Trident vs Alkatronic vs KH Director vs kh guardian

mitch91175

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Here's a quick update.

Alkatronic:
upload_2019-6-27_21-3-47.png


upload_2019-6-27_21-1-59.png


You can see the calibration reading above. There is about a 0.4dKH gap between them at the moment. Wonder if that gap will continue to decrease?
 

mitch91175

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It is going to be interesting to watch over time as equipment ages and standard periodic recalibrations take place. I imagine that the difference will shrink and grow during that time; maybe even inverse for what product is higher.



Quite honestly the Alkatronic has always been pretty freaking accurate. One of it’s best features is that it allows you to put in an offset so you can match your results then the unit offsets if necessary.
 

road_runner

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Quite honestly the Alkatronic has always been pretty freaking accurate. One of it’s best features is that it allows you to put in an offset so you can match your results then the unit offsets if necessary.
Same with khg.
You can put an offset to match your reference so they do not force you on buying their own reference. Results are pretty darn accurate.
 

mitch91175

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Same with khg.
You can put an offset to match your reference so they do not force you on buying their own reference. Results are pretty darn accurate.

Yeah the calibration solution isn't the issue, it is not having an actual feature for baseline offset. I wonder if we just put in our test kit measurements will that do the same as the baseline offset? The next time I calibrate, I will see about doing both to see which results in the best measurements.
 

mitch91175

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Just a quick update for those interested, both devices are still tracking at a 0.4dKH difference. So this definitely tells me that both are definitely suffice for measuring dKH. Don't know yet on the Trident longevity, but what I think the Trident has against it would be long-term cost.

Need to test magnesium/calcium again, but again with me running a calcium reactor, I really do not worry about those nearly as much as dKH.
 

GoVols

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but again with me running a calcium reactor, I really do not worry about those nearly as much as dKH.

+1

The Alkatronic sure has a great niche when pairing up with a good cal reactor setup.
I've been in full blown action mode and their Blue Tooth socket has preformed flawless.

Mitch,
Have you seen this guys setup. One Alka-T controlling two Dosetronics. Jonas was helping this guy to get it to talk with his Apex.
Jonas's IT gibber was way over my head, but it is a cool setup.

FB_IMG_1561943291240.jpg


:)
 

mitch91175

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+1

The Alkatronic sure has a great niche when pairing up with a good cal reactor setup.
I've been in full blown action mode and their Blue Tooth socket has preformed flawless.

Mitch,
Have you seen this guys setup. One Alka-T controlling two Dosetronics. Jonas was helping this guy to get it to talk with his Apex.
Jonas's IT gibber was way over my head, but it is a cool setup.

FB_IMG_1561943291240.jpg


:)


Yeah I saw it on their Facebook page. There are some really nice setups out in the wild :).

Yeah that socket is simple but legit.
 

road_runner

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It is used to calibrate the Trident. So it will work with other testers. Just like you can buy any refractometer calibration solution to calibrate any refractometer.

But if it makes you feel better, test them against other known solutions.

Like this one.

https://www.marinedepot.com/ati-elements-reference-supplement-for-reef-aquariums-1000ml

One I like but is impossible to find in the US is this.

https://www.faunamarin.de/en/multi-reference-100ml/a-167/
Managed to place an order on the funa narine reference kit. They shipping from Germany. Will send it to mitch as well once I get it.
 
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vhuang168

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A couple of things to note.

Hanna has a range of +/- 5% so it is closer than it looks.

Also, if you absolutely want the Trident to match your Hanna, you can use the readings from the Hanna. So do a calibration, but leave the intake in the tank. When asked to input the values, use the value from the Hanna checker with the reading done at that time. You can use the readings from the Trident for Ca/Mg or use your own readings as well.

This is in the Trident FAQ

https://www.neptunesystems.com/getstarted/trident/faq/

Screen Shot 2019-07-01 at 10.54.55 AM.png
 
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vhuang168

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On the last reading on the Alkatronic which is close to your Hanna reading if I remember reading correctly. So I'm going to use the Hanna as the example.

8.99 X 0.05 = 0.45

8.99 - 0.45 = 8.54

Very close to what the Trident is showing.
 

road_runner

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Yup am aware of this. The ion based testing is being adapted in the aquarium test industry. GHL also coming with their ion prob tester.
This is something worth waiting and spending money on.
Both this one and GHL ion tester will test CA, mag, K+, nitrate amount others. And adding more test abilities will not require a device change.
Gonna be interesting to see how much they position it for. If its 700$~800$ or less it's going to be game changer...
 
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mitch91175

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Yup am aware of this. The ion based testing is being adapted in the aquarium test industry. GHL also coming with their ion prob tester.
This is something worth waiting and spending money on.
Both this one and GHL ion tester will test CA, mag, K+, nitrate amount others. And adding more test abilities will not require a device change.
Gonna be interesting to see how much they position it for. If its 700$~800$ or less it's going to be game changer...


Trying to find more info about it in another thread that is here on R2R.
 

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Yup am aware of this. The ion based testing is being adapted in the aquarium test industry. GHL also coming with their ion prob tester.
This is something worth waiting and spending money on.
Both this one and GHL ion tester will test CA, mag, K+, nitrate amount others. And adding more test abilities will not require a device change.
Gonna be interesting to see how much they position it for. If its 700$~800$ or less it's going to be game changer...

Trying to find more info about it in another thread that is here on R2R.

Would GHL still need the ph probe for alk or am I wrong?
 

road_runner

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Trying to find more info about it in another thread that is here on R2R.
They ran a tight ship to avoid over promising and disappointing people with delays or subpar releases I think. Just recently they popped and gave firm release data with informations. Am waiting to understand the details more. From what I know here and there, GHL still my go to ion based testing since they are planning on providing stand alone device(you gotta love what they doing with these stand alone releasea) and since they are not pressuring on getting their own kh tester as part if the ion prob tester. I am very happy with my khg and want to keep using it ad much as I can. So just adding one tester that test everything else is a no brainer.
Worth the wait.
 

road_runner

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Would GHL still need the ph probe for alk or am I wrong?
Yes ghl kh director using ph to measure kh. Ph based kh measurment is one of the best and simplest kh measurments methods in my humble openion.
But they are coming up with ion director that will test ca mag k+ nitrate and others that will be stand along equipment and do not require kh director or controller if you do not want to buy one...
 

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