Neptune trident

[Shinister]

Now that the NDA is lifted does any of the NSI group care to share some insight on their experiences with the trident?

That would be so helpful.
My two primary questions are regarding the calibration and controlled dosing. So far anyways...

Calibration:
Terrence and Paul mentioned how some of the NSI people brought up that the Trident readings were off compared to Salifert and that if you truly believe in your test kits you can you use your own water for calibration. What's the general concensus among the NSI people? How many chose to use the included calibration solution vs trusting their test kit and using their own water?

Controlled Dosing:
The instructions on the Neptune website recommends using one interval for calcium for the entire 24 hour day and using 3 different intervals for alk, 15% before lights, 70% during photoperiod, and back to 15% after lights out. If you currently have your cal and alk set for staggered dosing, in my case 5 minutes apart, how would you keep that staggered dosing?

 

[MyReefRobbedMe]

This is Corny for the limited amount and Zero pre sales . This is Exactly what I was speaking about https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.com/ulk/itm/273837404766

 

[aarbutina]

Just like that gone!

Glad I scored mine then!

 

[Benibarra23]

Are people really now complaining about it being sold out? Everybody knew it would sell out quick. Stop your complaining and wait a week or drive over to your local platinum retailer and get one.

 

[Zohar78]

Good for you, but coming on this trident forum and bragging about an alkatronic is like showing up at the bmw dealer and telling everybody how great your Buick is. I have a lot of respect for Neptune for telling us up front that in two years you should have some maintenance done on the unit. They didn’t have to tell anybody. And the “shady” thing for them to do would have been to not tell us and then when your unit starts to drift in readings, say “oh well, buy a replacement”. And nobody is forcing anybody to buy this. For the people that don’t like the trident you’re free to invent something better yourself. IMHO

heh. i thought maintenance and saltwater went hand and hand. it looks like quite a complicated piece of machinery. I wonder if thats one of the things that held back release, trying to bullet proof it and get the idea of how often maintenance is needed and cost. in this day and age, where people sue for everything or quickly bash publicly, its better to wait on release of products to try to prevent that as much.

 

[Epic Aquaculture]

That would be so helpful.
My two primary questions are regarding the calibration and controlled dosing. So far anyways...

Calibration:
Terrence and Paul mentioned how some of the NSI people brought up that the Trident readings were off compared to Salifert and that if you truly believe in your test kits you can you use your own water for calibration. What's the general concensus among the NSI people? How many chose to use the included calibration solution vs trusting their test kit and using their own water?

Controlled Dosing:
The instructions on the Neptune website recommends using one interval for calcium for the entire 24 hour day and using 3 different intervals for alk, 15% before lights, 70% during photoperiod, and back to 15% after lights out. If you currently have your cal and alk set for staggered dosing, in my case 5 minutes apart, how would you keep that staggered dosing?

Regarding the calibration question, I do not have the Trident, but I have a different Alk monitor from another major brand. They also offer a baseline calibration option if you feel that you want your monitor to match test kit results. In my case there is a difference between the monitors results and Salifert, but since I don't really know which is more accurate, what I do is test my water with my monitor, as well as Salifert,and take a sample to send in for ICP analysis. I do this all at the same time, and write down the results. When I get my ICP results back I compare all three, and determine the offset factor with the most weight placed on the ICP result. Remember ALK is changing all the time, and what you are looking for is stability more than a specific number, so don't get too hung up on which number is "correct" I do this whenever I send in an ICP test which is about once every 3 months or so.

 

[DoctaReef]

I'm happy to hear that the Trident is out, and I'm looking forward to setting one up, if I ever get my hands on one!

On the issues I've been hearing about reagent costs and whatever it costs for maintenance, I'd just chime in and say its a small price to pay. We all have invested so much money in our tanks to start, and in corals we've bought and lost but never had consistent data to back up why.

In my line of work, I also look at the time I spend on something as worth money too, so in the case of the Trident, I'm looking at the time it will save and the automation as the real value.

Thanks to Neptune Systems for developing this!

 

[Shinister]

Regarding the calibration question, I do not have the Trident, but I have a different Alk monitor from another major brand. They also offer a baseline calibration option if you feel that you want your monitor to match test kit results. In my case there is a difference between the monitors results and Salifert, but since I don't really know which is more accurate, what I do is test my water with my monitor, as well as Salifert,and take a sample to send in for ICP analysis. I do this all at the same time, and write down the results. When I get my ICP results back I compare all three, and determine the offset factor with the most weight placed on the ICP result. Remember ALK is changing all the time, and what you are looking for is stability more than a specific number, so don't get too hung up on which number is "correct" I do this whenever I send in an ICP test which is about once every 3 months or so.

