Is Trident NP actually working for anyone?

[Formulator]

I see an awful lot of negative posts on the new Trident NP. I’m hoping that is just because its less common to post a thread to rave about something.

Should I ask Santa for one, or wait for version 2.0?

I am in love my with my Neptune system and currently use the original Trident with success. So if you came to tell me to switch to a different controller, you probably won’t get any traction here ;)

 

[tsharpe291]

curious myself about this

 

[tsharpe291]

the reagent cost is what im having a hard time with. I wonder if abc will come out with something in the future.

 

[Formulator]

the reagent cost is what im having a hard time with. I wonder if abc will come out with something in the future.

I hope so! I think there may have been some legal challenges with the first set of ABC reagents and I would bet Neptune has done a better job protecting their IP this time. But maybe! I would certainly take advantage if they do…

 

[jthunderzzz]

When I first got it about 3 months ago I didnt trust it at all. But now it seems some software changes have made it a lot more reliable. Its not perfect, I still fully trust my hanna over it but its defiantly a good gauge to see if you have any swings. Pretty expensive to just be a gauge tho....

 

[Formulator]

When I first got it about 3 months ago I didnt trust it at all. But now it seems some software changes have made it a lot more reliable. Its not perfect, I still fully trust my hanna over it but its defiantly a good gauge to see if you have any swings. Pretty expensive to just be a gauge tho....

Honestly a gauge is good enough for me. My nutrients are well controlled and I currently only test once/week or so. I have a 2 week old baby at home so I have distractions… when my last kid was born, I neglected my tank and lost almost everything in a mature well stocked mixed reef :disappointed-face:. This time around I have Neptune to help!

Just having the ability to put an alarm on nitrate and phosphate that would alert me that its time to adjust my nitrate dose (my tank is NO3 limited) or change my GFO would be a game changer.

 

[Valadon]

I'm a bit late to the party here, but I purchased the Trident NP about a week and a half ago, and it has not worked at all for me. It might as well be a random number generator. I have been working with Neptune support and they are sending me a new one, but I didn't get the impression that they think a new one will work any better. They told me the engineers are working on a method to allow you to calibrate the machine to your tank water as you can do with the older Trident, and that update should be out in the coming "weeks."


I can not find an example of it really working for anyone. In my case, it isn't even helpful in reading the swings, at least for phosphate. It just reads .02,.03, or .04, with no correlation to the Hanna results. If it was off by a set amount, then it would be somewhat useful, but as far as I can tell, it just randomly picks one of the three numbers to display.

Maybe the new one will work a bit better when I get it next week, but I am not holding my breath.

 

[Formulator]

Thanks for the info. To be fair, I wouldn’t expect the level of precision you are describing for phosphate with any hobby grade test…

I would be happy if it can tell the difference between 0, 0.05, and 0.1. That’s about the best you’ll get with most other tests anyways.

 

[cperry7467]

I've had mine since release, no issues and pretty reliable. My tester this morning had my nitrate at 5ppm and phosphate at .04. I tested this afternoon and my Hanna had nitrate at 11ppm and phosphate at .03. That's close enough for me. Really I'm just trying to keep it above 0 and detect spikes or when my gfo needs to be refreshed. I'm happy with mine so far.

 

[Doctorgori]

It might as well be a random number generator

Now Thats funny :beaming-face-with-smiling-eyes:

But yeah I kinda feel the same way, I own 2 and Im getting a 3rd …but for me its the trend and not the exact number per se… when the number goes past a certain threshold I back up the reading with my Hanna..

I was reading the algae on the glass pane but thats hardly a exact science and more often than not a simple trace addition can often times trigger algae…

Ive read post that you can trust the Nitrate and not the phosphate …IME neither reading is very reliable but you can sorta get a consistent “offset” for the nitrate reading vs Hanna

 

[Reefer Matt]

My question is if anyone’s tank shows signs of improvement from using this, or is it just a toy? I test PO4 and NO3 once a week.

 

[cperry7467]

My question is if anyone’s tank shows signs of improvement from using this, or is it just a toy? I test PO4 and NO3 once a week.

I think it just depends on the user. If you're diligent about your routine and testing with a manual kit, there's probably no reason to get it. I have a hectic work and personal schedule so I forget to test all the time. For me it's great to have a "canary in the coal mine" to tell me something is wrong. I've been struggling with keeping my phosphates down and stable so yea for me it's been great.

