Trident NP: How accurate is it? (1 Viewer)

[Cody]

I was one of the early adopters of the Trident NP, and the results were so good, that I shelved it for two years. Having always been of the mindset that if I could automate nutrients, then reefing was officially easy. It broke my heart that I had spent the money and it's inaccuracy actually cost me two SPS colonies.

Recently, I went searching for other alternatives, and there's really not much out there. I stumbled upon a thread on r2r talking about how they had changed the software, and now allowed you to calibrate based off your own parameters, just like the OG Trident does. So, I was curious. Ordered some more reagent, cleaned it out to get it back to working condition, and have been using it for a couple weeks now. So far, it's actually doing pretty well, which gives me hope. I'm going to document my results in this thread on a weekly basis to show how well it's doing compared to Hannah HR Nitrate and Hannah ULR phosphorous testers. Just something I want to put out there into the public record, because if there is an automated nutrient tester available, it's a real game changer for the hobby.

 

[RonaldM]

will be following.

 

[Cody]

7/9
Hannah
NO3: 7.2 ppm
PO4: .043 ppm

Trident NP
NO3: 9.1 ppm
PO4: .05 ppm



7/14
Hannah
NO3: 9.8 ppm
PO4: .024 ppm

Trident NP
NO3: 7 ppm
PO4: .05 ppm

 

[reeftopia]

Lot of difference there.

 

[Cody]

7/20
Hannah
NO3: 10.6 ppm
PO4: .00 ppm

Trident NP
NO3: 10.5 ppm
PO4: .05 ppm


Looks like the Nitrate test is pretty accurate so far. Can't say the same for the PO4 one as of yet. Maybe they have it geared for a higher range to accommodate those that run really high PO4, which sacrifices precision. I believe the higher range Hannah PO4 checker has a similar problem of a much larger margin of error.

 

[RonaldM]

7/20
Hannah
NO3: 10.6 ppm
PO4: .00 ppm

Trident NP
NO3: 10.5 ppm
PO4: .05 ppm


Looks like the Nitrate test is pretty accurate so far. Can't say the same for the PO4 one as of yet. Maybe they have it geared for a higher range to accommodate those that run really high PO4, which sacrifices precision. I believe the higher range Hannah PO4 checker has a similar problem of a much larger margin of error.

so what is your opinion after a couple weeks? close enough to run full time?

 

[Cody]

7/26
Hannah
NO3: 12.8 ppm
PO4: .034 ppm

Trident NP
NO3: 5.2 ppm
PO4: .05 ppm

The PO4 just reads .05ppm every day now on the Trident NP. My PO4 slowly dipped down to basically zero and I'm slowly raising it now with dosing. It has read .05ppm the entire time.

Shame it's not working out well. I got Gregg's old one and refurbished it. I ordered some more reagent and will set it up to run more tests. Maybe it's just the unit that I'm currently using. Testing an additional Trident NP unit will give more insight.

@RonaldM as of now, I would not rely on it as an accurate tester.

 

[Cody]

I stopped updating because the Trident NP has basically read .05ppm on phosphates for about a month straight now. Whereas the nitrates were pretty accurate for a couple weeks, it now reads either zero or somewhere in the 50's ppm alternating every day, all while the Hannah holds around 9-10ppm. I still have the second NP and another set of fresh reagent, but it's hard to get motivated to set it up for testing considering how poorly the first one has performed. I'm probably going to just be out the $60 for that reagent and chunk it.

 

[RonaldM]

Damn..

 

[frankc]

Thank you for this thread - it might save some people some money (and corals).

 

[Cody]

The reagent just ran out. So, it appears the 2 month supply on the minimum testing schedule lasts for about 5 weeks.

 

[RonaldM]

The reagent just ran out. So, it appears the 2 month supply on the minimum testing schedule lasts for about 5 weeks.

How much is the reagent that lasted only 5 weeks?

 

[Cody]

How much is the reagent that lasted only 5 weeks?

$60 plus tax, so a little shy of $2 a day for inaccurate testing.

 

[Blue Bayou Reef]

I do find the longer this thing runs the more accurate it is. Don't expect much out of the box for the first couple weeks.

 

[Cody]

I do find the longer this thing runs the more accurate it is. Don't expect much out of the box for the first couple weeks.

Do you keep track of the readings compared to other testers?