Why am I ditching the Neptune Trident

[VJV]

let me start by saying that I absolutely love my Neptune controller. I have been using it for the past three years after an appalling experience with GHL that lasted another three years. I can honestly say that if I was faced with the choice of leaving the hobby vs being forced to use GHL again I would gladly leave the hobby. But this is for another thread. Why am I ditching the Trident than? In one word, stubbornness. In two words, Reagent Cost. let me break it down:

- I live in Europe where a 2 month reagent kit costs 60$ and a 6 month kit 200$!!! That means that in order to test Alk a minimum of 6x a day (the recommended minimum to use Trident Controlled dosing) I need to shell out at least 600$ per year in reagents alone. I have done it but enough is enough. Time to buy the Alkatronic+dosetronic package

- Why stubbornness? Well, I understand that you need to test Ca=Mg a min of 2x a day but what could easily be fixed would be to allow you to increase Alk dosing without increasing Ca and Mg dosing. So for example I could test 12x a day Alk, but still keep testing only 2x a day Ca and Mg. Although this would not completely fix the issue, it would make it easier to swallow. The second point is that Neptune could simply start making reagents in Europe. I am certain this would not be complicated .

The final annoying bit is the fact that I always end up throwing 35% of the Alk reagent out Because the Ca and Mg have depleted. Not only this is a waste of money, it is simply waste. Again, this should be fixed.

If I were in the US, at 100$ for a 6 month kit I would probably not look elsewhere. But at 200$ it is just unsustainable.

I right this with sadness, as I am a Neptune fan. I guess I hope they change their policies in the near future and I can get back to the Pentagon (Alk,Ca,Mg,NO3,PO4) auto tester )

 

[Saskdevil]

I'm old school I just used test kits and strips LOL. I feel your pain though I was looking at their system and I live in northern Canada and it seems the price has doubled once it crosses the border.

 

[Not an IT guy]

Ghl is better. Big brain power.

 

[dakoop]

I love mine, when it works. Seems to act up every single time I change reagents

 

[t5Nitro]

Sometimes the simple test kit is way more user friendly. I would like to automate the testing some day. I like my GHL doser. But what a PITA it is to connect to the wifi 90% of the time. Open and close the app on repeat. Lately it flat out doesn't work. I have to connect hardwired to the computer to access the settings. Thanks for sharing your experience with trident.

 

[Karen00]

I sometimes wonder if devices are designed to be perpetual money makers. In this case, could they have designed it to be more efficient? Probably but that would be at the expense of bringing in a perpetual money stream. Either that or they're just a less than efficient design. That's just me speculating. I look at some devices with a sideways glance when I see the operating costs with things like reagents, etc.

 

[tautog83]

A simple look at beautiful tank threads before the trident even came out shows me just how necessary it is.

 

[Hallowhead]

I just find that much knowledge not necessary for the common hobby level. It's insane how much the reagents cost period. It's the one piece of equipment from Neptune I'll never get.

 

[piranhaman00]

I love testing my tank by hand

 

[SPS2020]

let me start by saying that I absolutely love my Neptune controller. I have been using it for the past three years after an appalling experience with GHL that lasted another three years. I can honestly say that if I was faced with the choice of leaving the hobby vs being forced to use GHL again I would gladly leave the hobby. But this is for another thread. Why am I ditching the Trident than? In one word, stubbornness. In two words, Reagent Cost. let me break it down:

- I live in Europe where a 2 month reagent kit costs 60$ and a 6 month kit 200$!!! That means that in order to test Alk a minimum of 6x a day (the recommended minimum to use Trident Controlled dosing) I need to shell out at least 600$ per year in reagents alone. I have done it but enough is enough. Time to buy the Alkatronic+dosetronic package

- Why stubbornness? Well, I understand that you need to test Ca=Mg a min of 2x a day but what could easily be fixed would be to allow you to increase Alk dosing without increasing Ca and Mg dosing. So for example I could test 12x a day Alk, but still keep testing only 2x a day Ca and Mg. Although this would not completely fix the issue, it would make it easier to swallow. The second point is that Neptune could simply start making reagents in Europe. I am certain this would not be complicated .

The final annoying bit is the fact that I always end up throwing 35% of the Alk reagent out Because the Ca and Mg have depleted. Not only this is a waste of money, it is simply waste. Again, this should be fixed.

If I were in the US, at 100$ for a 6 month kit I would probably not look elsewhere. But at 200$ it is just unsustainable.

I right this with sadness, as I am a Neptune fan. I guess I hope they change their policies in the near future and I can get back to the Pentagon (Alk,Ca,Mg,NO3,PO4) auto tester )

My Trident only tests Alk four times per day, not six (12am , 6am, 12pm and 6pm).

Not sure why you would throw out Alk reagent when the Ca and Mg are depleted. I will open the drawer and feel how much is in the bottle. Then do a 'reset' on whichever Trident "thinks" is running out so that I can use the remaining reagent. Note that one needs to be careful with this approach so as not to actually run out of the reagent.

