Are you going to buy one?

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Moonrock

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So I received my Trident a couple days ago. I've been playing around with it and here's what I've come up with so far.

They give you a small piece of paper in the box that tells you to go to TASKS>Trident Initial Setup. They also give you a piece of paper with a BIG NO NO on plugging it in before you run the Initial Setup.

Once you run the Initial setup there is a youtube playlist that actually shows you step by step on installing the reagents, how to install the reagent because the small hoses coming out the reagents have to point in a certain direction.

During the playlist they recommend that you upgrade your Apex then plug in your Trident. I upgraded my Apex before plugging it in and immediately noticed that 4 of my FMM modules were "Out of date" So I started to upgrade them.

ApexModules.png


During the upgrade of my FMM's I went to upgrade Module 14, My last FMM. Once everything was upgraded, I finally plugged in the Trident.

Immediately after I noticed the following.
FMM-Modules.jpeg


My apex started to crashed every ~10-15 minutes or so and would become unreachable to the point where I had to reboot it. It became a constant thing every 10-15 minutes or so where I had to reboot constantly.

At first I was thinking It could be the TRIDENT because the FMM's were showing up in increments of 3. I would delete them all manually, and it would crash. Then on reboot I would find 3 more FMM's. Again it would crash and another 3 FMM's would appear. At first I thought it was the actual trident since it does 3 tests (Alk,Cal,Mg) and it was just weird that it was adding 3 FMM's in increments of 3.

Still didn't have a solution at the time so I continued. At this point I already had the Trident plugged in and had already finished the Initial setup. Once I get back into my home page I noticed the Trident was in "Testing Mode"
TridentTesting.jpeg


After "Testing Mode" finished I ended up with this.
Trident0.jpeg


No Results. So what did I do? Ran a manual test again. What happened this time? Same results. So I started poking around. During the initial setup they tell you the Trident should prime the lines automatically. I was thinking maybe it didn't prime properly. So I went into the trident and ran a manual prime.

Then I ran another "Combined Test" which should be all 3 tests but this time I only got an ALK reading.

Don't forget this is all happening during the 10-15 minute increments of my apex crashing non stop. I contact Thomas over at Apex and he recommended that I change the 1Link cable on my Trident. As soon as I changed the 1Link cable and also used a different port on EB832 bar. I finally got a reading.

Trident-Testing.jpeg


Boom finally got some results. I'm not sure if it was the actual 1Link Cable or if it was the port on the EB832 bar but if you run into the same issue I would recommend just trying a different port on the EB832 bar first and then try replacing the cable if needed.

SOOOOO. Now that the Trident is running properly and testing properly I was hoping the crashing would stop...

Nope. Apex continued to crash every 10-15minutes. Now I knew it wasn't the Trident since it seemed to be working properly so I started unplugging all my FMM's to see which one it was.

Finally I figured out that it was module 14. So once I upgraded module 14 it took the update and everything showed up fine but for some reason it DID NOT like the update. If i left module 14 (FMM-14) unplugged the apex would no longer crash. This was the very first FMM that I bought roughly 3 years ago, so it was the oldest FMM I have.

Luckily I have an entire drawer with a spare probe of each type. More important probes like PH and Salinity I typically keep 2 just incase. Luckily I also keep SV1 solenoids, 1Link cables, USB cables, ETC. I basically have a spare of everything important just incase. I had an extra FMM so I quickly replaced it. Once I replaced it, everything was back up and running.

My Guess? The hardware on the older FMM that I had did not like the update and it crashed it some how. Luckily it was not the Trident.

SOME ADVICE: Upgrade your Apex OS now if you plan on getting a TRIDENT, then upgrade all your modules. This way you don't have to do it all at once and sit there trying to figure out any issues. unfortunately I got the unit when the new firmware was released so I had to do it all at once.

Dummy me thought I had a broken or bent front cover but since I was trying to be extremely careful with it, I gently pushed it in. Once it gets near the back (like it is in the picture) you have to give it a little push and it will sit flush.
TridentCase.jpeg


My Thoughts:

Overall a good product. It's actually testing spot on with my Hannah checkers. I have 2 hannah checkers of each type and ran 2 CAL/ALK tests on 2 units and came within a range of .02 within each test.

It's actually extremely easy to use. Once you get it up and running you can request a manual test at any time you want. you can also change the programming to do 4 tests a day up to 24 tests a day.

It also keeps track of the waste, during the initial setup it will ask you for the size of your waste container so it can keep track of it. I have it connected to a drain and that's also an option.

I've had it running a test every hour for the past 24 hours just to fine tune everything and then I will knock it back to the 4 tests a day. Even with 24 tests a day (1 each hour) I haven't noticed the ATO running more than what it usually does. It must use a very minimal amount of water to run these tests.

