Which of the following best describes how to be sure your trident is giving accurate measurements


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MnFish1

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A quick poll about how to be sure your trident is giving correct measurements: You can pick one or more than one. This poll is about the trident - and is not designed to be a negative. Its designed to see how many people actually do what Neptune says they should do when using their equipment. Hopefully - after some answers are posted. @Terence et al - will give the real answers to the questions.... Because there seems to be a lot of confusion...:)
 

ca1ore

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Seems to me that proper use of the calibration solutions is at least the first step in achieving accuracy. I started getting weird readings towards the end of my first batch of reagent. After replacing them and doing a fresh calibration, level were back to what I expected for them. But are the readings I’m getting accurate? How do I know that the stated values on the calibration solution bottle are accurate. Putting left over calibration solution into my Hanna alk checker give me a different number, as does using tank water. Which is more accurate; maybe they’re both wrong. Fortunately both are within the acceptability range, so maybe it doesn’t matter. Precision with the trident seems good.
 

scriptmonkey

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So all of this is hobby grade equipment. Each product has a precision range and a resolution range. For instance the ALK hanna checker has a resolution of 0.1 dKH and precision of ±0.3 dKH ±5% of reading. That is even before factoring in human error on things like measuring the correct amount of water or having perfectly clean tubes without French fries finger prints on the outside, or measuring reagent. The claimed precision for Trident is +/- 0.05 dKh for Alkalinity and 15ppm for Calcium and Magnesium. Much of that can be attributed I believe to it being an automated process which help eliminate some of the variables.

At some point it comes down to is repeatability. If my corals are looking good 8 dkh on the hanna OR Trident then that really all that matters in the end. I would not compare and contrast the two because it is a apple's to watermelon comparison as they are two different methods (automated vs by hand) of testing with different precision and resolutions. If the Trident calibration standard says it is X,Y,Z then you would hoped they sprang for lab grade equipment to provide those numbers or are using a lab that has the gear.

For now, I use the Hanna as it is what I have currently that I can use. When I get the time and can setup my Apex and Trident properly then I will migrate over to it. What I will not do is flop back and forth second guessing the other. Once the trident takes over and if fully calibrated then I will watch those numbers and what the corals tell me. In the end what the coral say is all that really matters to me and the number is just relative, it can be 8, 9, or 23...if the corals are happy and it is 23...well I will make sure it is 23, just as long as the test is consistent.
 
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MnFish1

MnFish1

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The reason I posted the poll in the first place was the number of people out there who are either not calibrating (if their trident matches a salifert, for example) - or some not believing the trident when the alk is 9 on the trident and 8.5 on salifert, for example. There have also been at least a couple threads where people have Ca and MG drastically change - probably due to the attempt to extend the life of reagents until the 'last minute'
 
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MnFish1

MnFish1

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The interesting thing is that the reason for the poll was at least one (and more) people are using methods 1-4 to 'calibrate'/verify their trident measurements.
 

lakai

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The interesting thing is that the reason for the poll was at least one (and more) people are using methods 1-4 to 'calibrate'/verify their trident measurements.

More interested in getting a ballpark # of how many actual trident users there actually out there.
 

ZoWhat

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More interested in getting a ballpark # of how many actual trident users there actually out there.
I'm more interested in how many ppl are that lazy but have "bank"..... I can test all 3 major elements manually in 20mins. I can get a Hanna Alk check in less than 3mins. If you cant devote 30mins a week in testing water, I question why you're in the hobby. But that's my opinion. Go ahead, bus is ready to throw me under it. Lol
 

lakai

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I'm more interested in how many ppl are that lazy but have "bank"..... I can test all 3 major elements manually in 20mins. I can get a Hanna Alk check in less than 3 mins. If you cant devote 30mins a week in testing water, I question why you're in the hobby. But that's my opinion. Go ahead, bus is ready to throw me under it. Lol

Nah don't question other hobbyist for not wanting to test. We'd all like reefing to be more forgiving.
 

DarthSimon

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I replaced my regents today, as well as performed a calibration, and noticed the numbers were lower pre calibration. This is the second time since January I calibrated the unit. I think I will calibrate the Trident every regent change for accuracy. Honestly i said this before, I’m done with Hanna and checking different brands of tests. The Trident is fine and will move forward with regent changes and calibrtaion.
 
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MnFish1

MnFish1

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I replaced my regents today, as well as performed a calibration, and noticed the numbers were lower pre calibration. This is the second time since January I calibrated the unit. I think I will calibrate the Trident every regent change for accuracy. Honestly i said this before, I’m done with Hanna and checking different brands of tests. The Trident is fine and will move forward with regent changes and calibrtaion.

