Mastertronic Honest Review.

[Redemptioner]

So I have been looking at the hydros controllers, which one would I pair mastertronic with to handle dosing?

Don't get sucked in by the hydros sales pitch, it is useless for dosing and adds little to no value to the Focustronic environment. What you want to buy is the Dosetronic and let it manage the accurate dosing based on the Mastertronic (and Alkatronic) results with the ability for it to atomically change/tweak the dosage based on each result as well as the ability to do other things like automatically work out when to dose to level out swings when combined with the Alkatronic.

All hydros can do is either turn on a "dumb" dosing pump for a set time (which has little to no accuracy and won't adjust based on test results) or turn on power to something that can dose correctly which is pointless. All the hydros adds is the ability to read the results from the Focustronic hardware, but you will be going to the Focustronic app every time because the hydros does nothing other than a static display of the last data result, it is horrendous trying to access any graph on hydros app (and basically unusable) and no historical tables etc.

The only thing missing is the continuous dosing for Ca reactors which is due soon.

 

[n2585722]

Don't get sucked in by the hydros sales pitch, it is useless for dosing and adds little to no value to the Focustronic environment. What you want to buy is the Dosetronic and let it manage the accurate dosing based on the Mastertronic (and Alkatronic) results with the ability for it to atomically change/tweak the dosage based on each result as well as the ability to do other things like automatically work out when to dose to level out swings when combined with the Alkatronic.

All hydros can do is either turn on a "dumb" dosing pump for a set time (which has little to no accuracy and won't adjust based on test results) or turn on power to something that can dose correctly which is pointless. All the hydros adds is the ability to read the results from the Focustronic hardware, but you will be going to the Focustronic app every time because the hydros does nothing other than a static display of the last data result, it is horrendous trying to access any graph on hydros app (and basically unusable) and no historical tables etc.

The only thing missing is the continuous dosing for Ca reactors which is due soon.

I use the Hydros to dynamically dose All For Reef and KH buffer based on readings from my KH Carer and it does work. You do have to calibrate the dosing pump with the Hydros which I have, I used 2 Intllab dosing pumps set to 12ml a minute. I have recently switched to different pumps to try them out. The Hydros does have the ability to change the dosing based on input readings. It would not matter where the reading comes from as long as it is a device the Hydros can import via the web or pH port. The Carer is done via the web just like the Focustronics devices. Here is the dosing logs after the switch to the different pumps.

 

[Scottiemac]

Mastertronic Honest review!

<snip>

I purchased a Mastertronic about a month ago and it sat on the table for a couple of weeks until I was ready to use it.

Setup is meticulous. When they say to follow the directions they really mean it.

Connecting to the wifi wasn't terribly difficult, as the process wasn't dissimilar to my Hydros or Kamoer products. When it got to the part about installing the needles is where I got tangled up. Based on the instructions, it looked like they wanted me to install them in a way that was not physically possible. After about 20 minutes of fury, I watched a youtube video that straightened me out. The instructions could have been a bit clearer for this part. In retrospect they made sense, but during the process they did not.

I'm enjoying the system. The app could be quicker and more user friendly, but one I learned it, it stayed learned.

Still not up and running full time yet; just doing a cycle in a stock tank and watching NO2 and NO3. Would be nice if the Ammonia test was available in the USA, but I can't find it anywhere and so have to do it manually.

 

[Redemptioner]

I use the Hydros to dynamically dose All For Reef and KH buffer based on readings from my KH Carer and it does work. You do have to calibrate the dosing pump with the Hydros which I have, I used 2 Intllab dosing pumps set to 12ml a minute. I have recently switched to different pumps to try them out. The Hydros does have the ability to change the dosing based on input readings. It would not matter where the reading comes from as long as it is a device the Hydros can import via the web or pH port. The Carer is done via the web just like the Focustronics devices. Here is the dosing logs after the switch to the different pumps.

Yeah no sale, I think you are using "Don's group" special firmware again for the settings you are showing, or maybe only apple OS is getting updates which says a lot if Hydros is developing in an environment catering to under 19% of users.......... And that is before you take into account that dosing all-for-reef against a current ALK or Calcium results makes little sense due to how the product works, I guess that is not something you would pick up on after only dosing AFR for 3 days.....