Tests can take anywhere between 5-10 minutes for all each and all 3 roughly take around 20 minutes.

The device isn't completely silent but it isn't loud. The DOS unit is actually a lot louder than the Trident so I'm actually really happen with the noise level.

I like how they did the setup with video this time instead of the images like they use for the AWC task. The only thing I would tell them to do is have the user upgrade their APEX first and then modules incase anyone runs into the same issue I did.

Overall setup took 15-20 minutes. Extremely easy to use. There's roughly 7-9 minutes of videos so it can easily be setup within 15-20 minutes.

Things I would tell Apex to make this better?
Have the user upgrade their APEX first and then modules incase anyone runs into the same issue I did with the new OS bricking my FMM module.

Final Conclusion:

GO BUY ONE RIGHT NOW. TOTALLY WORTH IT.

I own A LOT of apex equipment. Now with the new update I can connect the extra 2 DOS units that I have since I had reached the limit before. Now with the new update I can have even more apex equipment. This is one of the best investments of my life. Apex in general is the best reefing equipment I've ever bought. It's insurance for my investment. My tank is completely completely automated. From Daily water changes, to weekly water changes everything. I come in once every month and pour salt into my salt bin, push a button to let the apex know and back to auto water changes. Now that I got ALK/CA/MG to a good spot, the apex will control the PH in my Calcium reactor automatically and keep all my elements in check. I will use the 2 new DOS units to get the fine tuning with 2 part on top of my calcium reactor. I have 2 ATO's with an SV1 solonoid and depending on my PH the apex will either top off with normal water or kalk water from my kalk reactor. I could continue to go on and on and on. Apex does everything for me. Even turns on the RO unit to make more water when its low, then when my salt bin gets low from auto water changes it stops them, fills the salt bin with ro water and bugs me until i come and pour the salt in, then I push a button and automatically back in business with water changes. I can enjoy my tank without ever having to do anything. I've built redundancy into every spot that I could find and It was the best decision of my life.

I texted a friend of mine a picture of the unit when I get it up and running and asked if he was going to get one. His response was "no, its just another failure point". I agree and disagree. Even if you just use the Trident for monitoring, it is not a failure point. It's insurance and peace of mind.

TRIDENT ****:
Screen Shot 2019-05-09 at 3.47.21 AM.png
Screen Shot 2019-05-09 at 3.47.10 AM.png
Screen Shot 2019-05-09 at 3.47.03 AM.png
Screen Shot 2019-05-09 at 3.46.56 AM.png
Screen Shot 2019-05-09 at 3.46.47 AM.png
Screen Shot 2019-05-09 at 3.46.40 AM.png
Screen Shot 2019-05-09 at 3.46.32 AM.png
Screen Shot 2019-05-09 at 3.46.24 AM.png
Screen Shot 2019-05-09 at 3.46.16 AM.png
Screen Shot 2019-05-09 at 3.46.09 AM.png
Screen Shot 2019-05-09 at 3.46.02 AM.png


if anyone has any questions please feel free to ask. I will try to answer the best I can. If anyone want's a specific picture let me know and I can gladly take it.
 

ca1ore

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Nice review, thanks. Thought I was over the top with four FFM modules lol. How specific are the instructions about placement of the unit? Does it have to be above the sump water level, below it?

I’m definitely getting one, though not in the first wave so you brave early adopters can iron out any of the kinks. Thank you!!!
 
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Moonrock

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The water and waste lines are verrrry small. You see the hose coming out of the reagents? Thats the actual size of the 2 external lines.

They say to put the unit above the water line so a siphon cant be created. Even though the pumps inside shouldn't let a siphon be created, you never know. I have mine 6 inches above the water line in my sump. I have a little black table next to my sump and thats where I placed it.

FMM modules are important! Lol. I have 1 for my sump low/hi and 1” flow for left side tank pump and one for right side tank pump.

I have another FMM with my zeovit shaker so I can adjust the flow, a third pump that feeds my frag tanks has another 1” flow sensor. And 2 leak detectors

The third FMM is strictly for my RO unit. the RO unit water in and waste out have 1/4” sensors and a leak detector near my RO vat and salt vat.

The 4th FMM is for a RO vat low and high and salt vat low and high. I have a SV1 solenoid that opens and closes the water valve and makes ro water automatically when the ro vat hits the low sensor. When my salt vat hit low theres a pump in my ro vat that turns on and fills my salt vat to the top and stops water changes until I come and pour salt in. Once I do that, I hit a button and auto water changes start back up.

I actually have a 5th FMM (reason I had a spare) but couldn't actually plug it in because I hit the max amount of modules. Now that the new update supports a crap ton more, I can use a 5th fmm for the frag tanks. Just added another VDM as well to control the T5s for the frag tanks.

Ive got the entire setup pretty much automated at this point. I know people always say its more failure points but its been extremely reliable. You just have to code/program the apex correctly. Once you program it correctly. It will do everything.

