Mastertronic Honest Review.

[Harold999]

I am curious why get this over ION Director/KH Director from GHL? The ION director can be used standalone and uses its own reagents. I was looking at both the ION Director and mastertronic and curious on why mastertronic?

Simple, Mastertronic can test for more parameters like Phosphate, Iodine, Iron, nitrite and ammonia.
And ofcourse KH without the need of a second device.

And using it's own reagents is not always a plus. If for one or the other reason the reagent isn't available anymore in the future you're toast. With the Mastertronic you can use multiple brands for each parameter (not each, but they are working on it). If one reagent company goes bankrupt or something, there are others.

 

[tmccaff]

I was actually wrong ION Director uses calibration fluid not reagents and cheaper in long run. You do have to replace probe every year or so. ION/KH Director about the same price with both together. They need 2 dosers as well so of course be more but you can actually dose as well. Mastertronic only tests

KH Director probably way more important since it will monitor ALK as many times you want. I test mine 3 times a day and set at 8. It will automatically dose for me and change my dosing based on results. Way more than testing

 

[Harold999]

I was actually wrong ION Director uses calibration fluid not reagents and cheaper in long run. You do have to replace probe every year or so. ION/KH Director about the same price with both together. They need 2 dosers as well so of course be more but you can actually dose as well. Mastertronic only tests

Make that probe change every 6 months and for me, a test device that doesn't test for phosphates isn't complete.
It was this why i didn't went for the ion Director but choosed the MT.

 

[tmccaff]

Mastertronic only tests correct? No dosing, etc. Phosphates not critical as you can assume with just a look at your aquarium just saying, I can tell if my phosphates high or low by looking.

KH Director have had for a little over year still haven't changed probe and dead accurate. The issue with it has to be precise with calibration or get skewed results.

I was looking at Mastertronic but only tests no dosing; and uses reagents with the accuracy is debatable on them. ION director way more accuracy and can dose based on results. KH Director uses reagent but I use acid and cheap. ALK swings is the most important and KH Director keeps it stable.

 

[n2585722]

Mastertronic only tests correct? No dosing, etc. Phosphates not critical as you can assume with just a look at your aquarium just saying, I can tell if my phosphates high or low by looking.

KH Director have had for a little over year still haven't changed probe and dead accurate. The issue with it has to be precise with calibration or get skewed results.

I was looking at Mastertronic but only tests no dosing; and uses reagents with the accuracy is debatable on them. ION director way more accuracy and can dose based on results. KH Director uses reagent but I use acid and cheap. ALK swings is the most important and KH Director keeps it stable.

It will interface with the Hydros controller which can control the Hydros dosing pumps. An X2 starter kit $200 will control 2 dosing pumps and also has two sense port inputs if you don't have one to interface with it.

 

[Naturalreef]

Mastertronic WILL adjust dosing according to test readings using Dosetronic.

 

[Harold999]

Mastertronic only tests correct? No dosing, etc. Phosphates not critical as you can assume with just a look at your aquarium just saying, I can tell if my phosphates high or low by looking.

KH Director have had for a little over year still haven't changed probe and dead accurate. The issue with it has to be precise with calibration or get skewed results.

I was looking at Mastertronic but only tests no dosing; and uses reagents with the accuracy is debatable on them. ION director way more accuracy and can dose based on results. KH Director uses reagent but I use acid and cheap. ALK swings is the most important and KH Director keeps it stable.

Probes more accurate than testkits? Not in million years. Probes go off accuracy sooner or later, that's why they need to be replaced every 6 months and/or need calibration ever so often.
I trust a Salifert or RedSea testkit more than a probe. But that's me.

 

[scottsweet]

Simple, Mastertronic can test for more parameters like Phosphate, Iodine, Iron, nitrite and ammonia.
And ofcourse KH without the need of a second device.

And using it's own reagents is not always a plus. If for one or the other reason the reagent isn't available anymore in the future you're toast. With the Mastertronic you can use multiple brands for each parameter (not each, but they are working on it). If one reagent company goes bankrupt or something, there are others.

