TRIDENT NP Auto Nitrate/Phosphate Tester - Mr. Saltwater Tank - Raw, Uncut, and First Impressions

[@tilexcan]

The reagent kit comes with calibration fluid. How is it used?

[@saf1671]

NP drip tray is for surface protection due to the make up of the reagents. In case something happens inside like a small leak or reagent spill. You can actually fit Neptunes leak detection unit in there (ld-3) I believe. PPE (gloves), instruction video, drip tray, and waste neutralizer (calcium hydroxide, kalkwasser), are all for hobbyist protection and home plumbing to properly discard waste. Hope your day is well.

[@vascojardim6703]

I would say that that NO3 and PO4 are almost as important ALK as if left unchecked nutrient spikes (or bottoming out) can kill sensitive acropora or trigger algae blooms. Since day one I told Terrence that monitoring NO3 and PO4 is more important than Calcium or Magnesium.

[@_TheRealDoe]

You should only have to test weekly at minimum. If you have to check nutrients everyday you have a huge problem and no stability in that tank.

[@vascojardim6703]

@@_TheRealDoe I have been doing this for 20 years. I have also used the Mastertronic for the past 2 years and I can assure you (from experience) that nutrients can fluctuate a lot faster than you think. I can agree that that usually you should not see significant changes, but following the trend is a lot more important. And in any event, I would still say that if you consider that you should only test your nutrients weekly (which is what I do if I only have manual test kits) than Calcium and Magnesium should only be tested monthly, even though the Trident would force you to do it 2x per day.

[@_TheRealDoe]

@@vascojardim6703 I have the trident to test alk and not really worried about calcium as much as. No3 and p04 would only get tested daily by me if I added something new to the system like an ATS or I am carbon dosing and I would later see the trends and test less often till about weekly. When I said nutrients those are the 2 I was referring to.

[@MrSnuggs]

I bought this, waiting on shipping. Hopefully all goes well, however the waste neutralizer is kinda worrying

[@imCXS-zh2yt]

The NP is the reason why I went hydros, peace aperture

[@kyleelam2410]

Can we get an update!

[@BakersReef]

Mine has been spot on with oceamo icp ms test

[@captainover7479]

I'm on my second one. Neptune was great in replacing the first one, as apparently the tubes loosened enough to start dripping on the center "fluid distributer", and ended up melting 2 of the valves, leading to more leaks...But it kept trying to test until it yielded sample errors after a number of days...Yep. I think those chemical warning labels are real - be careful. I really like the unit in concept, but having a 12 YO reef, I'm still trying to correlate the reported Trident data to the reef quality - i.e. P and N perfect, but I get an algae bloom...why...Alas, I guess that is part of the fun. :) ?

[@CoralMan24]

only issue I found with them is the calibration liquid don't tell you what its calibrated too therefore I find different readings with a hanna checker compared to the trident which is kinda close but not worth the money unless it was accurate :)

[@bancesculonny8763]

Since July 15 it still tests 0.05 -0.04 phosphate EVERY SINGLE DAY, and I’m on the second unit. Crosschecks with other test kits show that it’s at a minimum 50% low on phosphate. What trend does this show??? Nothing. It doesn’t work right and you need to tell the truth … I have three months of data before the np was connected and two months after. The NP does not test accurately.

[@CoralPrime]

I completely agree. After one month of use, the device is not working accurately at all. The phosphate test is completely incorrect.

[@sylvester7800]

THE REASON WHY I WILL NOT BUY THIS NP. MY TRIDENT CANT' GIVE ME ACCURATE READINGS OF THE 3 MOST IMPORTANT TESTS. ITS A CASH COW BUT I AM NOT A NEPTUNE HATER AS I HAVE OTHER COMPONENETS THAT WORK AMAZING!

[@WifePriceReefer]

👎👎👎 I have tons of Neptune Apex gear and I wanted to purchase this - but it's getting killed for inaccuracy, time it takes to test, toxicity of the reagents and inaccuracy. I know it'd be hard for SAQ to poo poo on Apex products - but anything but a negative disingenuous. I'm not a hater of Neptune - but this product ought to have been re-worked and / or refined.

[@sylvester7800]

AGREED!

[@glowwurm9365]

Why insist on this frankly disgusting case, its so badly designed from an ergonomics perspective, especially given where these items are usually housed (under the tank). And rather than adopt a masetronic or Hydros solution which tests the 5 biggies they give you two separate units covering all tests? Thats the cheapest (for them) way of doing this and frankly stinks a little (unless you already own the Trident). Its a hard pass from me for there ecosystem, which from an engineering perspective sucks!