Looking for recommendations on an automatic water testing system

[Tucker64]

Hey everyone,

I’m looking for recommendations on an automatic water chemistry testing system for my reef tank.

I previously ran a Neptune Trident, but unfortunately I wasn’t very happy with the overall experience. It worked for a while, but eventually I started having reliability issues and ultimately the unit failed. Because of that I’m hesitant to go back to another Trident and NP combo but not ruling it out completely.

I’m curious what people here are currently running and what your long-term experience has been.

A few questions for those using automated testers:

• What system are you using?
• How reliable has it been over time?
• How much maintenance/calibration does it require?
• Would you buy it again

I’ve been looking into things like Mastertronic, ReefBot, kamoer reef spa, etc., but it’s hard to tell from reviews what actually works well long-term. I’ve been previously waiting on the Hydros Maven but I’m losing faith unfortunately.

Real-world feedback from people who have been running these for a while would be super helpful before I pull the trigger on something new.

Thanks in advance!

 

[painter1982]

I have good results with the Trident acm but the np is awful. I’m on number 3 from getting it warrantied and it still reads zero for phosphate. They assured me the third one would work. Nope.

 

[BryanM]

Hey everyone,

I’m looking for recommendations on an automatic water chemistry testing system for my reef tank.

I previously ran a Neptune Trident, but unfortunately I wasn’t very happy with the overall experience. It worked for a while, but eventually I started having reliability issues and ultimately the unit failed. Because of that I’m hesitant to go back to another Trident and NP combo but not ruling it out completely.

I’m curious what people here are currently running and what your long-term experience has been.

A few questions for those using automated testers:

• What system are you using?
• How reliable has it been over time?
• How much maintenance/calibration does it require?
• Would you buy it again

I’ve been looking into things like Mastertronic, ReefBot, kamoer reef spa, etc., but it’s hard to tell from reviews what actually works well long-term. I’ve been previously waiting on the Hydros Maven but I’m losing faith unfortunately.

Real-world feedback from people who have been running these for a while would be super helpful before I pull the trigger on something new.

Thanks in advance!

I plan on waiting (I have no choice!), for the Hyrdos Maven... This doesn't exactly help you now though... And there's no ETA when it will drop.

 

[tmcca]

Hydros maven not going to happen very much doubt it. Reef master spa looks promising but price tag high; ion director they apparently fixed some issues. I was leaning towards ion director since GHL has good reputation. Automated not the way to go though I hate to say. You have to manual test to check accuracy anyway so why go automated? I say in 2-4 years we will be there to have automated system just my opinion.