Just cut some home wrecker frags. Its the beauty that keeps me going.





 

Bob Escher

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How well would you say it is made. Can I keep it say behind my stand and about foot and half above my sump
 

lactose

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@Jon Granados any chance that first FMM was bought as an ATK, I had one of my 3 or 4 FMMs have issues as well with the update and it was the one I had bought as ATK originally?

Thank you for the review, I will have my first (of hopefully 3) Trident as soon as I can click fast enough to buy or my LFS gets theirs. Can't wait and your review helped.
 

sticksreef

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Any build info on your system? That hw got me intrigued lol.
 

LiveWire

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Great 1st look review @Jon Granados with lots of information. Thanks for taking the time to write and document it all!
 

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Great write up, thanks! Much more informative than most of the other Trident threads going on right now.

I know it's relatively new...but how well is it keeping your parameters stable...most importantly alkalinity?
 

cain720

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So you can't set it to test less frequently than 4 times a day?
 
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rkpetersen

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You should place the Trident at about the same level as your sample line, if possible.
However, that said, during the initial part of testing I had the sample line in the tank, almost 5' above the Trident on the floor, and didn't experience any siphoning.
Still it could theoretically happen, perhaps after the device has been in use for a while and nearing its time for servicing.
And if there's an accidental disconnection, a tiny siphon would definitely occur.
I've since positioned it in the first sump chamber, before any dosing lines, and before any skimmer microbubbles.

To get the tray to go in the last 1/4", you have to lift it slightly by the handle. It keeps the tray compartment from opening accidentally.

2 alk-only tests and 2 triple tests, alternating at midnight, 6 am, noon, and 6 pm, is the current minimum testing schedule.

@Reefpuck, the OP is using the Trident for measurements only at present. Measurements and control are two separate functions.
It's a good idea to let your new Trident run for a week or two to confirm proper function and become familiar with it, before setting up the control parameters.
 
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cain720

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2 alk-only tests and 2 triple tests, alternating at midnight, 6 am, noon, and 6 pm, is the current minimum testing schedule.

That's unfortunate. It sounds like a money grab. $0.19/test at a minimum of 4 tests/day is a minimum of $275/ year.
 
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That's unfortunate. It sounds like a money grab. $0.19/test at a minimum of 4 tests/day is a minimum of $275/ year.

A lot of people seem to be saying this but it is just noise. To put it into perspective how many test kits and regents would you have to buy in order to test 4 times/day? Please note that it isn't also just regents you are paying for, you have to pay your time as well. How much is your time worth? I don't know, say $30/hr? You just blew past that $275 year number easy - both are hypothetical numbers of course but just wanted to set the record straight. There isn't enough time for you, or I, to run that number of tests.

Oh - and be accurate and consistent. We might as well throw that in there too because I'm sure if you test, and I test, the same water using the same kit the numbers will be different.

Lastly - this is another nugget I like to throw out there because we keep talking about a money grab. It isn't and people really should stop saying that. A money grab is a monthly subscription fee for using the Fusion portal. It is not selling regents of a known quality and baseline. If you go back a ways with Neptune then you would know back in 2000 or so we used to have to pay for Reefnotes in order to automatically plot data from the data logger. We no longer are doing that nor paying for Fusion portal access.

OP - nice feedback and great information on why the need to upgrade before integrating the Trident. Great work.
 
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Moonrock

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@Jon Granados any chance that first FMM was bought as an ATK, I had one of my 3 or 4 FMMs have issues as well with the update and it was the one I had bought as ATK originally?

Thank you for the review, I will have my first (of hopefully 3) Trident as soon as I can click fast enough to buy or my LFS gets theirs. Can't wait and your review helped.

It actually was one that I bought with an atk.... the others were solo units.

You think thats it?
 

vetteguy53081

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UNIT is BIG. Thank you for the review and hope to see many More reviews
 
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Moonrock

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How well would you say it is made. Can I keep it say behind my stand and about foot and half above my sump

I would say its made pretty well. It's actually very light, It's a lot lighter than what I was expecting. It's very well balanced as well so if you stick it in the back I don't see it moving or anything. Even if something poured on it. everything inside is covered and the cables in the back are indented a bit so liquid should drop off. I would just raise it a bit incase anything every flooded.

Any build info on your system? That hw got me intrigued lol.

I don't have a build thread. I just have some pictures of my fish room and when I initially setup the my first frag tank I took a picture of each SPS i had. Over 120 different types of SPS. I then added a second and third tank but I didn't take as many pictures as I did on the first time.

Where did you place the line that draws the sample? They mentioned it is sensitive to micro bubbles.

