Who has a Trident on a nano tank?

[hllb]

I picked up an ApexEL recently and am enjoying it. I have a 32g biocube, so a "large" nano tank. I like the idea of the Trident but in such a small tank, I'd have to have a dosing pump adding saltwater daily to keep the water levels up. Do you have a Trident on a nano tank, and is that how you keep the water level steady?

 

[SliceGolfer]

Water level, as in evaporation? Or Alk/Ca/Mg levels? I have two nanos. I use ATOs to keep the water level stable, and dosing pumps which dose Alk/Ca supplements.

 

[MONTANTK]

Slice golfer brings up a good point. If the pump is replacing evaporation you should be using RO. If your actually dosing Alk, Ca, Mg then disregard. I have heard the trident uses very small amounts of water to test which probably wouldn’t be an issue on a 32g tank especially if you do frequent water changes

 

[hllb]

Sorry, to clarify, water level due to the frequent testing. The trident uses 7ml or less per test, and at minimum you're testing 4 times a day. Doing the math now, I guess that's just under 1 cup a week. I guess that is unlikely to affect the water level enough to make a difference. I am already dosing alk and calcium with kamoer dosers. I wouldn't have the apex control the dosing though. I just have it set up to turn the dosers off if there's a big rise in ph as a failsafe in case the doser decides to drop a ton of alk into the tank.

 

[MONTANTK]

Sorry, to clarify, water level due to the frequent testing. The trident uses 7ml or less per test, and at minimum you're testing 4 times a day. Doing the math now, I guess that's just under 1 cup a week. I guess that is unlikely to affect the water level enough to make a difference. I am already dosing alk and calcium with kamoer dosers. I wouldn't have the apex control the dosing though. I just have it set up to turn the dosers off if there's a big rise in ph as a failsafe in case the doser decides to drop a ton of alk into the tank.

Curious for my own knowledge, is that 7ml per Alk/ca/mg test or the group as a total?

 

[hllb]

Curious for my own knowledge, is that 7ml per Alk/ca/mg test or the group as a total?

Good question. I was assuming per group of tests, but I should validate that better because per parameter makes more sense than 7ml for all3. If it was per parameter, that would make 56ml per day (2 tests w all 3 and 2 tests just alk) and that would be about 1.7 cups of water per week. Probably still not enough to drop the water level in my tank down below the pumps or probes, but worth doing a test on that.

 

[SuncrestReef]

Curious for my own knowledge, is that 7ml per Alk/ca/mg test or the group as a total?

It’s 7mL per individual test. At the default schedule of 4/2/2 tests per day, that’s 56mL daily.

 

[hllb]

Here's the answer directly from Neptune: "7.9ml sample water used per parameter tested"

So the math is just under 1.9 cups per week to test all 3 twice a day and alk two additional times a day.

 

[MONTANTK]

It’s 7mL per individual test. At the default schedule of 4/2/2 tests per day, that’s 56mL daily.

That’s good to know! So it seems like when you’re running an AIO system it could be very dependent on the type of ATO you’re running and how much water you keep in the 3rd chamber

 

[hllb]

That’s good to know! So it seems like when you’re running an AIO system it could be very dependent on the type of ATO you’re running and how much water you keep in the 3rd chamber

Yes, if I was running an ATO I would be a bit concerned. Since my tank is enclosed, I don't have enough evaporation to need an ATO. I check it once a week in the winter (and rarely need to top off) and twice a week in the summer (and do usually top off once a week).

 

[MONTANTK]

Yes, if I was running an ATO I would be a bit concerned. Since my tank is enclosed, I don't have enough evaporation to need an ATO. I check it once a week in the winter (and rarely need to top off) and twice a week in the summer (and do usually top off once a week).

Then I would say you’re okay. Even if you added an ATO I know of one specifically that would work well. I think it’s Tsunami but the name may have changed. ATOs that use optical sensors wouldn’t work well in an AIO Trident set up because they are so sensitive to changes in the water level