Trident vs Alkatronic vs KH Director vs kh guardian

leepink23

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So I am in the market for a alkalinity controller, first on my list is the trident, I am curious peoples impressions of these units especially if owned more than 1. So the pros I have read so far, trident is easy to setup, has a standard calibration fluid to verify accuracy and works with my DOS. KH Director is a stand-alone that only requires 1 test a day and all maintenance is done at home, Alkatronic is accurate and connects to my apex, also a stand-alone and controls calcium reactor. Kh guardian is quiet, connects to my apex and is a stand-alone. My sps are on the small side so this is more of a want then a necessity. I am curious on accuracy, ease of use, maintenance and sound.
Edit: This is meant to be helpful so it can include good and bad but in regards to the unit not the company itself unless it’s related to service you received after purchase.
 
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road_runner

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My vote goes to the kh guardian. Then the kh director.
Been using kh guardian for 2 years. I have 2 units one for the main tank and another for the frag tank.

- I think its the cheapest...~500$ test and dose...the price is if you buy directly from the source..

- It's been the longest in the market. Had enough time to fix issues and meet customers complaints. They had multiple upgrades which was easy to add as I will explain later.

-Have a great customer support behind it. Dr. Chen will directly communicate with users and help address their issues.

- Can control CA reactor. I believe only khg and khd can do that. At least so far. This is huge advantage for people who run CArx like myself. It is also when you run CArx that you start realizing that you only need to test kh, rest will follow:))

-Maintenance is simple and can be done by the user without send you tester back to us fiasco.

-Small foot print..I think it's the smallest in the market.

-Quiet compared to trident and alktronic..not sure about the kh director.

Finally I think one of the strongest advantages of the khg is its design simplicity...
it's one of the simplest kh testers out there in my openion.

3 main components.
Ph prob
Mixing chamber
Dosers.
Testing is done based on ph reading while adding reagent drops to water sample in the mixing chamber...

I feel that Debugging issues were simpler cause you can target each specific part. You can also change the whole part when needed.

Example: there was some new upgrades and development on the mixing motor and or the drop counter...dr. chen made available the whole mixing chamber that came with latest drop counter, mixing motor and latest float for cheap..you can change the whole mixing chamber and get all the upgrades at once..

Used my 1st khg for 2 years had a very good experince. When I faced issues de. Chen was very supportive and helped me fixed the issue immediately..again due to the design simplicity debugging was simple.
I got a 2nd unit 6 months ago for my frag tank...

Hope this helped.
 
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ihavecrabs

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Although I have only used one, I also thoroughly love my kh guardian.

I have been using mine since December and couldn't imagine living without it again.

Biggest learning on my part is the amount the tank changes its alkalinity usage. Keeping it stable has had amazing results.
 
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leepink23

leepink23

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Although I have only used one, I also thoroughly love my kh guardian.

I have been using mine since December and couldn't imagine living without it again.

Biggest learning on my part is the amount the tank changes its alkalinity usage. Keeping it stable has had amazing results.
Is there a minimum amount of tests? How much does reagent cost?
 

road_runner

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The least you can test is once every 4 hours. This gives you around 2 months of testing per reagent.
Some people connect the khg to a timer if you want to test less frequent than every 4 hours...
 

Epic Aquaculture

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I love my Alkatronic. Simple to set up, consistent, accurate, and flexible. I have mine set up to control my DaStaCo CA reactor. It keeps my Alk steady throughout the day. I've had mine running for about 5 months, with no issues at all. it's also been out for a few years, so most bugs have been worked out. All maintenance can be done at home, and it has the lowest cost per test of any of the units at around $.04 per test. Their customer service is outstanding and Jonas is always willing to help, and is easy to reach.
 

road_runner

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I love my Alkatronic. Simple to set up, consistent, accurate, and flexible. I have mine set up to control my DaStaCo CA reactor. It keeps my Alk steady throughout the day. I've had mine running for about 5 months, with no issues at all. it's also been out for a few years, so most bugs have been worked out. All maintenance can be done at home, and it has the lowest cost per test of any of the units at around $.04 per test. Their customer service is outstanding and Jonas is always willing to help, and is easy to reach.
I thought dastaco had problem with using thes testers...I remember reading a PSA on their FB page...no?
 

ihavecrabs

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Is there a minimum amount of tests? How much does reagent cost?

