My Trident Review

[cain720]

A lot of people seem to be saying this but it is just noise. To put it into perspective how many test kits and regents would you have to buy in order to test 4 times/day? Please note that it isn't also just regents you are paying for, you have to pay your time as well. How much is your time worth? I don't know, say $30/hr? You just blew past that $275 year number easy - both are hypothetical numbers of course but just wanted to set the record straight. There isn't enough time for you, or I, to run that number of tests.

Oh - and be accurate and consistent. We might as well throw that in there too because I'm sure if you test, and I test, the same water using the same kit the numbers will be different.

Lastly - this is another nugget I like to throw out there because we keep talking about a money grab. It isn't and people really should stop saying that. A money grab is a monthly subscription fee for using the Fusion portal. It is not selling regents of a known quality and baseline. If you go back a ways with Neptune then you would know back in 2000 or so we used to have to pay for Reefnotes in order to automatically plot data from the data logger. We no longer are doing that nor paying for Fusion portal access.

OP - nice feedback and great information on why the need to upgrade before integrating the Trident. Great work.

Well you entirely missed my point, but you can justify it however you like. A minimum of 8 tests/day isn't reasonable or necessary for 99.9% of hobbyists, so why are they making people pay for it?

Yes you can make up a scenario where someone does 8 manual tests per day and show me how this imaginary person is saving money. That's not realistic.

I wouldn't have a problem if I could set it to 1 test/day.

 

[K7BMG]

My thought about the limited Tridents is maybe they want to make sure they are bulletproof.
Get the first batch out into the hands of the consumers for an initial test bed, so to speak.

I know they had beta units about, but in the end that is not real world, its a selected few that have committed to testing the units.
That's a whole different thing, than real world use.

I will get one, but will wait, for a while.
One of the key points that was brought up makes perfect sense, to me anyway, the lack of purging the lines before the next test.
This has been asked but so far Neptune has not directly addressed the question.
How much water from the previous test remains is in the line and will affect the following test?

This may be part of the reason for the minimum tests of 4 alk -2 ca -2Mg test minimum every day.
I also understand the need to keep fluids moving so the reagents can't crystalize and clog the tiny lines.

But in the end what a great product we have to use.
Kudos to Neptune.

For all the ones that that are complaining on cost, well hey, if you can afford to have a Neptune controller in the first place..... WELL?
Yea that's what I thought enough said...…

 

[K7BMG]

Well you entirely missed my point, but you can justify it however you like. A minimum of 8 tests/day isn't reasonable or necessary for 99.9% of hobbyists, so why are they making people pay for it?

Yes you can make up a scenario where someone does 8 manual tests per day and show me how this imaginary person is saving money. That's not realistic.

I wouldn't have a problem if I could set it to 1 test/day.

Neptune is not making people pay for anything. IMO and mean no insult.
Even the other alk units out their AS I UNDERSTAND do more test than are needed as well.

I still feel it has to be this way to keep things in working order.
Every reagent I have and currently use crystallizes, maybe your the exception.

If the lines clog the testing stops or will become inaccurate, either by a lack of reagent due to a clogged line or maybe a build up of crystals will fall into the sample and create an overdose of reagent.

I agree that most here are used to weekly or even bi-weekly testing. That's because its kind of a pain in the butt right.
We then have to estimate the results we see and move forward with what the tank needs.

A raise of hands on how many here have tested one week to find that the next test is way off and something dramatic has happened.
Now is it not better to be able to see if something is going haywire at the moment? I think so. So IMO its worth the cost, maybe not to others. But you have the choice.

 

[Emma01]

No sign of any release date for UK?

 

[User1]

Well you entirely missed my point, but you can justify it however you like. A minimum of 8 tests/day isn't reasonable or necessary for 99.9% of hobbyists, so why are they making people pay for it?

Yes you can make up a scenario where someone does 8 manual tests per day and show me how this imaginary person is saving money. That's not realistic.

I wouldn't have a problem if I could set it to 1 test/day.