So inside the package you get a little orange (3D Printed) clip that clips the water line and holds it. Then you can slip the clip over a wall and it holds it pretty well. I've been debating putting some kind of filter sock in the corner and then putting the line into that so that it doesn't suck anything up into it. If it was to suck something in I don't think it would make it very far. The lines are verrrry small.

Clip.jpeg


Great write up, thanks! Much more informative than most of the other Trident threads going on right now.

I know it's relatively new...but how well is it keeping your parameters stable...most importantly alkalinity?

From using it the last couple days it seems my ALK doesn't move more than .04, I haven't used the automatic dosing but considering it. My CAL is around 405 and Mag is around 1250 so I would like to bump those up a bit but don't want my Alk to move. Considering using some 2 part to fine tune the system and letting it auto dose. The one thing I would definitely install is an SV1 solenoid if I went with the auto dosing. I don't want some kind of mistake to happen and If i have a solenoid in-between the DOS and the tank I can kill it incase of emergency.

So you can't set it to test less frequently than 4 times a day?

Right now it seem's like 4 tests a day is the minimum.

That's unfortunate. It sounds like a money grab. $0.19/test at a minimum of 4 tests/day is a minimum of $275/ year.

I think they said the reagent would be $44.95 for 240 ALK tests and 120 Cal/MG tests. if that's the case $44.95 / 120 is roughly $0.03 cents per test. Still worth it in my opinion.

A lot of people seem to be saying this but it is just noise. To put it into perspective how many test kits and regents would you have to buy in order to test 4 times/day? Please note that it isn't also just regents you are paying for, you have to pay your time as well. How much is your time worth? I don't know, say $30/hr? You just blew past that $275 year number easy - both are hypothetical numbers of course but just wanted to set the record straight. There isn't enough time for you, or I, to run that number of tests.

Oh - and be accurate and consistent. We might as well throw that in there too because I'm sure if you test, and I test, the same water using the same kit the numbers will be different.

Lastly - this is another nugget I like to throw out there because we keep talking about a money grab. It isn't and people really should stop saying that. A money grab is a monthly subscription fee for using the Fusion portal. It is not selling regents of a known quality and baseline. If you go back a ways with Neptune then you would know back in 2000 or so we used to have to pay for Reefnotes in order to automatically plot data from the data logger. We no longer are doing that nor paying for Fusion portal access.

OP - nice feedback and great information on why the need to upgrade before integrating the Trident. Great work.

I totally agree. People should definitely stop saying it's a money grab. It really isn't. I would like to see someone do a side to side comparison sheet showing the cost of the trident along with other tests the same way BRS did the episode where they tested each salt to a specific salinity to see how much the salt per gallon actually cost.

Welcome to the club and great review!!!!

Thanks!

Awesome review. Im ready to buy this thing, waiting for the next batches I guess.

You won't regret it!
 

leepink23

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I would say its made pretty well. It's actually very light, It's a lot lighter than what I was expecting. It's very well balanced as well so if you stick it in the back I don't see it moving or anything. Even if something poured on it. everything inside is covered and the cables in the back are indented a bit so liquid should drop off. I would just raise it a bit incase anything every flooded.



I don't have a build thread. I just have some pictures of my fish room and when I initially setup the my first frag tank I took a picture of each SPS i had. Over 120 different types of SPS. I then added a second and third tank but I didn't take as many pictures as I did on the first time.



So inside the package you get a little orange (3D Printed) clip that clips the water line and holds it. Then you can slip the clip over a wall and it holds it pretty well. I've been debating putting some kind of filter sock in the corner and then putting the line into that so that it doesn't suck anything up into it. If it was to suck something in I don't think it would make it very far. The lines are verrrry small.

Clip.jpeg




From using it the last couple days it seems my ALK doesn't move more than .04, I haven't used the automatic dosing but considering it. My CAL is around 405 and Mag is around 1250 so I would like to bump those up a bit but don't want my Alk to move. Considering using some 2 part to fine tune the system and letting it auto dose. The one thing I would definitely install is an SV1 solenoid if I went with the auto dosing. I don't want some kind of mistake to happen and If i have a solenoid in-between the DOS and the tank I can kill it incase of emergency.



Right now it seem's like 4 tests a day is the minimum.



I think they said the reagent would be $44.95 for 240 ALK tests and 120 Cal/MG tests. if that's the case $44.95 / 120 is roughly $0.03 cents per test. Still worth it in my opinion.



I totally agree. People should definitely stop saying it's a money grab. It really isn't. I would like to see someone do a side to side comparison sheet showing the cost of the trident along with other tests the same way BRS did the episode where they tested each salt to a specific salinity to see how much the salt per gallon actually cost.



Thanks!



You won't regret it!
Thanks! Mr Saltwater compared the trident and alkatronic and it includes price per test, the trident was cheaper.
 

A worm with high fashion and practical utility: Have you ever kept feather dusters in your reef aquarium?

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