Trident readings compared to Hanna and Salifert readings

Mlopez

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#1


The calcium and alkalinity are off especially the calcium do I need to re calibrate the trident all info appreciated thank you .


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Dooly

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#2
alkalinity is pretty close between the 2 and I always compare my results to my hanna and if it's within 5% I'm okay with that..
i would trust the salifert calcium test as it would be extremely difficult to get a reading of 639 even if you tried..
 

mescobar

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#4
I suspect your Calcium is reading too high, and Magnesium too low. Recalibrating should fix this.
 

rishma

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#7
I know that you’re asking about the readings, but I have some related advice to share that might be helpful so I’ll offer it up.

Calcium and magnesium consumption are reliably predictable based on alkalinity consumption. I index off alkalinity because the test kits and hanna checkers are reliable and sensitive to small changes. Calcium is less sensitive and magnesium is often inaccurate.

For each 2.8 dKH of alkalinity consumed, about 18-20 ppm calcium and 1-2 ppm magnesium are also consumed.

This is true for all tanks with calcifying corals and coraline algae. Corals will use in the neighborhood of 1 ppm magnesium in place of calcium. Coraline algae will use around 2 ppm.

I only test alkalinity and do the math for magnesium dosing (my calcium comes with my alkalinity so I don’t need to dose separately.). This approach has worked long term, verified by ICP. I maybe test calcium at home once or twice a year. I never test magnesium at home.

Happy to discuss further, but I think this little fact could be useful. Cheers.
 

Jimbo327

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#9
Recalibrate the Trident and use the Salifert/Hanna results as the reference.
 

bakbay

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#11
I have 2 Tridents and both act finicky at times. As a matter of fact, my Calcium went out of bound last night after climbing to 600+ but in reality, it was only 420. Anyway, I just care about Alk since I run a CaRx.

My friend’s Trident NP is all the map wrt PO4 ready và so don’t expect much from these hobby-grade devices. At best, you’re looking for trend - which is likely fine, I suppose.
 

rishma

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#12
If someone made a reliable alkalinity and phosphate tester, I’d consider it because I frequently test those manually, but so far my impression is not positive for these devices. Some people have success, but too many people have issues.
 
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