Jestersix

Neptune Trident NP and new DOS!

Thales said:
They have a billion Tridents in place, so would have to sell both combined units and solo units which would drive up costs. They already have the design from the original trident, so they save a bunch of money by repurposing it. Having two units also means you don't lose all the testing/control if one borks, as well as not forcing the user to test 5 things if they don't want to. I don't really care about the Ca and Mg results (thought they have been helpful when trying to determine if a salinity issue was really happening) and would have been totally happy with just an Alk version.
I am not sure that this tester is really needed by the hobby at large, except to automate and make consistent a test that is a real PITA - nitrate. That said, I am not sold on the utility of testing nitrate and phosphate regularly anyway, but lots of folks think it is critical, so they will sell a ton of these. I do think we will find some really interesting info from the NP, just like we did from the original trident.
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I was about to call you a Neptune shill but I read further and totally agree with everything you said after the first couple sentences!
 
Thales said:
They have a billion Tridents in place, so would have to sell both combined units and solo units which would drive up costs. They already have the design from the original trident, so they save a bunch of money by repurposing it. Having two units also means you don't lose all the testing/control if one borks, as well as not forcing the user to test 5 things if they don't want to. I don't really care about the Ca and Mg results (thought they have been helpful when trying to determine if a salinity issue was really happening) and would have been totally happy with just an Alk version.
I am not sure that this tester is really needed by the hobby at large, except to automate and make consistent a test that is a real PITA - nitrate. That said, I am not sold on the utility of testing nitrate and phosphate regularly anyway, but lots of folks think it is critical, so they will sell a ton of these. I do think we will find some really interesting info from the NP, just like we did from the original trident.
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Fair, and I recognize this is why they did that as a company. My counterpoints to that as a hobbyist are:

1. It's a REALLY awkward form factor that's annoying to service (which it requires semi-regularly)

2. Regarding 'testing things if they don't want to', I'm still annoyed that there's no truly customizable timetable outside of the preset options.
 
IOnceWasLegend said:
Fair, and I recognize this is why they did that as a company. My counterpoints to that as a hobbyist are:

1. It's a REALLY awkward form factor that's annoying to service (which it requires semi-regularly)

2. Regarding 'testing things if they don't want to', I'm still annoyed that there's no truly customizable timetable outside of the preset options.
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It’s just not a good shape. Awkward, takes up a lot of unnecessary space (especially those with 3-4’ cabinets that can barely fit one of these in there). Not stackable. And now you want me to put two of these in?

Regarding #2. Don’t think of it replacing your manual testing. You’re paying for disaster prevention. For example, auto-feeder went nuts and dumped all the food, nitrate dosing pump is wonky, lanthanum chloride dosing pump is busted, forgot to add pellets, etc.
 
RandyC said:
It’s just not a good shape. Awkward, takes up a lot of unnecessary space (especially those with 3-4’ cabinets that can barely fit one of these in there). Not stackable. And now you want me to put two of these in?

Regarding #2. Don’t think of it replacing your manual testing. You’re paying for disaster prevention. For example, auto-feeder went nuts and dumped all the food, nitrate dosing pump is wonky, lanthanum chloride dosing pump is busted, forgot to add pellets, etc.
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For #2 - my argument would be "I want the flexibility to use it as a replacement for manual testing". Anything that can heavily impact nutrients I dose by hand. I'm dialing in skimmer and fuge, so I test every day for nutrients. When that's done, I'd like the option to test once every three or four days rather than being artificially restricted.
 
I’m fairly happy with my Trident. I’m glad they made it, and I’m happy to use it. And last time they serviced it (which was before they moved service to the other side of the country), they treated me fairly, which I appreciate and don’t take for granted.

All that said, the form factor is straight up stupid and several design elements are poor. And it’s weirdly awkward to change reagents, with the loose tray, the faceplate that falls off, and the tubing that can kink. The fact that they doubled down on it with the new product just shows that they aren’t listening to us, or at least that the cost to redesign it slightly is more than our opinions are worth to them as long as we keep buying. Also the way they try to force you to test on schedules that don’t make sense to hobbyists with the weakest of reasons why (and which turn out to be wrong if you just override), just loses them credibility. Plus the expiration on their reagents, the fact that they say you can’t keep the residual and just add new to old, and how they design the app try to force you to throw out good reagents since they get used asymmetrically, all of which we now know are BS after some experience and the alternative 3rd party reagents out there. You can argue there are business reasons for all of the above manipulations and shortcomings, but as the customer why should I care about that?

They absolutely could have a retrofit kit that combines an existing Trident and the new NP into one unit with a better form factor, like what @ashburn2k said he’s going to design. It wouldn’t take anything away from those who already own a Trident, because it would get incorporated. If random hobbyists can do it, they could have done it.
 
If you’re interested. In Stock now. Don’t shoot the messenger.

www.bulkreefsupply.com

Trident NP Nitrate & Phosphate Tester w/ 2 Month Reagent Kit

Trident NP Nitrate & Phosphate Tester w/ 2 Month Reagent Kit Reagents Store Neatly Inside the Trident Test Nitrate and Phosphate Automatically Once Per Day Compatible with A3 Apex (Apex Pro, Apex, Apex Jr.) or A2 Apex (Apex, Apex EL) Designed and Assembled in the USA Imagine a world where...
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No free shipping here either. Maybe due to it's being drop shipped directly from the Neptune warehouse in PA. BRS usually offers a few different options when shipping from their own warehouse.
Screenshot 2024-05-29 at 10.58.12 PM.png
 
JVU said:
But BRS and Neptune Systems are the same company now…
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Not technically. I’m sure like any conglomerate, they have separate financial statements since they are likely individual companies under a parent company. Which means they probably “pay” each other on paper.
 
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