bought any kind of alk monitor has them sold or sitting in a junk pile in the garage.

Some of the best tanks I've seen, just have pumps, heater, lots of rock in display and in the sump. No skimmer, uv, apex. Just rocks, lights, pumps, heaters, and reasonable weekly water change.

Good luck with your products guys.

Nothing personal @danreefman but you remind me of one of those old school guys that still has an 8-track in his car, lol.

Everyone has the right to run their tank however they please. Every tank and person is different. The gadgets you refer to do not guarantee a successful tank, just helps along the way.

Yes you can run a tank with nothing, and you can also run one with everything. I bet even a lot of those tanks you refer to at one point had something to help maintain the tanks. Some begin to remove the electronics once the tank has gotten to a point where it can be run without it.

 

[siggy]

reasonable weekly water change.

tank never looked better than 25% weekly of fresh mixed salt water, now im told that is wrong and to mix for a min of 24 to 48 hours....The point is DO what you want to and Ill do what I want TOO.

 

[hart24601]

Just set your calcium reactor and leave it.

Seems like so many gadgets now days. I've tried a few. Ends up more to go wrong.

People who rely on neptune. And say neptune saved there tank while gone. Lol. Your tanks most likely was malfunctioning because of your apex.

Everyone I know that bought any kind of alk monitor has them sold or sitting in a junk pile in the garage.

Some of the best tanks I've seen, just have pumps, heater, lots of rock in display and in the sump. No skimmer, uv, apex. Just rocks, lights, pumps, heaters, and reasonable weekly water change.

Good luck with your products guys.

I guess you don't know me but running all monitor still. Here are 30 days I screen shotted. I don't have it set to control anything so nothing to go wrong. Why isn't it in my garage? Because it's been no effort - it just keeps going with very little time I need to spend on it.

It has also alerted me twice when I forgot to turn back on my dosing.

Totally right I have also seen some amazing tanks without much equipment. I have also seen dozens of reefers I personally know get out of the hobby over the years after crashes. Could those have been avoided? Some of them no doubt.

I am all for if someone wants to run equipment or not.

 

[mitch91175]

I guess you don't know me but running all monitor still. Here are 30 days I screen shotted. I don't have it set to control anything so nothing to go wrong. Why isn't it in my garage? Because it's been no effort - it just keeps going with very little time I need to spend on it.

It has also alerted me twice when I forgot to turn back on my dosing.

Totally right I have also seen some amazing tanks without much equipment. I have also seen dozens of reefers I personally know get out of the hobby over the years after crashes. Could those have been avoided? Some of them no doubt.

I am all for if someone wants to run equipment or not.

EVERYONE runs equipment!!!!! Don't you consider the tank as equipment? What about the sump? Or the rock? Water and lights? It's all EQUIPMENT to do the job of maintaining a tank. Another word you could through in instead of EQUIPMENT is RESOURCES.

When people freak out about how much EQUIPMENT I have on my tank and say that's way too much, I ask them to see a picture of their tanks. Tell me something when you have a tank over-grown with life then we can talk. Until then I will run my equipment and even then still run my equipment. My equipment keeps me in touch with what is going on with my tank. Sitting watching sticks grow can get a little boring at times, but guess what, I have my equipment that I can tinker with here and there to get the satisfaction when not adding coral to the tank.

 

[danreefman]

Yes I agree. To each his own.

I'm just the crazy loud guy, that's seen first hand the problems with all the new Stuff.

I jumped on the wagon when I came back after a break. And quickly realized the wagon might go off a cliff so I quickly stepped off.

 

[hart24601]

EVERYONE runs equipment!!!!! Don't you consider the tank as equipment? What about the sump? Or the rock? Water and lights? It's all EQUIPMENT to do the job of maintaining a tank. Another word you could through in instead of EQUIPMENT is RESOURCES.

When people freak out about how much EQUIPMENT I have on my tank and say that's way too much, I ask them to see a picture of their tanks. Tell me something when you have a tank over-grown with life then we can talk. Until then I will run my equipment and even then still run my equipment. My equipment keeps me in touch with what is going on with my tank. Sitting watching sticks grow can get a little boring at times, but guess what, I have my equipment that I can tinker with here and there to get the satisfaction when not adding coral to the tank.

Are you specifically referring to me by quoting my post?

 

[mitch91175]

Are you specifically referring to me by quoting my post?

No, just about the overall do not run your tank with the equipment in general.

 

[Surfzone]

I wanted to get something to test Alk so that I can stop doing it almost daily, but since adding a CaRX I don't see the need for something like this anymore. Back when I was 2 part dosing I would have a different opinion on this. I still think that one day I will get a Trident but not for a very long time due to lack of need.

 

[yellojello]

I agree lots of equipment in this industry is not necessary, but more for convenience or insurance. Also, concerning these monitors, I think there are differences when these devices monitor/test only compared to controlling also. Dosing vs. CaRX also plays somewhat of a difference.

For my application, I am only using this as insurance and not controlling for my CaRX. I understand when CaRX is tuned, it is almost set and forget for months. But there was a recent issue when my replacement Masterflex didn’t have auto-on after power failure enabled compared to the previous on. Apex showed that the masterflex, co2 solenoid, and CaRX recirculating pump was on so no errors and carx ph had no errors with no major swings. After I found out a few days after manually testing, my Alk dropped from 8.5 to 5.9.

Other similar issues might arise like failing ph probe and clogged lines.

Also, this will help with tuning the CaRX which isn’t too often, but convenient nonetheless.

Salifert and Hanna Alk testing will still be my tried and true which will always have on hand and still use just less frequently.

Plus I am always gone on weekends (have an office tank) and go on many business trips, my Apex has been a huge piece of mind for the past nine years. My friend’s tank didn’t have automation, had me check in on his tank almost every day when he was gone on trips. Other people might not be so lucky to have someone do this for them.

I would definitely caution anyone using these devices to control anything. One failure or misreading and your tank could be wiped. Even with manual dosing and autodosing, which I did for many years before CaRX, it’s almost set and forget too so you don’t really have to make changes day to day like this controller would or might do.

Overall, I think it is advantageous for most to learn how to do things manually first, then move on to a little automation step by step and not just go full automation right from the start where newbies will get into trouble and cause themselves more headache and confusion. But no doubt, new technologies in reefing is exciting and can help a lot of people in different situations. Necessary? No. Helpful? Yes.