Alkatronic/Dosetronic vs Trident/Dos experiences

[thom_smith]

I'm downsizing from a 260 to approximately 150 gallon display with intention of making it an SPS dominant tank. And I plan to use Triton method to dose elements. So my question is centered around alkalinity controllers and automating the dosing using slave dosing pumps. Focusing my attention on the Alkatronic/Dosetronic/future Mastertronic and the Apex/Trident/Dos. Both have similar skip or selective dosing based upon consumption. And I understand that even though Trident measures all Ca, Alk and Mag that selective dosing is still based on Alk. Aside from the obvious product availability is there an advantage to going with one over the other?

 

[Silver14SS]

The biggest advantage to me of the Focustronic products is they do not require an aquarium controller to run. If you go all in with Neptune and there's an issue, it's possible everything stops working.

I am currently using a Profilux, Alkatronic, and Dosetronic. If the unexpected happens and the Profilux were to fail, the Alkatronic and Dosetronic will keep doing their jobs. The Dosetronic doses once per hour up to 24 times/day, DOS can do way more than that but I'm not sure the exact number.

Dosetronic is much quieter, can't do water changes with it though. DOS is probably available locally, more options to buy online than Dosetronic. Dosetronic has 5 heads, not sure how many you need for Triton but you'd definitely need multiple DOS.

Alkatronic has been trouble free and reagent is very economical and convenient returning to the tank. It could be quieter but I can live with it. While I wouldn't turn down Ca and Mg testing, my experience has been they stay where expected when Alk is where I want it and using an equal part dosing solution like ATI Essentials.

 

[User1]

The biggest advantage to me of the Focustronic products is they do not require an aquarium controller to run. If you go all in with Neptune and there's an issue, it's possible everything stops working.

I am currently using a Profilux, Alkatronic, and Dosetronic. If the unexpected happens and the Profilux were to fail, the Alkatronic and Dosetronic will keep doing their jobs. The Dosetronic doses once per hour up to 24 times/day, DOS can do way more than that but I'm not sure the exact number.

Dosetronic is much quieter, can't do water changes with it though. DOS is probably available locally, more options to buy online than Dosetronic. Dosetronic has 5 heads, not sure how many you need for Triton but you'd definitely need multiple DOS.

Alkatronic has been trouble free and reagent is very economical and convenient returning to the tank. It could be quieter but I can live with it. While I wouldn't turn down Ca and Mg testing, my experience has been they stay where expected when Alk is where I want it and using an equal part dosing solution like ATI Essentials.

Pretty well unbiased response and to the points. Well done.

 

[Caravanshaka]

The biggest advantage to me of the Focustronic products is they do not require an aquarium controller to run. If you go all in with Neptune and there's an issue, it's possible everything stops working.

I am currently using a Profilux, Alkatronic, and Dosetronic. If the unexpected happens and the Profilux were to fail, the Alkatronic and Dosetronic will keep doing their jobs. The Dosetronic doses once per hour up to 24 times/day, DOS can do way more than that but I'm not sure the exact number.

Dosetronic is much quieter, can't do water changes with it though. DOS is probably available locally, more options to buy online than Dosetronic. Dosetronic has 5 heads, not sure how many you need for Triton but you'd definitely need multiple DOS.

Alkatronic has been trouble free and reagent is very economical and convenient returning to the tank. It could be quieter but I can live with it. While I wouldn't turn down Ca and Mg testing, my experience has been they stay where expected when Alk is where I want it and using an equal part dosing solution like ATI Essentials.

I agree with saf1, good points!

As someone who has switched from Alkatronic to the Trident, I want to note a few things.

For testing, the Alkatronic is LOUD, Trident is audible, but much quiter overall. Unfortunately, the DOS is also LOUD on anything but the lowest speed....so the benefit gained by the Trident is lost by using the DOS.

Be careful with "Equal parts" dosing. While using the Alkatronic, I usually went a week between calcium checks. When I switched from ATI Essentials to ATI Essentials Pro (both equal parts dosing), I had a big Calcium issue. I went from 440 calcium down to 350 in 2 weeks. Since I was only monitoring Alk, which was rock stable, I missed the problem and had a huge setback in the tank. Had I been running the Trident during this time, I would have caught it early and corrected it before it became a problem.