Hydros has no dynamic tweaking based on multiple test results (alk and individual test like CA), there is no auto dosing the amounts at the right time of day to level out the swings (amalgamated trend adjustments), you are limited to one doser per 12v drive port (which must remain under 20W draw or less if you using other drive port, and no the mains switching on yet another controller is not a viable option for "accurate" dosing either) which you don't have many of these ports to begin with unless you want to have to buy yet another controller to then dose more than 2 part on top of the the individual doser that is still only using time based on/off switching of a power regulator powering a brushed motor......

Or you buy a Dosetronic which has all these features, plus uses accurate stepper motors and is integrated into the Focustronic system, and even comes with 5 dose heads. So when my magnesium is a little low on my Mastertronic test, and my Alk consumption is going up on my Alkatronic test, the Dosetronic not only adds the extra magnesium dosing to make up the short fall, it also works out how much to start adding to prevent the shortfall in the future based on how the magnesium is being used against the Alk changes. And it can do this for everything you are automatically testing.....


P.s. Mastertronic is awesome, there are definitely some dumb things they did in the design (like not rinsing reaction chamber with RO water), but the only really bad one was the 3rd waste pump removal issue, which is easily rectified for all future maintenance by removing a small amount of plastic (doing nothing but getting in the way) with a dremel on the first maintenance you do.

 

[n2585722]

Yeah no sale, I think you are using "Don's group" special firmware again for the settings you are showing, or maybe only apple OS is getting updates which says a lot if Hydros is developing in an environment catering to under 19% of users.......... And that is before you take into account that dosing all-for-reef against a current ALK or Calcium results makes little sense due to how the product works, I guess that is not something you would pick up on after only dosing AFR for 3 days.....

Hydros has no dynamic tweaking based on multiple test results (alk and individual test like CA), there is no auto dosing the amounts at the right time of day to level out the swings (amalgamated trend adjustments), you are limited to one doser per 12v drive port (which must remain under 20W draw or less if you using other drive port, and no the mains switching on yet another controller is not a viable option for "accurate" dosing either) which you don't have many of these ports to begin with unless you want to have to buy yet another controller to then dose more than 2 part on top of the the individual doser that is still only using time based on/off switching of a power regulator powering a brushed motor......

Or you buy a Dosetronic which has all these features, plus uses accurate stepper motors and is integrated into the Focustronic system, and even comes with 5 dose heads. So when my magnesium is a little low on my Mastertronic test, and my Alk consumption is going up on my Alkatronic test, the Dosetronic not only adds the extra magnesium dosing to make up the short fall, it also works out how much to start adding to prevent the shortfall in the future based on how the magnesium is being used against the Alk changes. And it can do this for everything you are automatically testing.....


P.s. Mastertronic is awesome, there are definitely some dumb things they did in the design (like not rinsing reaction chamber with RO water), but the only really bad one was the 3rd waste pump removal issue, which is easily rectified for all future maintenance by removing a small amount of plastic (doing nothing but getting in the way) with a dremel on the first maintenance you do.

I have been using dynamic dosing on the Hydros for All for Reef since January 2022. Here is a link to where I discuss doing this in my build thread https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/canopy-and-stand-build-for-42-gallon-hex-tank.317822/page-8 . The post is post #148. I originally switched over just to see how the dynamic dosing worked. I still use it. Yes the dynamic dosing does not affect the All For Reef that quickly but it does the KH buffering which is also on dynamic dosing. My reading on a Hanna tester is usually between 8.4 to 8.6 DKH during the day. 8:00am is usually the highest and 8:00pm the lowest. I test at 2:00am, 8:00am, 2:00pm and 8:00pm. I dose All For Reef at 2:50am, 8:50am, 2:50pm and 8:50pm. I dose the KH buffer at 3:00 am, 9:00am, 3:00pm and 9:00pm. You did give me an idea I might try and that is splitting the KJ buffer between two schedules. One for day with higher dosing values and one for night with lower dosing values to see if that will lower the swing. I only test calcium on a weekly bases and it does not vary that much. If I see it trending up or down I adjust the values in the All For Reef dosing schedule up or down some. I also do the same for my AWC water volume using the nitrate readings. I don't have a large range on any of the values. Below are my schedules for both All for Reef and the KH buffering. I mix my All For Reef half strength so it is easier to dose. The total dose is for a 24 jour period. Also my Hydros is not on daylight savings time so the start times are 1 hour behind actual time now. They will match when we are not on DST. The app is on DST so the logs do match DST.