There may be an adanced way to program the Trident differently to tailor to your needs. I believe the fellow is @ApexGuy (edit: @SuncrestReef ) or something similar who has a ton of articles on Apex programming.

Regarding the $200 cost...that is a different story. Hopefully, you can find another resource for reagents.

 

[R-balljunkie]

The alkatronic is a wonderful piece of hardware. Would not consider reefing without it. Not sure how well it plays with Apex but syncs seamlessly with the Hydros controller. It runs my calcium reactor, keeps kh stable. As my tank is maturing, i see the consumption steadily climbing. cheap to run and the batched reagent lasts months at a time.

 

[VJV]

Sometimes the simple test kit is way more user friendly. I would like to automate the testing some day. I like my GHL doser. But what a PITA it is to connect to the wifi 90% of the time. Open and close the app on repeat. Lately it flat out doesn't work. I have to connect hardwired to the computer to access the settings. Thanks for sharing your experience with trident.

Thanks for your comment. Yes, I had the whole GHL ecosystem and connection to wifi was a PITA, the UI a nightmare and to top it off, the dosers (I had 3) required head replacement every for weeks (the ones that were dosing higher volumes). Automatic testing for me is crucial as I am away from home during the week. And once you try it, you just become (or at least I did) completely lazy about doing manual tests, even if they are easy to do.

 

[VJV]

I sometimes wonder if devices are designed to be perpetual money makers. In this case, could they have designed it to be more efficient? Probably but that would be at the expense of bringing in a perpetual money stream. Either that or they're just a less than efficient design. That's just me speculating. I look at some devices with a sideways glance when I see the operating costs with things like reagents, etc.

Indeed. The way to do it would be to have the unit rinsing the tubes with RO after each usage and then running tank water through the system before each test to thoroughly rinse out the RO. This would require an extra pump head and probably wear out the sample pump faster, and or requiring a higher quality pump. It would certainly make for a more expensive up front cost. To me that would be preferable, taking into account the very high reagent cost in Europe. Potentially in the US the equasion would not be that simple.

 

[VJV]

A simple look at beautiful tank threads before the trident even came out shows me just how necessary it is.

I hear you. But I also wager that those tanks were not owned by people that are away from home during the entire week every week. Automation is not necesary to run a tank, if you have the time to dedicate to it every day. But if you have a busier schedule, constantly away from home and a 4 kid family every second you spend with the tank is precious .

 

[VJV]

I just find that much knowledge not necessary for the common hobby level. It's insane how much the reagents cost period. It's the one piece of equipment from Neptune I'll never get.

I do understand and agree with you. Fortunately there are other alternatives out there. I love my Trident and have fought the urge to change. But when an Alkatronic costs me about 15months worth of Trident reagent I cannot justify this expense.

 

[VJV]

I love testing my tank by hand

Ha ha ha . Power to you my friend!

 

[VJV]

My Trident only tests Alk four times per day, not six (12am , 6am, 12pm and 6pm).

Not sure why you would throw out Alk reagent when the Ca and Mg are depleted. I will open the drawer and feel how much is in the bottle. Then do a 'reset' on whichever Trident "thinks" is running out so that I can use the remaining reagent. Note that one needs to be careful with this approach so as not to actually run out of the reagent.

There may be an adanced way to program the Trident differently to tailor to your needs. I believe the fellow is @ApexGuy (edit: @SuncrestReef ) or something similar who has a ton of articles on Apex programming.

Regarding the $200 cost...that is a different story. Hopefully, you can find another resource for reagents.

Thanks. In my experience Trident Controlled dosing does not really work if you do not test at least 6 times per day, which is what I am doing. I know that there can be workarounds but I typically like to follow manufacturer recommendations. Also, I believe that in my case resetting would not work because what happens is typically Ca and Mg reagents will deplete when there is still about 37% remaining in the Alk reagent. If I do a reset on the depleted reagents to continue to use Alk wont that imply that the Trident will start to perform Ca/Mg tests without reagent?

 

[blaxsun]

I know there is a work-around for the Trident to test less frequently (someone posted the details on R2R). My Trident-controlled dosing works fine with the default schedule.

If you follow the default 4/2/2 testing regiment the reagents last approximately 2 months. If you change this the length of time the reagents last will vary.

You can reset individual reagent bottles.

 

[jda]

Serious questions, since I thought about using one of these for what I do now. Why do you test 4x a day? What would you learn that you cannot know by testing just one time a day? Probably 2/3 part and not a CaRx?

Also, why test mag and calcium at all? Again, 2 or 3 part and not a CaRx? With balanced input like a CaRx, then why spend the money testing mag and calcium?

I do run a CaRx and only test alk a few times a week, so thought about buying a robot to test it for me once a day, or so (even twice a week would be fine).

Thanks in advance.

 

[Reeferbadness]

I love testing my tank by hand

same here. hanna for Alk and Phos and Seefert for Calcium and Mag. It's kind of therapeutic and makes me feel like i'm a good dad to the corals / fish