Trident

Deborah Armay · Jan 3, 2021

So I’ve had my Trident for about 2 months. The alk is showing pretty accurate as well as Mg. The problem is the Calcium. It shows 280 which of course is low. I’ve always had more than adequate ant of Ca as I do not have a lot of demanding corals. However I started using Lanthanum to help with a long standing phosphate problem. As I have read Landanum can lower Ca. Here’s my problem. My Hanna checker is showing Ca at 520 while trident is 290. I tested the trident calibration solution and it showed 508 when it should be 390 according to the reference numbers on the side of the calibration bottle. I need to mention the the calibration bottle has been open about a month but with a tight cap. I’m unsure if I should dose Ca or not. Any help?

Flux Capacitor · Jan 3, 2021

Try taking the reagent out and checking to make sure it’s not sucking any air in. The tops and the tube in the reagent are connected by a plastic piece. Just make sure they are on all the way.

If that doesn’t work I’d send in a support ticket to Neptune.

User1 · Jan 3, 2021

Deborah Armay said:
So I’ve had my Trident for about 2 months. The alk is showing pretty accurate as well as Mg. The problem is the Calcium. It shows 280 which of course is low. I’ve always had more than adequate ant of Ca as I do not have a lot of demanding corals. However I started using Lanthanum to help with a long standing phosphate problem. As I have read Landanum can lower Ca. Here’s my problem. My Hanna checker is showing Ca at 520 while trident is 290. I tested the trident calibration solution and it showed 508 when it should be 390 according to the reference numbers on the side of the calibration bottle. I need to mention the the calibration bottle has been open about a month but with a tight cap. I’m unsure if I should dose Ca or not. Any help?

The calibration fluid is a one time use. If you want to test or verify or out of curiosity test the left over calibration fluid you need to do it within a couple hours. I'm sure someone will say they did...

The two tests are significantly different as are the results.

Not sure when you calibrated your trident but new setup, then let it run for a bit, then you run through the calibration. I think they recommend 48 - 72 hours before you run it. Anyway not sure what you have done or not but I would look at the data from the day after you calibrated it.

What does your Alk, Ca, and MG show over that period of time to today? You can either pull the data via the graph and use the slider or the API interface and grab it that way. Either way I would look at the complete data set and see what the data looks like.

I would not dose, no. I also wouldn't start chasing numbers. I would take a step back, look at the data the Trident shows, then go from there. If you have a friend or another test kit maybe have someone check that Ca number to Hanna's. Or if your LFS is decent they can do the test there. At this point unless your Ca started at 520 after the Trident installation I wouldn't trust that number.

Deborah Armay · Jan 4, 2021

Thanks.

ca1ore · Jan 4, 2021

Deborah Armay said:
So I’ve had my Trident for about 2 months. The alk is showing pretty accurate as well as Mg. The problem is the Calcium. It shows 280 which of course is low. I’ve always had more than adequate ant of Ca as I do not have a lot of demanding corals. However I started using Lanthanum to help with a long standing phosphate problem. As I have read Landanum can lower Ca. Here’s my problem. My Hanna checker is showing Ca at 520 while trident is 290. I tested the trident calibration solution and it showed 508 when it should be 390 according to the reference numbers on the side of the calibration bottle. I need to mention the the calibration bottle has been open about a month but with a tight cap. I’m unsure if I should dose Ca or not. Any help?

You tested the calibration solution in the Hanna? Hanna showed 508 ..... versus 390? I find the Hanna Ca extremely tricky to use and thus not reproducible. You could try the API kit as a further data point.

I guess I am going to be THAT guy ..... I keep my leftover calibrations solution tightly capped and do use it up. I ran Trident off a 3 week old solution and it was pretty close. I understand why Neptune say to only use it once, since they have no way of controlling it after its initially opened and don't want the testy CS calls.

If Mg is on, then it's unlikely there is any problem with the reagents or dosing lines since Mg and Ca are interrelated tests (both B and C say Ca/Mg if you doubt that). My guess is that your Ca really is low.