Also those screenshots in the other post were taken from my browser using the web app. You can use the web app on any device that has a web browser. I am on the current firmware on my collective. I just switched to different pumps outside of the collective so that is the reason for such a short log. The logs on the Hydros will only go back a month. I still have the settings in the collective so I can switch back if needed.

 

[scottsweet]

I have had my MT for about a year now. I can tell you I am quite frustrated with it. It can get out of "balance" for so many reasons and you won't necessarily know that the test results are actually wrong unless you do a manual test regularly to verify/validate. Basically, I don't trust it.

Unfortunately I had a bit of a crash and lost a lot of SPSs because it was showing my nitrates as very low when in fact it was very high (I use the TM reagents). I stopped my dosing of carbon when I shouldn't have. It wasn't until I started testing manually to realize that the test results coming from the MT was wrong. This wasn't because of calibrations of the pumps or syringes...it was because the test kit reagents went bad and I didn't know it.

When it works, it works well in most cases. However, in the 1 year, I have had 3 SD cards go bad...for no reason at all...and I was using good quality cards (I replaced the junk card coming from the factory)...things like the MT just got stuck somewhere and then after a reboot it hung. I put all of these devices on a small UPS device to eliminate any power outage spikes to protect the electronics. I have had some of the tubing prematurely go bad in one of the dosing pumps (I only test about 1-2x per week for 3 parameters). BTW, it uses a lot more reagent volume than manual testing too...you will have to buy a lot of refills.

This particular device is very much a Gen 1 version of how to automate testing. It works ok, but there are simply too many places for a failure or out of spec situation that you can't really trust it unless you really stay on top of the verify/maintenance. Personally, when there are other options, I will get rid of it for someone else who wants to deal with the idiosyncrasies of this generation of automated testing.

 

[Redemptioner]

I have been using dynamic dosing on the Hydros for All for Reef since January 2022. Here is a link to where I discuss doing this in my build thread https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/canopy-and-stand-build-for-42-gallon-hex-tank.317822/page-8 . The post is post #148. I originally switched over just to see how the dynamic dosing worked. I still use it. Yes the dynamic dosing does not affect the All For Reef that quickly but it does the KH buffering which is also on dynamic dosing. My reading on a Hanna tester is usually between 8.4 to 8.6 DKH during the day. 8:00am is usually the highest and 8:00pm the lowest. I test at 2:00am, 8:00am, 2:00pm and 8:00pm. I dose All For Reef at 2:50am, 8:50am, 2:50pm and 8:50pm. I dose the KH buffer at 3:00 am, 9:00am, 3:00pm and 9:00pm. You did give me an idea I might try and that is splitting the KJ buffer between two schedules. One for day with higher dosing values and one for night with lower dosing values to see if that will lower the swing. I only test calcium on a weekly bases and it does not vary that much. If I see it trending up or down I adjust the values in the All For Reef dosing schedule up or down some. I also do the same for my AWC water volume using the nitrate readings. I don't have a large range on any of the values. Below are my schedules for both All for Reef and the KH buffering. I mix my All For Reef half strength so it is easier to dose. The total dose is for a 24 jour period. Also my Hydros is not on daylight savings time so the start times are 1 hour behind actual time now. They will match when we are not on DST. The app is on DST so the logs do match DST.

Also those screenshots in the other post were taken from my browser using the web app. You can use the web app on any device that has a web browser. I am on the current firmware on my collective. I just switched to different pumps outside of the collective so that is the reason for such a short log. The logs on the Hydros will only go back a month. I still have the settings in the collective so I can switch back if needed.

Yeah I stand corrected, they did add pseudo dynamic dosing to the schedules section didn't they, missed remembering that as that section is completely separate from setting everything else up. It also came with a big warning when using it off Focustronic test results, something you don't have to worry about with the Dosetronic.

Maybe the hydros sales pitch will get more traction in a CV thread?

I have to agree scottsweet, if you are not willing to trade some of the time you would have spent manual testing on maintenance and replacement parts, then it can feel like another chore after a few months when things start to need maintenance. As for reagent tests, seems to use the same amount to me, certainly on some tests it is actually less, but maybe you are putting left over reagent back in the bottle and saving the unused portion (probs a good idea the Mastertronic doesn't put the remaining reagent back due to it using the same syringe for all reagents).

