Trident dosing warning!

[Troylee]

Just wanted to throw this out there and maybe save somebodies tank from a crash! I’ve had my trident for almost a year now and seen trends on it like when your reagents are low the calcium readings creep up really high etc. “false readings” not to mention these things drift out of calibration here or there. I’ve seen a few people on here mention that they have automatic dosing turned on with a Neptune dos, were it dosed off the trident readings and as you can see from above it’s not always accurate! Early this morning I saw a Facebook post where a guy had just that set up on his tank “why not? It’s an option and a cool one at that!” But for what ever reason his trident got a reading of 0 alk! “Maybe a clogged line” who knows Needless to say the doser dumped 4,000ml of alk over night and it’s gonna end very bad! Just wanted to throw this out there and maybe save somebody the heart ache down the road! I have a dos myself but I configure it manually and it works just fine and will need adjusting here or there but it’s much safer than automatic dosing.. happy Friday everyone!

 

[Js.Aqua.Project]

I'm curious for how his programming was set up for his Trident controlled dosing.

The default for the Apex is to use only the baseline dose whenever the Trident comes back with a faulty reading, so I'm curious as to why the DOS would have added 4L (4000ml) unless that's what he had his baseline set to.

If he was using another output triggered doser that may make a little more sense as it would just turn that output on.

 

[Troylee]

I'm curious for how his programming was set up for his Trident controlled dosing.

The default for the Apex is to use only the baseline dose whenever the Trident comes back with a faulty reading, so I'm curious as to why the DOS would have added 4L (4000ml) unless that's what he had his baseline set to.

If he was using another output triggered doser that may make a little more sense as it would just turn that output on.

I’m really not sure honestly.. I saw a screen shot of his fusion and he told the story.. I’m not to tech savvy myself so I just know if I was to setup my system that way with automatic dosing I would have had the same outcome if something happened! Is there fail safes to prevent this? Maybe there is and I’m not aware of it and people can share it here to save someone like myself down the line if we wanted to use that option..

 

[Reefer Matt]

Yeah, there’s a setting that will turn the Trident dosing off if parameters get outside the limit you set. But it will only do that after a testing sequence has run. So if you test every 6 hours, then whatever erroneous condition happened will keep happening for that 6 hours. I tried trident controlled dosing and found it created more inconsistencies than it was worth. I check my parameters daily, and make tweeks as required manually now.

 

[Troylee]

Yeah, there’s a setting that will turn the Trident dosing off if parameters get outside the limit you set. But it will only do that after a testing sequence has run. So if you test every 6 hours, then whatever erroneous condition happened will keep happening for that 6 hours. I tried trident controlled dosing and found it created more inconsistencies than it was worth. I check my parameters daily, and make tweeks as required manually now.

I feel that’s the safest means personally… I mean I know everyone wants set it and forget it but this hobby isn’t for you if you have that attitude.. you gotta spend a few minutes a day with your tank and be in tune with it if you wanna be successful anyways..

 

[Js.Aqua.Project]

I’m really not sure honestly.. I saw a screen shot of his fusion and he told the story.. I’m not to tech savvy myself so I just know if I was to setup my system that way with automatic dosing I would have had the same outcome if something happened! Is there fail safes to prevent this? Maybe there is and I’m not aware of it and people can share it here to save someone like myself down the line if we wanted to use that option..

There are two quasi-fail safes. When setting up Trident controlled dosing (with a DOS) you set up your base dose that you should already know, and you add a +/- percentage for how far above/below that dose the Trident can adjust based on the testing values. If there is a bad test or it would require a dose outside that restriction it will only give what you set as the base dose.

So fail-safe one, you set the base dose, it doesn't adjust this on its own.

Fail-safe two, if there is a bad reading or it would need more than the percent window you've allowed it will only give the base dose (until the next reading).

 

[Js.Aqua.Project]

All that being said, I currently use my Trident to "control" my calcium reactor, I did previously use a DOS years ago. I didn't find any big inconsistencies in my use of the DOS with the Trident as I would still manually verify the dHK at least once-twice a week and Ca/Mg every other week. (For me the DOS was doing Alk and Ca)

 

[Doctorgori]

Just wanted to throw this out there and maybe save somebodies tank from a crash! I’ve had my trident for almost a year now and seen trends on it like when your reagents are low the calcium readings creep up really high etc. “false readings” not to mention these things drift out of calibration here or there. I’ve seen a few people on here mention that they have automatic dosing turned on with a Neptune dos, were it dosed off the trident readings and as you can see from above it’s not always accurate! Early this morning I saw a Facebook post where a guy had just that set up on his tank “why not? It’s an option and a cool one at that!” But for what ever reason his trident got a reading of 0 alk! “Maybe a clogged line” who knows Needless to say the doser dumped 4,000ml of alk over night and it’s gonna end very bad! Just wanted to throw this out there and maybe save somebody the heart ache down the road! I have a dos myself but I configure it manually and it works just fine and will need adjusting here or there but it’s much safer than automatic dosing.. happy Friday everyone!

Been there to all. the above and quoting you so you know this isn’t all that unusual… I own three Tridents: 1 is solid, one acts as above more or less, another is total refurbished garbage …

 

[Troylee]

There are two quasi-fail safes. When setting up Trident controlled dosing (with a DOS) you set up your base dose that you should already know, and you add a +/- percentage for how far above/below that dose the Trident can adjust based on the testing values. If there is a bad test or it would require a dose outside that restriction it will only give what you set as the base dose.