Do the instructions say to recalibrate with each reagent change?
 

DarthSimon

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Not sure if Neptune states if you should or shouldn’t and maybe they can comment on that, but they include a Calibration regent with every replacement regent kit, so would could presume you should.
 

ca1ore

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I'm more interested in how many ppl are that lazy but have "bank"..... I can test all 3 major elements manually in 20mins. I can get a Hanna Alk check in less than 3mins. If you cant devote 30mins a week in testing water, I question why you're in the hobby. But that's my opinion. Go ahead, bus is ready to throw me under it. Lol

If you’re in the hobby because you like doing water testing then I can fully appreciate why something like trident would be confusing to you. To me, the hobby is about designing and growing .... maintenance is simply a necessary evil. If reliable automation can relieve me of at least some of the drudgery so I can focus my time on the things I really enjoy, I’m all for it. I also like to cook, but hate doing dishes .... thus I have an automatic dishwasher. Really amazing. Seems intuitively obvious to me ....
 

hart24601

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Something as important as alk particularly if it’s tied to automatic dosing I for sure will periodically check it with another test. I don’t care about minor variations however variation creep over time I do care about especially since it’s not like these have been running for years yet.
 

hart24601

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I'm more interested in how many ppl are that lazy but have "bank"..... I can test all 3 major elements manually in 20mins. I can get a Hanna Alk check in less than 3mins. If you cant devote 30mins a week in testing water, I question why you're in the hobby. But that's my opinion. Go ahead, bus is ready to throw me under it. Lol
I have an alkatronic and 3 times now it has let me know I had errors in my dosing. Once a cracked fitting once I forgot to load program and another equipment issue. I noticed them the same day because of the automated testing. Sure i used to test weekly but I would not have noticed any issues for several days while I noticed here right away in just a few hours. Would it have crashed the tank? Doubt it. Would some sensitive coral become upset - probably since the tank used 2-3 dkh/day at that point. Is my system better and more stable for using it? Clearly the above would indicate yet.

You're probably just a better reefer than I am and don't find value in it, but it can help people to have better systems.
 

ZaneTer

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I'm more interested in how many ppl are that lazy but have "bank"..... I can test all 3 major elements manually in 20mins. I can get a Hanna Alk check in less than 3mins. If you cant devote 30mins a week in testing water, I question why you're in the hobby. But that's my opinion. Go ahead, bus is ready to throw me under it. Lol
I find this an incredibly short sighted comment. I fall into the category of those who have to be away from their tanks for long periods at a time due to work commitments. Should I not be allowed to have a tank?
What about those that are aging or are physically incapable of much movement? Should they be deprived?

You really should have taken a moment to think about your statement before posting it.
 

AB Corals

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I calibrated mine after 48 hours, but when I tested my water with my hanna checkers they were way off in numbers! I think my hanna was actually wrong because the testing tubes were not cleaned good enough possibly and also might need to be re calibrated.
 

Joedubyk

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I calibrated mine after 48 hours, but when I tested my water with my hanna checkers they were way off in numbers! I think my hanna was actually wrong because the testing tubes were not cleaned good enough possibly and also might need to be re calibrated.

What is your ALK at? The only thing the Trident does not do particulary well is measuring alk when it's outside the 6-11 range.

My hanna is always within .3 dkH of the trident now. Sometimes its dead on, sometimes its .1 or .2. This is WELL within the margin of error for manual testing.

If it's way off, I suggest making sure you re-do the test and make sure everything is perfect. They should be close.
 

Joedubyk

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My calcium/mag tends to fluctuate. So I just take the average of the 5 days. The Alk measurements have been great.
 

AB Corals

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What is your ALK at? The only thing the Trident does not do particulary well is measuring alk when it's outside the 6-11 range.

My hanna is always within .3 dkH of the trident now. Sometimes its dead on, sometimes its .1 or .2. This is WELL within the margin of error for manual testing.

If it's way off, I suggest making sure you re-do the test and make sure everything is perfect. They should be close.
Trident tests 8.45 alk

The trident calibrated everything correctly so I'm going off the tridents numbers and recalibrate everything when changing out testing reagents.
 

Joedubyk

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Trident tests 8.45 alk

The trident calibrated everything correctly so I'm going off the tridents numbers and recalibrate everything when changing out testing reagents.

And where is your hanna at?
 
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