until they start selling boratronics, it's one of the only options out there!
My Honest Opinion About The Alkatronic
- Thread starter mitch91175
- Start date
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As someone who has been in the hobby since the 70's, I would put it easily in the top 5 pieces of equipment that I have owned. Is it perfect? No, but I haven't found one yet that is.
agreed its helped free up time and worry for me and has caught a few would be spikes before I would have on my own. I have one on two of my important systems
CBonito
Valuable Member
That's the thing, they're out there now being used with a degree of success and it will only get better.
I'm interested in buying one for myself even with the extra doser if I could be convinced to trust it to test and control alkalinity or even 2/3 part.
That's all I really want to know. I don't care if it isn't perfect. I just want to be confident that it can make my smaller aquarium better than I could without it. Thoughts on that?
I was skeptical at first, but I would say a few months of using it and verifying the results manually how you normally check alkalinity you become pretty comfortable with the unit, I trust it to do action mode, but it almost never has to do that i would notice a few days before and just up my alkalinity dosing. I don't personally require it to adjust my dosing for me or have the need to use the Dosetronic, I have a capable dosing system that I adjust based off the measurements I get from the alkatronic, I don't need to have a super tight alkalinity, it's definitely tighter now than it's ever been manually testing and has always been fine that way.
here's a for instance my alk consumption was going up. for a few days I didn't increase my alkalinity dosing and the red dots are where the alkatronic did corrections now I've increased daily alkalinity dosing and fixed the issue, I've verified the test results manually and feel comfortable that the alkatronic is preforming the way it should..very easy compared to testing every day or every couple of days IMO
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My thoughts are: Everything has a value and it is different for everyone. I did't want a controller because I wanted to fill that role. What I want is something that is reliable, accurate and inexpensive to operate that tells me where my Alk is. I use All for Reef and have found that if my Alk is within range then Ca and Mg are also good. The Alkatronic fills that role better than any of the others I have used which includes, GHL, Apex, KH Guardian etc. I am not a shill for Focustronics as I sold my Mastertronic because it was just too much work and I don't recommend it unless you have a lot of time on your hands.
Borat
Valuable Member
It will get cheaper over time and hopefully be adopted by many..
CBonito
Valuable Member
Good to know. Looks like it works!
In the past I have always done everything manually with only a controller for monitoring. But the thing is, that is a LOT of work and I have to be there when something needs attention...and I have lots of sad stories.
My goal is to always know what is going on with less intervention on my part, (just an occasional manual test to verify after getting into a groove) but also for this to pick up the reigns automatically if I decide on a whim to go away for the weekend or get stuck somewhere for a couple days. I'm still unsure what calcium/alk method I am going to use at this point to boot. Leaning towards two part.
I'd say becoming extremely familiar with dosing any type of additives would be before worrying about an alkalinity unit and way before letting something do the dosing for me, I like to do the intervention and be in control, i make the reef go round..imo. anyway I can adjust all my dosing based off alkalinity, and that can be done remotely from anywhere I have cell service, based off the automated testing done by the alkatronicGood to know. Looks like it works!
In the past I have always done everything manually with only a controller for monitoring. But the thing is, that is a LOT of work and I have to be there when something needs attention...and I have lots of sad stories.
My goal is to always know what is going on with less intervention on my part, (just an occasional manual test to verify after getting into a groove) but also for this to pick up the reigns automatically if I decide on a whim to go away for the weekend or get stuck somewhere for a couple days. I'm still unsure what calcium/alk method I am going to use at this point to boot. Leaning towards two part.