I didn't miss your point. There may be a reason why they set it to test x number of times per day by default. That may be due to regents and expiration, could be due to lines, could be due to regents in said lines, could be that people wanted to test x number of times per day so they set it as a baseline requirement. I don't know their reasoning but I'm sure there is one.

I'm assuming here and Lord knows I've already been bitten by this a couple times already this week but I'm thinking the people that are going to buy the trident want to test more than 1 time a day anyway so it is a moot point.

 

[User1]

Well you entirely missed my point, but you can justify it however you like. A minimum of 8 tests/day isn't reasonable or necessary for 99.9% of hobbyists, so why are they making people pay for it?

Yes you can make up a scenario where someone does 8 manual tests per day and show me how this imaginary person is saving money. That's not realistic.

I wouldn't have a problem if I could set it to 1 test/day.

I didn't miss your point. There may be a reason why they set it to test x number of times per day by default. That may be due to regents and expiration, could be due to lines, could be due to regents in said lines, could be that people wanted to test x number of times per day so they set it as a baseline requirement. I don't know their reasoning but I'm sure there is one.

I'm assuming here and Lord knows I've already been bitten by this a couple times already this week but I'm thinking the people that are going to buy the trident want to test more than 1 time a day anyway so it is a moot point.

We can disagree - no worry.

 

[User1]

And double post...sorry all.

 

[K7BMG]

And double post...sorry all.

Not forgiven, HA.....

Just kidding.

 

[mitch91175]

I would say its made pretty well. It's actually very light, It's a lot lighter than what I was expecting. It's very well balanced as well so if you stick it in the back I don't see it moving or anything. Even if something poured on it. everything inside is covered and the cables in the back are indented a bit so liquid should drop off. I would just raise it a bit incase anything every flooded.



I don't have a build thread. I just have some pictures of my fish room and when I initially setup the my first frag tank I took a picture of each SPS i had. Over 120 different types of SPS. I then added a second and third tank but I didn't take as many pictures as I did on the first time.



So inside the package you get a little orange (3D Printed) clip that clips the water line and holds it. Then you can slip the clip over a wall and it holds it pretty well. I've been debating putting some kind of filter sock in the corner and then putting the line into that so that it doesn't suck anything up into it. If it was to suck something in I don't think it would make it very far. The lines are verrrry small.

From using it the last couple days it seems my ALK doesn't move more than .04, I haven't used the automatic dosing but considering it. My CAL is around 405 and Mag is around 1250 so I would like to bump those up a bit but don't want my Alk to move. Considering using some 2 part to fine tune the system and letting it auto dose. The one thing I would definitely install is an SV1 solenoid if I went with the auto dosing. I don't want some kind of mistake to happen and If i have a solenoid in-between the DOS and the tank I can kill it incase of emergency.



Right now it seem's like 4 tests a day is the minimum.



I think they said the reagent would be $44.95 for 240 ALK tests and 120 Cal/MG tests. if that's the case $44.95 / 120 is roughly $0.03 cents per test. Still worth it in my opinion.



I totally agree. People should definitely stop saying it's a money grab. It really isn't. I would like to see someone do a side to side comparison sheet showing the cost of the trident along with other tests the same way BRS did the episode where they tested each salt to a specific salinity to see how much the salt per gallon actually cost.



Thanks!



You won't regret it!

Here is that sheet. I was making one deciding on my future actions

 

[User1]

You have DOS replacement heads. What is the frequency? I thought that was suggested if you are doing continuous water changes or used for automatic. Not traditional dosing.

That does not mean traditional dosing heads do not need to be replaced but I thought they had a longer shelf life.

 

[mitch91175]

You have DOS replacement heads. What is the frequency? I thought that was suggested if you are doing continuous water changes or used for automatic. Not traditional dosing.

That does not mean traditional dosing heads do not need to be replaced but I thought they had a longer shelf life.

If I am going to use a doser to maintain levels in my system, I am replacing the parts annually if I can.