 

[Silver14SS]

What doser were you using when you had that issue? My alk reading was somewhat inconsistent when I was using DOS despite calibrating them. No air in the lines, 1/4 RO fittings and tubing, my only guess is DOS wasn't actually dosing the requested amounts.

Several posts have mentioned Tridents having unexpected Ca and Mg readings, not sure I'd trust any automated solution completely at this time. I know I should do it more often, but I use Salifert kits once a month or so (maybe longer ) as a check.

 

[thom_smith]

i've got a batch 2 Alkatrpnic and agree it is kind of loud while testing. The bushings have been replaced and it improved matters but it's still very noticable. Waiting on another set to be shipped from Focustronic because they state I got the wrong batch 1 bushings and DC pumps. We shall see how the newer bushings work out. The only thing Ill need if I go this path is the Dosetronic and dosing containers. The five dosing heads would be perfect for Triton (assuming I mix 3A and 3B) and Pax Bellum requirements. Also excited about the recent Mastertronic announcement. That wont come to fruition for a while but could be a game changer

Also have the Apex 2016, Dos pump and and impulse Trident purchase on the way. And a spare controller head because I've experienced a total failure. Figured I'd get feedback and determine which way I want to go. Trident will sell in a beartbeat if I decide not to use it.

Appreciate the unbiased feedback. Pleased Im able to get replies from somebody who has experience with both.

 

[Caravanshaka]

What doser were you using when you had that issue? My alk reading was somewhat inconsistent when I was using DOS despite calibrating them. No air in the lines, 1/4 RO fittings and tubing, my only guess is DOS wasn't actually dosing the requested amounts.

Several posts have mentioned Tridents having unexpected Ca and Mg readings, not sure I'd trust any automated solution completely at this time. I know I should do it more often, but I use Salifert kits once a month or so (maybe longer ) as a check.

I was using DOS, calibrated on a monthly schedule. I also confirmed with remaining essentials that it was properly dosing equally. It wasn’t too hard to check since I cleaned the container entirely between switching from Essentials to a Essentials Pro, then emptied a bottle of each into the container. Lines are almost identical in length, so the amount left in each container was telling.

 

[gojk]

i've got a batch 2 Alkatrpnic and agree it is kind of loud while testing. The bushings have been replaced and it improved matters but it's still very noticable. Waiting on another set to be shipped from Focustronic because they state I got the wrong batch 1 bushings and DC pumps. We shall see how the newer bushings work out. The only thing Ill need if I go this path is the Dosetronic and dosing containers. The five dosing heads would be perfect for Triton (assuming I mix 3A and 3B) and Pax Bellum requirements. Also excited about the recent Mastertronic announcement. That wont come to fruition for a while but could be a game changer

Also have the Apex 2016, Dos pump and and impulse Trident purchase on the way. And a spare controller head because I've experienced a total failure. Figured I'd get feedback and determine which way I want to go. Trident will sell in a beartbeat if I decide not to use it.

Appreciate the unbiased feedback. Pleased Im able to get replies from somebody who has experience with both.

I have the original Alkatronic. It was LOUD. So loud that I bought a cabinet for it to sit in and also put some sound deadener in it and you could still hear it running. But after the 2 quiet kits and using their method of running the A pump and adjusting the tighntess of the screw, it has completely eliminated any sound that it was making. I have to really listen for it to hear it running now.

 

[Joe Batt]

The Alkatronic is now on the 3rd version of quieting down the unit. I upgraded to the quieter bushings and, though you can hear it, it is now pretty quiet and if you didn’t know it was running you wouldn’t notice it.

I think the Trident is probably easier to set up than the Alkatronic initially and pretty much foolproof with regard to the automatic calibration, however providing you read the instructions and follow them the Alkatronic is pretty simple to set up. I personally dont believe you need to be testing Ca and Mg daily, so for me a manual test of them once every few weeks is more than sufficient.

One huge plus for the Alkatronic, once again in my opinion is the customer service, which honestly is second to none. There is a fantastic user base and forum, and the company is amazing at addressing problems within a very short period.

