Product Description
Required* NEPTUNE SYSTEMS A3 Apex Jr Aquarium Controller System
Say Goodbye to Manually Testing for Calcium, Alkalinity, or Magnesium in your Reef!
The Trident is an automated testing system that regularly tests alkalinity, calcium, and magnesium in your saltwater aquarium — and then communicates this information to your Apex so you can get alerts, and change your dosing. When combined with the DOS (available separately) it creates a fully automated system for the proper dosing of supplements, maintaining them at consistent levels.
- Automatically performs Calcium, Alkalinity, and Magnesium tests
- Includes 1-month of reagent
- Combine with Neptune DoS for automated dosing
- Programmable alerts for out of range parameters
- Data is graphed for easy to comprehend tank stats
- Can be set-up and integrated with your Apex in less than 15 minutes
- Empties used reagents and sample into an external vessel (not included)
- Up to one month of testing before reagents need changing; based on 4-Alk, 2-Ca, 2-Mg tests per day
Note: Requires Neptune Apex or ApexEL with an open 1Link OR a 24V Power and Aquabus cable
How It Works
The Trident is a self-contained automatic titration colorimeter. That’s quite a mouthful, for sure, so let’s state it as simply as we can. The Trident is basically automating what you (and top scientists) do already when you test your water, that is, perform a color changing titration and interpret the results.
On a scheduled basis the Trident carefully mixes its reagents with a small amount of sample water from your aquarium. While doing this, it is measuring (titrating with a precision peristaltic pump) the amounts of each that are necessary to reach an expected color change (determined by the electronic colorimeter). When it finishes the titration, it sends this sample/reagent fluid to your waste container. It then interprets the results of that test and logs the value into your Apex.
Easy Plug & Play Setup
From the box to testing in under 15 minutes! Unlike other testing systems, there are no reagents to mix, tubes to cut, or pumps or probes to calibrate. Simply plug in one cable, two tubes, and run the setup task on the Apex Fusion mobile app — it holds your hand through the installation with helpful videos along the way.
Consistency & Precision
The Trident tests with a precision of +/- 0.05 dKh for Alkalinity and 15ppm for Calcium and Magnesium. This is better than humans can do consistently with every hobby-grade test kit on the market.
Understand Your Reef Tank Like Never Before
When you start getting the regular data coming in from the Trident you will be amazed at the things you can see happening. The daily light cycle swing on calcium carbonate uptake. A salinity drop by watching magnesium. An out of sync dosing of calcium. This increased understanding ultimately helps you maintain a better, more successful reef.
Instant Alerts
You can set up your Apex to alert you, or take immediate action(s) when a parameter falls outside of the safe zone you specify. As just one example, you might be dosing an Alkalinity solution and a misconfiguration could lead to overdosing of your tank. The Trident will catch that, alert you, and give you more time to make that correction before its too late and to save your aquarium. The data from the Trident can also be used to turn on and off other devices (like dosers or solenoids) to protect your tank even more.
Ultimate Stability with the Neptune DŌS
The more stable you maintain proper levels of Alkalinity, Calcium, and Magnesium, the better your corals will grow and thrive. But coral uptake of these supplements often changes and requires us not only to perform more testing but also seems to put us in a never-ending state of adjusting our dosing levels.
The Trident, when paired up with one or more of our DŌS systems solves this problem with Automatic Dosing Control (ADC)
When configured on the Apex, ADC will take the results it receives from the Trident and uses them to gradually turn up or down the amount of additive your DŌS delivers. But, don’t worry, we have built this feature with safety in mind. With ADC you set your target value and your starting dosing amount and ADC will only tune that dosing level +/-35%. If it takes more than that amount of dosing to keep your aquarium at your target value, then the Apex will stop ADC, revert to your starting dosing amount, and alert you that you need to manually adjust your dosing level. Then, ADC can be re-enabled and it will continue to guide your DŌS so that it keeps you as close to your target value as possible.
It is possible to use ADC for all three tests – Alkalinity, Calcium, and Magnesium. You can also use one test value to adjust up or down more than one additive delivered by the DŌS (i.e. Triton system).
Simple Reagent Changes
When using the default testing schedule of four (4) alkalinity, two (2) calcium, and two (2) magnesium tests a day, the reagent stored inside the Apex will last a full month. And adding new reagent is super simple — just slide out the drawer, remove the old bottle(s), and replace them with new ones. If you desire, you can also run a calibration session with the included calibration standard.
The cost of reagents and the recurring cost is a valid concern for a hobbyist considering the test kit or automated system – and we designed the Trident with that in mind – keeping those costs as low as possible. Reagent comes in 2-month kits (based on the default testing schedule of 4-Alk/2-Ca/2-Mg per day). These kits include two bottles of Reagent A (changed every month), one each of Reagent B and C (changed every two months), and one bottle of our calibration seawater sample. The reagent kit has at least 240 alkalinity tests and 120 tests each of Calcium and Magnesium. These two-month kits are priced at just $44.95 in the U.S.
Ultra-Quiet Testing
You will hear the Trident operate from time to time if you listen closely or you have a super-quiet room. And, as compared to other automated testing systems, it is several dB quieter. While inside your cabinet along with your other equipment, you will likely never even hear it.
Specifications:
- Dimensions: 9.8" x 12.4" x 4.9"
- Alkalinity Precision: +/-.05 dKh
- Calcium Precision: +/-15 ppm
- Magnesium Precision: +/-15 ppm
- Testing Time: Around 7 minutes per test
- Sample Water Required: Around 8mL per test
- Max Head: Must be less than 4' from the water sample
What's Included?
1x Trident System
1x 1Link Cable
5' Black Sample Tubing
5' Clear Waste Tubing
1x 2-Month Reagent Supply*
*The included reagent is the actual 2-month reagent kit, however with initial setup of the Trident, a small amount of reagent will be used, which will result in about 45 days of reagent remaining (which can vary depending on how many times a day you test).
Note: Requires Neptune Apex or ApexEL with open 1Link OR a 24V Power Supply and Aquabus cable. Automatic dosing requires the use of the Neptune DoS Fluid Metering Module