So fail-safe one, you set the base dose, it doesn't adjust this on its own.

Fail-safe two, if there is a bad reading or it would need more than the percent window you've allowed it will only give the base dose (until the next reading).

Good to know… so how would this work in the scenario I see over and over where my calcium reading creeps up when the reagents are low? It’s a process that lasts about a week and I know personally now that means it’s time to replace my reagents.. I replaced my reagents last night and you can see in the graph it was off by 100.. checked this via Hannah

 

[Js.Aqua.Project]

Good to know… so how would this work in the scenario I see over and over where my calcium reading creeps up when the reagents are low? It’s a process that lasts about a week and I know personally now that means it’s time to replace my reagents.. I replaced my reagents last night and you can see in the graph it was off by 100.. checked this via Hannah

So I used to have my window set really tight to my baselines, like the Trident could only dose +/- 10% my baseline dose based on my Ca target (450ppm). So if the Trident is doing outside that in test results I know that it is only going to go a few mL higher or lower before it has to return to my known daily use amount.

If I started getting odd numbers, I would first verify with my Hanna then see if I had a clog or needed to replace my reagents.

If the odd numbers were correct, then I knew I needed to adjust my base dose setting.

 

[areefer01]

Just wanted to throw this out there and maybe save somebodies tank from a crash! I’ve had my trident for almost a year now and seen trends on it like when your reagents are low the calcium readings creep up really high etc. “false readings” not to mention these things drift out of calibration here or there. I’ve seen a few people on here mention that they have automatic dosing turned on with a Neptune dos, were it dosed off the trident readings and as you can see from above it’s not always accurate! Early this morning I saw a Facebook post where a guy had just that set up on his tank “why not? It’s an option and a cool one at that!” But for what ever reason his trident got a reading of 0 alk! “Maybe a clogged line” who knows Needless to say the doser dumped 4,000ml of alk over night and it’s gonna end very bad! Just wanted to throw this out there and maybe save somebody the heart ache down the road! I have a dos myself but I configure it manually and it works just fine and will need adjusting here or there but it’s much safer than automatic dosing.. happy Friday everyone!

This isn't a cool post at all. Especially since it is second hand information without details. I do not mean that disrespectful to you but honestly, this should be removed.

I included the instructions below so everyone is aware of how it works. Long and short of it is that the hobbyist sets a control range, and a control limit. If the measured Trident value (test result) is outside that range it will not adjust the dosing. It will dose the daily volume as defined in the schedule. Since I may have worded it incorrectly the instructions are below. I've personally used TCD (trident controlled dosing) with ESV 2 part and found it rather safe and reliable. Even when I experienced some of the reagent drift with Ca test results.

I don't know the details of what happened on the information you posted nor do I want to go find it. However something else attributed to the excessive dosing. It is unfortunate that someone had a failed system.

Edit: for clarity the reason why I suggested being removed is if someone searches on trident controlled dosing, and this pops up, it would be misleading. Did not mean to come into the thread hot. Sorry about that.

Get Started | Trident Controlled Dosing

Trident Controlled DŌS: Preface This guide will walk through setup of Trident controlled dosing using the Neptune Systems DŌS. Controlled dosing allows you to set desired levels for alkalinity, calcium, and magnesium, and have automatic control of those parameters. The best way to configure...

www.neptunesystems.com

 

[Troylee]

This isn't a cool post at all. Especially since it is second hand information without details. I do not mean that disrespectful to you but honestly, this should be removed.

I included the instructions below so everyone is aware of how it works. Long and short of it is that the hobbyist sets a control range, and a control limit. If the measured Trident value (test result) is outside that range it will not adjust the dosing. It will dose the daily volume as defined in the schedule. Since I may have worded it incorrectly the instructions are below. I've personally used TCD (trident controlled dosing) with ESV 2 part and found it rather safe and reliable. Even when I experienced some of the reagent drift with Ca test results.

I don't know the details of what happened on the information you posted nor do I want to go find it. However something else attributed to the excessive dosing. It is unfortunate that someone had a failed system.

Edit: for clarity the reason why I suggested being removed is if someone searches on trident controlled dosing, and this pops up, it would be misleading. Did not mean to come into the thread hot. Sorry about that.

Get Started | Trident Controlled Dosing

Trident Controlled DŌS: Preface This guide will walk through setup of Trident controlled dosing using the Neptune Systems DŌS. Controlled dosing allows you to set desired levels for alkalinity, calcium, and magnesium, and have automatic control of those parameters. The best way to configure...

www.neptunesystems.com

lol… I’m not bashing Neptune or trident I have them and love them I’m just using it as an aware post to help somebody down the line.. I myself wouldn’t have those failsafes in place if I configured my trident to automatic dosing. I’m not tech savvy and don’t really care to be! Automation is great but it’s also bound to fail some where some way or some how! If this post prevents 1 tank crash it was successful in my opinion.. I feel better about the whole situation knowing you can configure a fail safe I didn’t know that! I don’t know if that guy had one or not and I’m not gonna chase it down to find out! It happened so that’s, that.. lol.