Very true. I told myself not to shoot for numbers but after watching that BRS video on 50% faster growth with elevated levels, I couldn’t help myself

 

[CDavmd]

That’s insane Bc I was on at 2:45 saw 70 in stock went to check out and it updated me sorry not in stock, tried 10-15 times would t let me checkout. In my cart and all, but of course it’s just my luck.

Crazy! I just happened to wake up at 2:40am because the house was hot and thought oh good I’ll stay up and see if I can snag one.

I was reading an article on wrasses waiting until 2:58 when I decided to head over. By the time I navigated to the trident and put it in my basket it was 20 sec till 3am ET (12am pacific) and I still needed to log in so as not to have to enter payment method. It all went through perfectly.

Just odd....are east coast internet connections more efficient?

Anyway it will be here Monday. Sorry for all those who have to wait fir the next batch.

 

[smartwater101]

Unethical? C'mon guys... This is getting completely out of hand.

Its certainly anti-consumer. You have to bare in mind, not every customer frequents forums or watches product announcement videos. This information isnt disclosed anywhere in the product pages or 3rd party vendor pages. We're talking about an additional investment of almost 1/3 the cost of the initial purchase. And they won't even tell us what the actual cost is. Unless they realize their mistake and add this info, many will learn about this the hard way.

That's pretty disingenuous, no matter how hard people try to spin it.

 

[Terence]

It is in the FAQ on our site. Was there at launch.

 

[Hitch08]

It was mentioned but they didn't go into detail. I thought I heard 18 - 24 months which doesn't seem bad to me based on the number of tests you will do yearly. Put it into the bigger picture and it makes sense based on how they are testing compared to other products.

That's my recollection as well. The current thought is every 18 - 24 months. You can either order a kit to do it yourself or send it in. I think Terence mentioned that it would be less than $100 to do it yourself - the price is not set. Or, you send send it in for them to do it.

 

[Terence]

Furthermore, if we told you the kit was 79.50 or the send in cost was $162.83, would that make a material difference? We are working still on what will be included and would rather under promise and over deliver on this one. We will provide more information on this in the not too distant future. Until then, we believe this is enough information to help a customer make an informed buying decision. This is recommended maintenance - it might just feel strange because we are actually disclosing it.

 

[smartwater101]

Furthermore, if we told you the kit was 79.50 or the send in cost was $162.83, would that make a material difference?

Yes. People may not like the cost but they could at least have a properly informed view of their overall investment. Having to wait "a couple months" to know this info, just makes the situation less palatable.

 

[gobble]

I'm anxious to hear whether this thing really works. The non-controller accessories put out by Neptune have all had pretty disappointing reliability results.

 

[Keepswiming]

Furthermore, if we told you the kit was 79.50 or the send in cost was $162.83, would that make a material difference? We are working still on what will be included and would rather under promise and over deliver on this one. We will provide more information on this in the not too distant future. Until then, we believe this is enough information to help a customer make an informed buying decision. This is recommended maintenance - it might just feel strange because we are actually disclosing it.

It blows my mind that the company has to even have a conversation to justify this... I am a hands on type, so <$100 maintenance every 18-24 months is a no brainer. That is the cost of your average mid-high grade single stick. So purchase 1 less stick that year and protect your other gems in the tank!!! Just because people don't maintain things, doesn't mean it's not recommended with an associated cost. I challenge the naysayers to produce a product that costs less, just as accurate, and has NO maintenance. Don't worry we will wait...

I will say this much, if this is what people are complaining about, Neptune Systems did something right! lol

Hats off to the company for putting out quality products. It makes keeping a nice reef a little less stressful in our busy lives!

Die hard reef junkie here, now release more tridents because I was busy sleeping when the vultures were hard at work. JK about vultures, but seriously release more tridents soon. lol

 

[bfsaunde]

Gone at Marine depot now. I saw a blip but wasn’t quick enough

 

[User1]

That's my recollection as well. The current thought is every 18 - 24 months. You can either order a kit to do it yourself or send it in. I think Terence mentioned that it would be less than $100 to do it yourself - the price is not set. Or, you send send it in for them to do it.

Thank you for the clarification.

Also @Terence thanks for your clarification as well. Should clear up a lot of the chatter we had the past couple of hours

 

[Oberst Hajj]

Just odd....are east coast internet connections more efficient?

Actually, there is something to that. Some investor companies paid billions to have the shortest fiber runs to the stock exchanges years ago and at some point the men in black required all fiber runs to be the same length, so they took the really short ones and looped fiber around and around to equal out the runs. Crazy stuff.

 

[RockyProndoa]

Yes. People may not like the cost but they could at least have a properly informed view of their overall investment. Having to wait "a couple months" to know this info, just makes the situation less palatable.

It doesn't. If $50 is going to affect your buying decision, you can't afford it, plain and simple. Move on.