Neptune Trident Alk readings maybe off, a tale of 3 different test kits.

[PedroYoung]

I have been running a Trident on my 75G system for at least a yr now and have been pretty happy with it. Just installed a second one on my new 200G system. I had been doing manual tests with Hanna checker while it's just fish and have been in the 8-8.3 range (dosing 2 part). My plan is once the new tank is stable I'd start transferring some of the corals from my 75 to the 200. I set up the second trident a couple days ago and it was reading in the 7.6-7.8 range. Wasn't too concerned since it's been sitting in the basement since August in the box and you're supposed to let it run a couple days before calibrating it. Ran a calibration today and everything checked out, next test Alk was back at 7.5. Double checked with the Hanna, it was reading 8.2. Hmmmmmm, so I did a check on my 75 with the Hanna. That trident (separate unit) was showing 8.7, Hanna says 9.3. Hmmmmmmm again. So I used the Salifert on the 75 to see which was "right" and got 9.2. Wierd. So either I have 2 tridents reading off, my Hanna and Salifert are both off, or I'm crazy. I'm not really chasing any particular parameter, just want stability, but to me there is a difference between 7.5 and 8.2 as the baseline. Just wondered if anyone had any ideas or seen anything similar? I started to poke around on the Neptune Systems support page, but that user forum is a mess. Looks like most questions/requests don't get any answers. Thanks for any insights.

 

[PedroYoung]

I did see in another post the Alk reagents don't keep well so it's possible both of my manual test kits reagents have aged out. The Hanna has prob been open for months, and no telling how long the Salifert has been open.

 

[Shirak]

I did see in another post the Alk reagents don't keep well so it's possible both of my manual test kits reagents have aged out. The Hanna has prob been open for months, and no telling how long the Salifert has been open.

Personally I would trust the newly calibrated trident. Do you still have the trident calibration fluid? Could try using that with your Hanna and salifert kits to see how close they match the specs on the bottle.

 

[PedroYoung]

Personally I would trust the newly calibrated trident. Do you still have the trident calibration fluid? Could try using that with your Hanna and salifert kits to see how close they match the specs on the bottle.

Yeah, that would have been the smart thing to do. Needless to say I poured it down the drain. I ordered some new reagent for the Hanna and we’ll see if that changes anything

 

[PedroYoung]

For anyone interested, I ordered new ALK reagent for the Hanna. When I next changed reagents in the trident I waited a couple days and ran a calibration. Very minor change. I then used the calibration solution in the Hanna. Standard bottle said it was 8.2, Hanna said it was 8.9. Not sure I know how to interpret that, but seems like the offset is consistent with what I saw earlier. I did a check with the old vs new Hanna reagent and there was only 0.1 offset, within the error tolerance of the checker. Ran another sample through the trident using the calibration solution and it came up 8.2.

 

[Shirak]

For anyone interested, I ordered new ALK reagent for the Hanna. When I next changed reagents in the trident I waited a couple days and ran a calibration. Very minor change. I then used the calibration solution in the Hanna. Standard bottle said it was 8.2, Hanna said it was 8.9. Not sure I know how to interpret that, but seems like the offset is consistent with what I saw earlier. I did a check with the old vs new Hanna reagent and there was only 0.1 offset, within the error tolerance of the checker. Ran another sample through the trident using the calibration solution and it came up 8.2.

When you do a calibration and enter the 3 numbers listed on the bottle into the 3 fields during the calibration process, after calibration is complete does the trident read the same as the numbers on the bottle?

 

[PeterC99]

For anyone interested, I ordered new ALK reagent for the Hanna. When I next changed reagents in the trident I waited a couple days and ran a calibration. Very minor change. I then used the calibration solution in the Hanna. Standard bottle said it was 8.2, Hanna said it was 8.9. Not sure I know how to interpret that, but seems like the offset is consistent with what I saw earlier. I did a check with the old vs new Hanna reagent and there was only 0.1 offset, within the error tolerance of the checker. Ran another sample through the trident using the calibration solution and it came up 8.2.

I've had the exact same experience!

 

[VAFish]

I have also had the same issue.