You are right...however, the Mastertronic wastes a lot of reagents and you have to ensure you do the tests in the proper order to avoid contamination. The total cost of testing is significantly more with the Mastertronic.

 

[Naturalreef]

Mastertronic WILL adjust dosing according to test readings using Dosetronic.

I want to slightly retract this comment…Does anyone who has a mastertronic know how the parameter adjustment works? I read the manual and interpreted it to react when a parameter threshold goes low.

I emailed Eric Tang, and I’m confused with the response. It sounds like from his email that you have a dosing schedule setup for say Nitrate. When Mastertronic reads a high or low value and interacts, it interacts by changing the percentage being dosed. I don’t want to dose nitrate or phosphate regularly, only when the value goes below a set threshold so my tank doesn’t crash from low nutrients. Can anyone clarify?

 

[n2585722]

Dynamic dosing soes not work like you want. Is dynamically changes a scheduled dosing amount depending on a reading form an input. It either raises or lower the amount dosed up to a maximum amout or down to a minimum amount.

 

[Naturalreef]

Dynamic dosing soes not work like you want. Is dynamically changes a scheduled dosing amount depending on a reading form an input. It either raises or lower the amount dosed up to a maximum amout or down to a minimum amount.

I sort of follow what you are saying. If I’m understanding you, it only adjusts IF you have a daily programmed dose. Well that is disappointing. I mean I still would have bought it, but who doses nitrate and phosphate on a daily basis if your tank has reached its equilibrium?
Nitrate and phosphate are added mostly from food sources and reduced by skimming and water changes. if I kept a constant dose of either, it would be constant teetering and not stable. I was hoping Mastertronic kept your nutrients from tanking by dosing small amounts to get you out of the red zone when you,are not able to monitor.

So, how would you program this? Adding .2ml per day of nitrate and phosphate so Mastertronic can add 10% if needed? Would like to hear how you guys programmed your nutrient parameters. I appreciate all of your input!

Nick

 

[n2585722]

I sort of follow what you are saying. If I’m understanding you, it only adjusts IF you have a daily programmed dose. Well that is disappointing. I mean I still would have bought it, but who doses nitrate and phosphate on a daily basis if your tank has reached its equilibrium?
Nitrate and phosphate are added mostly from food sources and reduced by skimming and water changes. if I kept a constant dose of either, it would be constant teetering and not stable. I was hoping Mastertronic kept your nutrients from tanking by dosing small amounts to get you out of the red zone when you,are not able to monitor.

So, how would you program this? Adding .2ml per day of nitrate and phosphate so Mastertronic can add 10% if needed? Would like to hear how you guys programmed your nutrient parameters. I appreciate all of your input!

Nick

I have not used the dynamic dosing feature with a dosetronic. I have tried it out on the Hydros, but not for this. With it you set the minimum dose amount and the reading for minimum. Then setup the maximum dose amount and the reading for maximum. There is also a setting for the dose if there is no reading for some reason. There is also a minimum run time for the dosing pump so the minimum dose has to run at least that long. You could set it for like once a week if you want. I usually do check the nitrate and phosphate on a weekly basis and manually dose if needed at that time. The only one that has been low on mine so far is phosphate.

On the Hydros you could set a schedule and then set an output to turn on if the reading is above a certain point then use that in the depends on setting in the schedule and set it to off if on. Then the pump will not dome on unless the reading is below the level set on the output you set up. That way if the reading is low enough it will follow the schedule until the reading goes back up. Then it will halt the dosing.

 

[Harold999]

You are right...however, the Mastertronic wastes a lot of reagents and you have to ensure you do the tests in the proper order to avoid contamination. The total cost of testing is significantly more with the Mastertronic.

It doesn't waste any more reagent than a manual test would do, so the total cost of testing is the same (except ofcourse the purchase of the MT itself ).
Doing the tests in the proper order - this was the case for PO4 and NO3 - is old news, newer firmwares have added extra automatic needle cleaning when required. You can test what you want 24/7 without any contamination.

