My Honest Opinion About The Alkatronic
- Thread starter mitch91175
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EmdeReef
2500 Club Member
Been using Alkatronic for about 10 days, very impressed with accuracy vs other tests and even more importantly consistent results. Huge improvement over KHG.
The only thing is that sometimes it won’t connect to WiFi when I’m away from home so I can’t see updated results.
The only thing is that sometimes it won’t connect to WiFi when I’m away from home so I can’t see updated results.
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mitch91175
2500 Club Member
I was having issues with my wifi, but with my Apex and once I changed from the ISP provided wifi to a Google Home, things improved drastically. Usually wifi issue are more to do with the router than it is the device. Every blue-moon it'll loose wifi connectivity (my Apex), but know where near what it was doing before. I can live with a few disconnects here and there, but hopefully everything is fine when I am away.
Two Questions:
Q1- The machine is telling me "It's time to Calibration", according to the manual it says to test pump accuracy to see if Calibration is needed. I did, pumps are spot on so do I really need to calibrate again?? I can't remember if the original calibration when I got the unit a month ago required me to put a value in. At this point both pumps are pumping exactly the amount they should. Do I Calibrate anyways?
Q2- I had to replenish my reagent, mixed it with measured beaker and kitchen scale, just like the first time. No difference. The tests since the new reagent was mixed went from consistent 7.98-8.14 readings over 3 weeks to suddenly dropping to 7.78-7.70. It was an immediate change with the first test after filling bottle with newly mixed reagent. Anyone else get a change in Alk readings when replenishing reagent?
This is a new tank with a few corals only, I have been adding alk by hand when needed at this point. Due to the lower readings I am adding just a bit over time to see if it will rise back in the 8.0 range. Hasn't happened yet over the past 3 days, I'm going slow though.
Q1- The machine is telling me "It's time to Calibration", according to the manual it says to test pump accuracy to see if Calibration is needed. I did, pumps are spot on so do I really need to calibrate again?? I can't remember if the original calibration when I got the unit a month ago required me to put a value in. At this point both pumps are pumping exactly the amount they should. Do I Calibrate anyways?
Q2- I had to replenish my reagent, mixed it with measured beaker and kitchen scale, just like the first time. No difference. The tests since the new reagent was mixed went from consistent 7.98-8.14 readings over 3 weeks to suddenly dropping to 7.78-7.70. It was an immediate change with the first test after filling bottle with newly mixed reagent. Anyone else get a change in Alk readings when replenishing reagent?
This is a new tank with a few corals only, I have been adding alk by hand when needed at this point. Due to the lower readings I am adding just a bit over time to see if it will rise back in the 8.0 range. Hasn't happened yet over the past 3 days, I'm going slow though.
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mitch91175
2500 Club Member
That's exactly what I do to keep it simple. Even if it is off slightly (because of the weight of the reagent or water) at least I know every time it is consistent.
I can help on your second question. Measuring out the reagent with a beaker and kitchen scale really is not accurate at all. I highly recommend buying a volumetric flask. You can get them on amazon for around $20. This guarantees you get the ratios of the mix correct.
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