I was surprised to see a Pi Zero being used for the main board driver and the web service, this is why both the app and the machine can be slow to respond. They made a custom daughter board to mount the motor drivers and Atlas Scientific pH and pump interfaces but then drove it from a Zero. I think a Pi 3 or 4 running all Atlas Scientific parts for the rest would of been a better option and made it easier to maintain and source spares. I guess the problem is with these types of testing unit is if one thing has an issue, then all tests have that issue. Probably the reason we are about to see a bunch of "single test" automated solutions coming out from 2 companies.

 

[EyeCandyCoral]

Trusting the results of the mastertronic to dynamic dose your tank is asking for a disaster. They barely work and is constantly gives messed up results. Always disconnects and not reconnecting skipping the testing schedule. Constant leak problems. Blocked needles Brs Is supposed to have all the parts they don't have squat. Both my machine's have never ever tested nitrates accurately. Replacement needles are a joke $28 for something that should be $10. I bought these to test my system while on vacation. The day after I leave both went down with flooding along with a whole bunch of other people's. Making them useless. Total waste of money if it is something you need to depend on.

 

[Naturalreef]

There is a learning curve with Focustronic equipment. I have owned all of them for quite a while. Focustronic has worked hard to solve any issues. Problem is, they are half way across the world which creates communication issues. I only joined Facebook to access their forum. What a great resource!

I have had zero issues since…. Kamoer pumps fixed with a simple spacer. Leak issue was a firmware update. Wi-Fi , needs 2.4ghz. ( I agree it should be able to access 5ghz, but it’s a raspberry pi deal). API bottle 2 reagent needed a thicker stir bar which Focustronic provided free of charge. No machine is perfect, but I have been thrilled with their equipment. Any issues, hit me up, I may have an easy answer to the issue.

 

[NatReef]

Mastertronic Honest review!



Initial setup:

Got my package from DHL, the box was slightly damaged but it hadn’t punctured the soft box inside so I continued to unbox it - new notification in Focustronic owners group in Facebook: Open the box carefully because the vials are exactly in middle and they can fall off. So with that information I put the box on some towels and kept on unboxing it and by my suprice the calibration cup was broken.

I plugged in the beast and followed Eric setup guide on Facebook but connected my Mastertronic to my mesh 2.4 ghz wifi and everything went well until it didn’t showed up under my devices in Focustronic app... I waited for 2 hours and lost my hope, I tried to reset the machine but it doesn’t have any reset button so I contacted Focustronic support on Facebook and Eric answered me - he wanted me to download new update from my computer and put it on the microSD card but I didn’t have any sdcard reader so I went to the store and bought myself one -> it didn’t work either so I contacted Eric once again and he did answer the chat within a couple of minutes and the time in China was like 11pm but he kept on helping me until midnight. He was tired and I had to go to work so he told me to wait for tomorrow so he can help me with flashing the sdcard.

Next day I woke up and Eric had already messaged me on Facebook and asked if I was ready, I replied 2 hours later but he answered me just seconds later. Eric flashed my sdcard with teamviewer and I tested it on my Mastertronic and it worked (connected it to my router instead of mesh) So a tip: Connect MT to your router.

The setup was easy and I just kept on watching Eric’s video on YouTube about initial setup and how to calibrate - was done in 30 minutes, you just have to calibrate 2 pumps and the syringe.

CHECK YOUR HOSES 1 OF MINE WAS LOSE IMPORTANT!!!

I didn’t have all the test kits at home except Red Sea magnesium pro test kit and I filled the vials and wrote down MG A MG 2 MG 3 on the stickers you get in the box- very easy and the carousel rotates after what vial number you choose.

Economy:

I think this is the biggest question most of us have/had:

Is it worth it? Both yes and no, I’m not a rich and i work as a security guard with 12 hours shift - I work a lot and with that I don’t have any time to test and yes of course I have free time but to be honest I want to spend that time with my wife and my children so for me it’s worth but if you don’t have my problem and have time with hanna checkers or whatever you have stick with it. And it doesn’t really matter if you have 20g or 500g tank in the end I swear you have some expensive corals in there and you will put in some more in the future so if any test shows insane numbers you have time to fix that instead of thinking like me that you will test end of the week but it never happens and the days flies away and your corals start to look sad.