 

[SVP]

I had the alkatronic and it was a pain in the ..... I spent tens of hours on messenger with J and E at focustronic. I was very deliberate in setting it up. I watched videos and read the instructions numerous times. My issue was keeping the alkatronic connected to my mesh router and using a Android phone. I knew from reading that it was more friendly with apple products, but I didn't realize to what degree. After trying everything that the group at focustronic asked me to do day in and day out. It remained unable to graph to stay connected longer the 30 minutes. It was setup and tested every hour but I never let it dos my tank because I could not see what it was doing via graphing. I will say that the team at focustronic were quick to reply but in the end they couldn't figure it out even after sending screenshots of and everything. I went as far as giving them permission and password to my router. I want to mention that I did borrow an Iphone 10 for a few days and I was really shocked at how much better and different everything was when using apple product. To me that is a huge disappointment as I really don't care for apple and find it weird that a company would make their equipment geared towards apple users not android. I regret spending that much money on it, and it being a big waste of time and end up being useless to me. I an currently looking at the reefbot or xepta abex which uses probes for 5 parameters no reagents. just my bad experience with the alkatronic

 

[richiero]

I have the alkatronic and it works perfect took me about 35 min to set up and has been perfect for the last 6 months , I recalibrate the pumps and the probe every 6 weeks. And the reagent last for ever I test 3x’s a day and still have about 1/4 of reagent left after 6 months. I have heard that android users do have issues. I don’t have a dosetronic but I’ve heard nothing but good things , keep in mind they’re also coming out with a mastertronic to test other elements. As far as the trident goes I heard it sets up easy and it pretty good also , I just don’t like the constant reagent replenishing month after month .

 

[thom_smith]

I've had the Alkatronic for a while and haven't experienced any of the connectivity issues mentioned above. Purchased the 4L concentrate reagent and doing 3 tests a day. Has lasted me months and I still have about half a bottle of concentrate left. Not at all disappointed with it. Just have an impulse opportunity purchase of Trident on the way and know that I don't need both.

How about the dosing side of the equation? Is there any advantage of going with the Dosetronic over the Dos of vice versa? Disregard the number of Dos pumps I need, noise of the Dos pumps and assume cost is roughly a wash. Is there or will there be a regiment that that doses solutions 1, 2, 3a or 3b differently based upon Ca, Alk and Mag readings from the Trident? If so, then I see a clear advantage to keeping the Trident over the Alkatronic. Or is it Trident's position that Ca and Mag will fall inline as long as Alk is properly measured and maintained?

 

[vanpire]

I had a big Calcium issue. I went from 440 calcium down to 350 in 2 weeks. Since I was only monitoring Alk, which was rock stable, I missed the problem and had a huge setback in the tank. Had I been running the Trident during this time, I would have caught it early and corrected it before it became a problem.

I am not saying that you didn't have an issue with a drop 440 to 350 in Ca in two weeks. It is just interesting. My Ca has never caused me cause me issues, rapid rise or drop. I have had Ca levels very high and pretty low, and even rapid drops due to precipitations and never an issue. ALK, on the other hand, is a different story.

 

[SVP]

Just a quick update I had the chance to grab a trident at retail so I thought I might as well. To my surprise I actually like the testing part of the product. The unit itself feels really cheap and toylike. Especially when compared to the Alkatronic. My main issue with alkatronic wasn't that it was off it just couldn't stay connected. That being said I am getting an ipad and going to give it another go as I have a gallon and half of unused unmixed reagent which should last like 2 years. That is the downside to the trident. I currently have it testing alk every hour and Calcium and Magnesium every other hour. I have compared the tridents results against my 3 saliferts, 3 Red sea, and 2 hanna colormeters and cannot find anything out of sorts with what it is it reading after a super easy setup and installation. All done once in about 30 minutes taking my time. It is really cool to see the uptake and correlation between alk usage and calc usage. I am averaging 3 parts alk to 2 parts calc if compared on just numerical value. I did a very large target feed of all my Euphyllia and blastos after lights out. About 6 hours later the trident read a nosedive in calcium of .70 ppm in a 4 hour window. I do not know yet if there is a positive correlation or just an anomaly as I will have to repeat the feeding in a couple days to see if it happens again. But again I would have never even known about it if not for the trident. Which is cool and gives me a bit of piece of mind not having to test as much as I did. I still will test as I do not believe any of these tools can be trusted to work 100% of the time and be correct. Next up will be either the reefbot or after MACNA the Xepta autobalance and Xepta Abex. that last name is head scratcher I still don't get why you would name a product so similar to the competition. Honda/Hyundai?? Apex/Abex?? lol w/e