 

[Formulator]

My question is if anyone’s tank shows signs of improvement from using this, or is it just a toy? I test PO4 and NO3 once a week.

Fair question. I’m not personally looking to gain any improvements to my reef from it. Honestly, I’m just looking to eliminate my weekly testing routine. It may not sound like much, but with 2 young kids, work, and other reef maintenance - saving just that 20-30 minutes of time once/week is totally worth the price tag. And I’m also a geek for stuff like this, so part toy for sure :face-with-tears-of-joy:

 

[cperry7467]

Fair question. I’m not personally looking to gain any improvements to my reef from it. Honestly, I’m just looking to eliminate my weekly testing routine. It may not sound like much, but with 2 young kids, work, and other reef maintenance - saving just that 20-30 minutes of time once/week is totally worth the price tag. And I’m also a geek for stuff like this, so part toy for sure :face-with-tears-of-joy:

Yup. Nailed it. Those pesky kids man.

 

[Reefer Matt]

Fair question. I’m not personally looking to gain any improvements to my reef from it. Honestly, I’m just looking to eliminate my weekly testing routine. It may not sound like much, but with 2 young kids, work, and other reef maintenance - saving just that 20-30 minutes of time once/week is totally worth the price tag. And I’m also a geek for stuff like this, so part toy for sure :face-with-tears-of-joy:

I hear ya, been working 12 hour shifts myself. That’s exactly how I would use it too.

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

I'm a beta tester for the NP. I'm bound by the NDA to only speak positively about my experience in public...

 

[braaap]

the reagent cost is what im having a hard time with. I wonder if abc will come out with something in the future.

ABC told me they will NOT be making reagents for the Trident NP. But maybe they will change their minds.

Fair question. I’m not personally looking to gain any improvements to my reef from it. Honestly, I’m just looking to eliminate my weekly testing routine. It may not sound like much, but with 2 young kids, work, and other reef maintenance - saving just that 20-30 minutes of time once/week is totally worth the price tag. And I’m also a geek for stuff like this, so part toy for sure :face-with-tears-of-joy:

Get rid of the kids.


I returned mine. It only read .04 phosphate. Never anything else. When Hanna and salifert read identical to each other and .08 or so. I’d venture to guess the two testing the same are accurate.

My nitrate reading was dead accurate almost every time. So I can’t complain about that.

My original Trident is quite accurate as well. People complain about it but I love mine. Works perfectly.

I don’t intend to get an NP again. Neptune refused to admit there was a problem and tried to blame me. I finally just returned it and got every penny back including reagents.

 

[Formulator]

Get rid of the kids.


I returned mine.

Read this out of context at first :face-with-tears-of-joy:

Thanks for the great info. I also love my original trident, so its a bummer they aren’t there yet with the NP.

 

[cperry7467]

ABC told me they will NOT be making reagents for the Trident NP. But maybe they will change their minds.



Get rid of the kids.


I returned mine. It only read .04 phosphate. Never anything else. When Hanna and salifert read identical to each other and .08 or so. I’d venture to guess the two testing the same are accurate.

My nitrate reading was dead accurate almost every time. So I can’t complain about that.

My original Trident is quite accurate as well. People complain about it but I love mine. Works perfectly.

I don’t intend to get an NP again. Neptune refused to admit there was a problem and tried to blame me. I finally just returned it and got every penny back including reagents.

Weird haven't seen that at all with mine. My phosphate shot up to .3 on the NP and I thought something was wrong with my NP until I used my Hanna and it maxed out. Between adding GFO and/or Nopox it's been tracking on point for me. It's been a solid indicator to tell me my reactor is clogged or my Nopox is out.

 

[braaap]

Read this out of context at first :face-with-tears-of-joy:

Thanks for the great info. I also love my original trident, so its a bummer they aren’t there yet with the NP.

I tried to return my kids. Turns out you can’t just do that. lol

Weird haven't seen that at all with mine. My phosphate shot up to .3 on the NP and I thought something was wrong with my NP until I used my Hanna and it maxed out. Between adding GFO and/or Nopox it's been tracking on point for me. It's been a solid indicator to tell me my reactor is clogged or my Nopox is out.

One of the few it seems. Mine was a launch NP like yours. I kept it for 2 updates and gave up.