 

[User1]

If I am going to use a doser to maintain levels in my system, I am replacing the parts annually if I can.

Ok, makes sense. I was not sure if there was a recommended hour on them that once reached it was suggested to replace. For either product it would be worthwhile to see what the manufacture recommends. May save a few dollars, maybe not. Then again like you alluded to sometimes it is worth doing at a known interval just for a piece of mind.

Didn't say it before - nice doc. I think it sort of lays it out there.

 

[mitch91175]

Ok, makes sense. I was not sure if there was a recommended hour on them that once reached it was suggested to replace. For either product it would be worthwhile to see what the manufacture recommends. May save a few dollars, maybe not. Then again like you alluded to sometimes it is worth doing at a known interval just for a piece of mind.

Didn't say it before - nice doc. I think it sort of lays it out there.

Yeah for people to make an informed decision one way or the other. I have a feeling that both the Alkatronic and Trident will be here for the long haul. Each has their use purpose just as everyone understands. If you do not have an Apex and do not want an Apex, get the Alkatronic. If you have a compatible Apex and want the Trident, get the Trident. If you have options, deciding what works best for the situation always wins in my eyes.

Still too early right now to say that the Trident will even hold up under normal wear and tear, but the same thing could be said about the Alkatronic or Dosetronic or <enter any product name here>.

It really is about being objective and all of this.

Now what I am waiting for is that once all of this automation really goes mainstream and we have more information about our tanks, that these coral prices will begin to drop to a more realistic cost versus where some of it is right now.

 

[authentic]

calcium reactor info again???

 

[authentic]

calcium reactor info again???

 

[authentic]

looking for info on calcium reactor as well??

 

[Pola0502ds]

Im just curious why we have reviews of this product already. No can come up with a sensible review after only having it for a few says. Gotta give it months and month, even a year or more to see how it really functions. This is more of a run down or overview.

 

[mitch91175]

Im just curious why we have reviews of this product already. No can come up with a sensible review after only having it for a few says. Gotta give it months and month, even a year or more to see how it really functions. This is more of a run down or overview.

It is but that is all we have right now to make an educated decision. Either way I will buy it with AMEX so I can get an extra year of warranty in case this first round has some technical issues which are to be expected. Ideally nothing that is catastrophic.

Would like to know how much work that single pump is going to get and what do they think the life expectancy is for it. I am not overly concerned since I have had the same Vertex doser for 5 years (also because they aren't readily available either and figure I'll replace it with something else when that time comes) and have never had to replace the tubing or pump heads. So if the Trident pump is of similar quality then it should be fine, but still good info to know.

 

[ca1ore]

Here is that sheet. I was making one deciding on my future actions

Nice! Thing that’s hard to put a number on is the longevity of the company. I don’t know much about the alkatronic, but isn’t it something of a fly-by-night operation? What happens if the company goes poof? My own personal calculation is trident versus nothing.

 

[ca1ore]

Here is that sheet. I was making one deciding on my future actions

Nice! Thing that’s hard to put a number on is the longevity of the company. I don’t know much about the alkatronic, but isn’t it something of a fly-by-night operation? What happens if the company goes poof? My own personal calculation is trident versus nothing.

 

[Dominic Prezwanski]

It is but that is all we have right now to make an educated decision. Either way I will buy it with AMEX so I can get an extra year of warranty in case this first round has some technical issues which are to be expected. Ideally nothing that is catastrophic.

Would like to know how much work that single pump is going to get and what do they think the life expectancy is for it. I am not overly concerned since I have had the same Vertex doser for 5 years (also because they aren't readily available either and figure I'll replace it with something else when that time comes) and have never had to replace the tubing or pump heads. So if the Trident pump is of similar quality then it should be fine, but still good info to know.

AMEX gives you an extra year of warranty?!

 

[mitch91175]

AMEX gives you an extra year of warranty?!

Yes sir

https://www.americanexpress.com/us/...-benefits/policies/extended-warranty/faq.html