(or alkalinity monitor that i have verified and trust to be as true as possible for my needs) so going away for the weekend doesn't require an alkalinity unit to take control from me. I have left for weeks before with automatic feeding, the only thing that holds me back atm is filter socks but there's an answer for that too. imo it's best to be able to do everything manually first way befor you try to make something not fully understood automated, it seems fun when you hear everyone talking about automation this and that but without full understanding first it can cause all kinds of issues and prolong the process. IMO
my 2cents: I like a simple 2 part dosing method with calcium chloride, and sodium carbonate/ or bicarbonate it's what I first started using and had success with and something I still use today, I've also been using balling part c for the past 3 or so years and have enjoyed that and recommend that over the occasional magnesium dosing as you can put it on a dosing head and make things a little easier along with a maintenance dose of magnesium if needed, imo. these can all be dosed by hand daily and thats how many people dose them with plenty of success.
good luck
I agree, I like the simplicity of it and that it has lasting power. I want to say mine has been running strong for 4+ years. Although it is far from a polished user friendly piece of equipment, but the best thing about it is that the reagent is by far the cheapest for any automated tester.
CBonito
Valuable Member
True.
It's like you spend a fortune up front and they continue to turn you over and shake you violently so you can use it.
This one is MUCH cheaper.
David_CO
Active Member
I trust my Alkatronic the most between my kh keeper plus and trident. For whatever reason I can no longer connect to Bluetooth but for the most part I prefer the cloud control anyway. I test on 4 hr intervals and I do allow action mode. When my alk drops below 8 the Alkatronic adds soda ash to my tank. This has been very reliable for me. The sps flat i have the Alkatronic on is very high demand where I’m dosing kalk at evaporation and 120 ml of each 2 part on top for roughly 110 gallons of water. With the Alkatronic I’m able to keep my dkh within a .3-.4 dkh range per day
Appreciate this feedback
David_CO
Active Member
Hi Jonas. What are your thoughts on hose replacement intervals? I know the counter on the device wants me to replace them every 800 tests. I’ve checked on the dosing head pumping somewhat regularly and I think I’ve replaced the reagent and main water tubing twice. In my experience the tubing can go quite a bit longer than 800 tests. I’ve probably let it go 1600-1800 before replacement and only found a bit of abrasion on the water feed line. When I do replace I find I need to recalibrate after a few days due to the tube relaxing/stretching. I do follow the procedure outlined in the manual to run the pumps a bit to “break in the tubing” for the initial calibration but in my experience this is not enough and thus I try to avoid as much as possible since I travel frequently for work and don’t want to be on the road in that time interval when I find it a bit less reliable in terms of accuracy (not consistency).
Is there any reason to replace any of the feed lines before the pump heads? I do have a tiny bit of algae growth on the water line and drain as it’s exposed to some light.
Last question- if I bought a dosetronic would I be able to use use action mode to not only dose alk as I currently do but also an equal part of calcium? If so can this time interval be staggered? I do my best to not have action mode trigger too much to maintain stable calcium levels vs all dosing, but when I’m out of town for over 4-5 days the saturation in my kalk reactor decreases enough where the action mode tends to start triggering once or twice a day which eventually leads to a decreased calcium level which I need to manually correct, I would prefer to not do this if at all possible.
I run both Alkatronic and Trident and I totally side with Alkatronic as it helps me to keep my Alk between 7.8 to 8. I run Action mode and drops soda ash when it goes down below 7.8.
Also I run every 6 hrs now . Earlier was doing 4 hours. With the HCL reagent now, I can probably run a lot of times and be cost efficient
Also one more thing about the reading. I have calibration set based on the Hanna readings every time I change the reagent. As long as I am stable at the reading my system is stable and growing sps and encrusting. I never had this stability before. That's for sure.
On the cost of tubes etc. I get from Amazon and use it. No issue.
Also I run every 6 hrs now . Earlier was doing 4 hours. With the HCL reagent now, I can probably run a lot of times and be cost efficient
Also one more thing about the reading. I have calibration set based on the Hanna readings every time I change the reagent. As long as I am stable at the reading my system is stable and growing sps and encrusting. I never had this stability before. That's for sure.
On the cost of tubes etc. I get from Amazon and use it. No issue.
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