 

[FishyFishFish]

It doesn't waste any more reagent than a manual test would do, so the total cost of testing is the same (except ofcourse the purchase of the MT itself ).
Doing the tests in the proper order - this was the case for PO4 and NO3 - is old news, newer firmwares have added extra automatic needle cleaning when required. You can test what you want 24/7 without any contamination.

Is that correct?

The manual isn't very clear but if you take, for example, Alk, then the Mastertronic uses Salifert. The manual says that 'one manual set' is enough for 31 tests, however, the Salifert test kit on its own is good for 100-200 tests. So, at best, the Mastertronic looks to be 3x more expensive for Alk than manual testing. And that doesn't take into account the cost of needles/vials etc, which are very expensive.

 

[Harold999]

Is that correct?

The manual isn't very clear but if you take, for example, Alk, then the Mastertronic uses Salifert. The manual says that 'one manual set' is enough for 31 tests, however, the Salifert test kit on its own is good for 100-200 tests. So, at best, the Mastertronic looks to be 3x more expensive for Alk than manual testing. And that doesn't take into account the cost of needles/vials etc, which are very expensive.

Never got 100-200 tests when i did KH manually. The reason was that i did the same as the MT does, pulling out 1ml of reagent out of the bottle and not putting the leftover - after titrating - back. Don't want to throw anything that was out, back in the bottle.
By the way, the higher your KH, the less you could throw back.
So for me, there is not much difference if any.

Vials are included and last forever (glass), a new needle you will need every 2-3 months or so.

Look, if you are here for the cheap look elsewhere. The MT alone costs an arm and a leg.

 

[Harold999]

Now that we are talking about the KH reagent and it's costs, anyone who thought about making the stuff himself? As far is i've read about it, bottle 1 is probably just a hydrochloric- or sulfuric acidsolution in rodi. A couple of drops of hcl in 50ml of rodi. With 1 bottle of hcl you could probably make yourself a lifetime of reagent.
Bottle 2, the dye, goes way longer than bottle 1 so less need to make that yourself, altough that could be easy to make either. You need a waterborn green dye (food coloration stuff or something) in the same intensity.

 

[Naturalreef]

I have not used the dynamic dosing feature with a dosetronic. I have tried it out on the Hydros, but not for this. With it you set the minimum dose amount and the reading for minimum. Then setup the maximum dose amount and the reading for maximum. There is also a setting for the dose if there is no reading for some reason. There is also a minimum run time for the dosing pump so the minimum dose has to run at least that long. You could set it for like once a week if you want. I usually do check the nitrate and phosphate on a weekly basis and manually dose if needed at that time. The only one that has been low on mine so far is phosphate.

On the Hydros you could set a schedule and then set an output to turn on if the reading is above a certain point then use that in the depends on setting in the schedule and set it to off if on. Then the pump will not dome on unless the reading is below the level set on the output you set up. That way if the reading is low enough it will follow the schedule until the reading goes back up. Then it will halt the dosing.

I appreciate your detailed reply N2!

 

[Harold999]

I just got a ban on the Focustronic owners group on Facebook for starting a discussion about making your own KH reagent for the MT.

A couple of days ago my discussion about the crappy Kamoer dosing heads (many experience leaking pumps atm) got closed also.

This is not a true owners group run by some independant owners, it is run by Focustronic employé's who don't tolerate bad publicity. Just fyi. If you want true unbiased info don't go to that group.

 

[MartinM]

I’m enjoying the Mastertronic, but I didn’t realize the heads were Kamoer, which makes incredibly unreliable dosing pumps. Hoping they last a long longer when used for weekly testing rather than daily dosing ><.

Do they only do their support on facebook? Because I certainly don’t use facebook and never would R2R is my source of info!

 

[Meerwasser Fan]

Same here! I had some issues in the beginning but support (Direct mail and facebook) has been great! Replaced one kamoer pump and sent another replacement as well. Don't want to muss the machine anymore