Thinking of buying either Reefbot lab or Mastertronic

[Johnic]

Wonder which one to buy, obviously looking for the most reliable and easy to repair and upgrade as required.
‘I also have another issue, I need to remotely locate this unit 60 feet away from the sump and tank and would need to make some sort of a pump system that would pump 60ml roughly of water to a temp holding container prior to each test then empty it each time.

 

[Vinny Kreyling]

I think they both have issues. With that distance I would put it on the back burner & test manually.

 

[Breadman03]

I think they both have issues. With that distance I would put it on the back burner & test manually.

Agreed. Both devices are in what I'd call their teething phase where they're still very new. Personally, I'd wait for some long term reviews on both. The previous Reefbot had some durabilty issues and I've seen a good bit of chatter about Mastertronic issues. For the money, I'd strongly consider running an alkalinity tester (KHDirector or Trident) and sending out ICP's on occasion for the rest of the elements. Most of the stuff doesn't really move much and tends to swing with the general chemistry of the tank anyway.

If you proceed with your plan, I'm not sure of how to move the sample water effectively. A peristaltic pump (DOS, GHL Doser or new Maxi Doser) that could quickly fill your sample container sufficiently, allow the test to run, and then reverse to empty the sample container would probably be the best method to minimize the old water impacting your results due to decomposition. I'd really try to resolve the distance issue before jumping through hoops with technology.

 

[Johnic]

Agreed. Both devices are in what I'd call their teething phase where they're still very new. Personally, I'd wait for some long term reviews on both. The previous Reefbot had some durabilty issues and I've seen a good bit of chatter about Mastertronic issues. For the money, I'd strongly consider running an alkalinity tester (KHDirector or Trident) and sending out ICP's on occasion for the rest of the elements. Most of the stuff doesn't really move much and tends to swing with the general chemistry of the tank anyway.

If you proceed with your plan, I'm not sure of how to move the sample water effectively. A peristaltic pump (DOS, GHL Doser or new Maxi Doser) that could quickly fill your sample container sufficiently, allow the test to run, and then reverse to empty the sample container would probably be the best method to minimize the old water impacting your results due to decomposition. I'd really try to resolve the distance issue before jumping through hoops with technology.

I think they both have issues. With that distance I would put it on the back burner & test manually.

Agreed on both points. I think I’ll wait and just test manually.
in regards to the moving water part, I have tested using a peristaltic pump and it’s working well.

 

[brucehynes]

I have had the reefbot lab since July 2023. Have had periods where it gave problems and periods where it ran smooth.

The pros of the unit are if it is working well and you are on vacation it's very helpful.

The cons are that it's hard to know if and when it's giving erratic and incorrect results which you would subsequently be using to make decisions that impact the tank especially with regard to sensitive acropora