My reagent packet lasts me about 2 months at a cost of $35. Set it and forget it.. other than watching your Apex for the test results every so often :)

I'm hopeful someone will take on the effort at determining a DIY reagent recipe, but who knows.
 

Epic Aquaculture

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I thought dastaco had problem with using thes testers...I remember reading a PSA on their FB page...no?
I have not had any problems, but i didn't see the PSA that you mention. If you happen to have a link to it, I would appreciate it. Thank you.
 

road_runner

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I have not had any problems, but i didn't see the PSA that you mention. If you happen to have a link to it, I would appreciate it. Thank you.
I think this was one of the couppe of times they mentioned it. I guess it also depend on how are you controlling your dastaco. I use khg but do not control my dastaco with it even though they have a carx module
3f88563d8183ff93ec826fbb46d03c30.jpg
 

Epic Aquaculture

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I think this was one of the couppe of times they mentioned it. I guess it also depend on how are you controlling your dastaco. I use khg but do not control my dastaco with it even though they have a carx module
3f88563d8183ff93ec826fbb46d03c30.jpg
Thank you very much. I will have to remove mine as well...
 

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I'm in the same boat as the OP, though I'm not in a big hurry. The difference in my case is that I really want something that is compatible with any controller (Reef Angel in my case), and by compatible, I really mean that the controller can get the test readings even if only used for display and logging. Obviously that rules out the Trident, but even though the KH Director lacks the compatibility, I keep it in the running because it will work standalone (with a GHL doser), and if I ever wanted to switch controllers, the KH Director would either work seamlessly with a GHL controller or would work standalone with an Apex. That said, the KH Director is in a distant 3rd right now for that reason.

I would like to see a real "Pros and Cons" comparative list for each. All I've been able to find are promos, which only tell one side of the story (e.g. no promo says, "This product was designed and is supported by one guy, and if he goes away, you're screwed," or "You are going to lose 1/2 liter of saltwater per day so your weekly salinity drop will be however much a system your size is affected by replacing a gal of saltwater with a gal of RO every week." Even the good points are stated in different ways and some stuff is downright subjective, "The xx is so loud, I have flashbacks to the AC/DC concerts I attended in the 80's," or, "You can barely hear the xx with a stethoscope."

Obviously all of these units have good and bad points, but it is hard to wrap one's hands around what might work best for one's particular situation.
 

road_runner

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I'm in the same boat as the OP, though I'm not in a big hurry. The difference in my case is that I really want something that is compatible with any controller (Reef Angel in my case), and by compatible, I really mean that the controller can get the test readings even if only used for display and logging. Obviously that rules out the Trident, but even though the KH Director lacks the compatibility, I keep it in the running because it will work standalone (with a GHL doser), and if I ever wanted to switch controllers, the KH Director would either work seamlessly with a GHL controller or would work standalone with an Apex. That said, the KH Director is in a distant 3rd right now for that reason.

I would like to see a real "Pros and Cons" comparative list for each. All I've been able to find are promos, which only tell one side of the story (e.g. no promo says, "This product was designed and is supported by one guy, and if he goes away, you're screwed," or "You are going to lose 1/2 liter of saltwater per day so your weekly salinity drop will be however much a system your size is affected by replacing a gal of saltwater with a gal of RO every week." Even the good points are stated in different ways and some stuff is downright subjective, "The xx is so loud, I have flashbacks to the AC/DC concerts I attended in the 80's," or, "You can barely hear the xx with a stethoscope."

Obviously all of these units have good and bad points, but it is hard to wrap one's hands around what might work best for one's particular situation.
Kh guardian can work with any controller. You also can return the test sample back to your system without ill effects. And I believe it's the smallest and mor quiet out of the bunch.
 
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leepink23

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Kh guardian can work with any controller. You also can return the test sample back to your system without ill effects. And I believe it's the smallest and mor quiet out of the bunch.
How much sample water does it remove? Is there a minimum frequency of testing? How accurate does it transfer the test results to the apex?
 

road_runner

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How much sample water does it remove? Is there a minimum frequency of testing? How accurate does it transfer the test results to the apex?

Not sure about the water sample size, it's small. But you can dump it back in the sump so it doesnot matter.
Test every 4 hours. For the last 2 years it's been very accurate no complaints. I cross check it with salifert kit once a month just incase. It transfer the results to apex with great accuracy...I think the most I have seen diffrence is 0.01 delta. It let you calibrate your AIM module so data transferred to your controller are accurate.
 

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