So if you have the money and you don’t have time to test 2-3 times a week or you are just lazy - get this masterpiece!

Why should I buy it I can go and buy a trident - yes you can but buy reagents for 2 or 6 months when it is so expensive - for me it is a BIG NO because I live in Europe and we can only buy 2 months reagents for 70 euro but now I can chose Red Sea and API etc refills for far less money. Focustronic said that they will release their own reagents and if they release a update that stops us from using other test kits will be a boomer.



What does it test?:

Alkalinity once a day to not outcompete Alkatronic. Salifert kh test kit.

Magnesium: Red Sea pro test kit.

Phosphate: Red Sea pro test kit.

Nitrate: Tropical marin Nitrate or Fauna Marin Nitrate pro test kit.

Calcium: API test kit.

OLI - You don’t need anything, MT tests water quality.

Tip - If you want to buy MT = go buy your test kits today because they are sold out in Europe.

Tip - Buy refills.



Accuracy:

Magnesium was spot on with my shaky hands but to be honest I trust this robot more then I trust myself with a syringe and those ml numbers if it is 0.43 or 0.44 and when the colour changes if I need to drop one more or stop when it turns light blue.

Integrations:

Focustronic released a new update to there Dosetronic that will dose Mg, Ca, PO4, NO3 after a number you want that makes your tank perfect.

Solartronic (lights): Copy pasted from Focustronic website:
Auto adjustment of lighting intensity based on nutrient level. Example, lighting is now at 70% (define by user) and with PO4 at 0.1ppm. Mastertronic now has a new reading of 0.3 PO4 and will increase lighting intensity for the profile by 10%. When PO4 resumes 0.1ppm, the intensity is back to default which is 70%. Will also work in opposite direction when nutrient is too low and reduce intensity.

Summary: This is a great product and it is Focustronics first all in one tester that works great so far. The app has some bugs like loading time or just randomly throws me out (iOS)

The price is hefty but like I said, you have some expensive corals that you want to take care of.

I love that I can buy refills from different brands and hope they integrate more brands in the future.

Great support or I mean REALLY great support.



I’m not partnered with Focustronic and this is my review of Mastertronic that I bought with my own money.

I’m sorry for my English I did my best!

If you have questions feel free to ask.

Ty a lot first of all
But what about the calibration how does it work or how much does it cost and how long does it take etc ? Ty

 

[reefer arno]

Hi all, I have just brought a master tronic can I pair it with a doser tronic like any other dosers

 

[Biff0rz]

Hi all, I have just brought a master tronic can I pair it with a doser tronic like any other dosers

Only the dosetronic. I suggest get it dialed in before using it in this way.

 

[Scottiemac]

Hi all, I have just brought a master tronic can I pair it with a doser tronic like any other dosers

Be very careful with the Dosetronic. A month ago it told me that it had dosed 760ml of magnesium over the past seven or eight days. Reality was that it had dosed 2500, and probably would have dosed more as the reservoir was dry.

I'm still waiting for the Mg to come down in the tank. The Focustronic guys asked if I'd calibrated. I did, but even then, I can't imagine it would be almost 4x off!

Their support is awful. The first thing they always do is blame the user.

 

[Scottiemac]

Don't get sucked in by the hydros sales pitch, it is useless for dosing and adds little to no value to the Focustronic environment. What you want to buy is the Dosetronic and let it manage the accurate dosing based on the Mastertronic (and Alkatronic) results with the ability for it to atomically change/tweak the dosage based on each result as well as the ability to do other things like automatically work out when to dose to level out swings when combined with the Alkatronic.

All hydros can do is either turn on a "dumb" dosing pump for a set time (which has little to no accuracy and won't adjust based on test results) or turn on power to something that can dose correctly which is pointless. All the hydros adds is the ability to read the results from the Focustronic hardware, but you will be going to the Focustronic app every time because the hydros does nothing other than a static display of the last data result, it is horrendous trying to access any graph on hydros app (and basically unusable) and no historical tables etc.

The only thing missing is the continuous dosing for Ca reactors which is due soon.

I know it's a year old, but this is missing the point of the integration. Not only can Hydros do dumb dosing, but it can turn on/off reactors based on test results. I can turn on my biopellet or GFO reactors based on the Nitrate and Phosphate results.
That said, the MT mostly gives bad results due to a poor, clunky design.