 

[ReefBeta]

Protip: use whatever test kit you trust the most to test Alk, ca, Mg of your tank. Then run a calibration using your tank water and enter the reading from the test kits.

It might not give you the true value, but it will have all your test methods' reading line up. This trick saved my sanity. Also that's the reason I recommend keeping Alk target at 9. So if the test are off by 1, it will still be between 8 and 10. Any number within it is perfectly fine. Stability is more important. Trident reading does tend to be pretty consistent, so everything works out well.

 

[PedroYoung]

When you do a calibration and enter the 3 numbers listed on the bottle into the 3 fields during the calibration process, after calibration is complete does the trident read the same as the numbers on the bottle?

Yes, it does. It also hit the number again when I forced a trident ALK test and used the same solution.

 

[LegendaryCG]

all test kits are wrong, as long as they are relatively consistent thats all you can hope for.

 

[lefkonj]

I don't trust the Trident readings after calibration for at least 4-5 days.

 

[robbyg]

I see the same thing and so have a lot of people.
Hanna Alk is always .5 dkh higher than the Trident.
Which one is right I don’t know, I just keep my tank at 8.5 on the Trident and things seem to be good.

 

[PedroYoung]

I see the same thing and so have a lot of people.
Hanna Alk is always .5 dkh higher than the Trident.
Which one is right I don’t know, I just keep my tank at 8.5 on the Trident and things seem to be good.

That’s really the info I was looking for, am I alone, crazy, or just observing something others have observed. I haven’t seen anywhere else that this is “known”, but it does make me feel better. I too run about 8.5 on trident and seems to keep tank happy.

 

[robbyg]

That’s really the info I was looking for, am I alone, crazy, or just observing something others have observed. I haven’t seen anywhere else that this is “known”, but it does make me feel better. I too run about 8.5 on trident and seems to keep tank happy.

There have been at least three threads on the subject over the last 6 months. I am just to lazy to locate them for you
Enjoy the Trident, it gives useful info without the work. God knows I hate test kits lol

 

[PedroYoung]

There have been at least three threads on the subject over the last 6 months. I am just to lazy to locate them for you
Enjoy the Trident, it gives useful info without the work. God knows I hate test kits lol

I love it, this is actually my second trident (running on both my tanks now). It's really helped my corals having the Alk stability. Used to test once every couple days. Crazy how it can change just during the day.

 

[Shirak]

I love it, this is actually my second trident (running on both my tanks now). It's really helped my corals having the Alk stability. Used to test once every couple days. Crazy how it can change just during the day.

Absolutely!

You will definitely pull your hair out if you are trying to get different test kits to match numbers. I keep a couple other kits on hand just in case something seems way off with one, and I want to double/triple check to make sure parameters are still in the ball park of where they should be. Stability is the key regardless of which tester/test kit you use as long as they are within a proper range.

I like the idea @ReefBeta has to use tank water to run calibration and then your other kits will be more in line with each other. I haven't tried this yet as I like to know the trident is at least able to calibrate to their test solution properly so I figure it's reading the tank properly afterwards also. I am also less concerned with trident and hanna/salifert etc not lining up exactly.

 

[PedroYoung]

Of course, it's glitching now with test A and B failures. Will see how Neptune's support is.

 

[ReefKeeperElite]

I have also had the same issue.

Same here. My hanna checker always reads 0.5 higher than the Trident. 8.7 on the Hanna, 8.2 on the Trident. Freshly calibrated Trident from standard solution, and fresh Hanna reagents. Consistently 0.5 higher. I just keep that info in the back of my head, and continue on with keeping the Trident readings consistent.

 

[PeterC99]

Same here. My hanna checker always reads 0.5 higher than the Trident. 8.7 on the Hanna, 8.2 on the Trident. Freshly calibrated Trident from standard solution, and fresh Hanna reagents. Consistently 0.5 higher. I just keep that info in the back of my head, and continue on with keeping the Trident readings consistent.

I've noticed the exact same issue between my Trident and Hanna!

Did the same test with the Trident calibration solution on Hanna and had the same 0.5 discrepancy.