Nutrient tester, Maven JR perhaps

[BAMatter]

Would be interested in an NO3 and PO4 tester standalone unit. If I’m being honest, I have no interest in the Maven due to my opinion on automated calcium and magnesium testing necessity and/or accuracy at the hobby grade, however a unit that only tests NO3 and PO4 to use beside the X10 would fit my personal systems perfectly. Hopefully with Apex rolling theirs out, this may be a Hydros consideration.

 

[Shred5]

That would be interesting especially for those with macro algae tanks like me..

 

[BAMatter]

That would be interesting especially for those with macro algae tanks like me..

I think it would be great product. OR- maybe there would be a way to do this via software, and utilize the Minnow for the reagents for NO3 and PO4, then do the testing in the iV like they do the alk testing. Would just need to re-route the drain line outside of the tank.

Wonder if this is a possibility…

Edit: likely not since it would need to be a colorimeter, and not PH based like alk, but thought it was onto something for a minute

 

[JeffB418]

Would be interested in an NO3 and PO4 tester standalone unit. If I’m being honest, I have no interest in the Maven due to my opinion on automated calcium and magnesium testing necessity and/or accuracy at the hobby grade, however a unit that only tests NO3 and PO4 to use beside the X10 would fit my personal systems perfectly. Hopefully with Apex rolling theirs out, this may be a Hydros consideration.

Most likely in the short term, your best option is to just not run those reagents/tests on the current maven. The way the programming is set up, doesn't force you to run any tests if you dont want to. So you could technically just run the 4 reagents for PO4/NO3, and leave the rest disconnected. But yeah I know the cost for just those 2 tests is kinda of a waste to pay for just 2 of the 5 tests.

Now on the flip side, and back to your org concept of a Maven Jr. If you did cut down the current design to test only PO4/NO3... alot of the same components would have to remain... the only things you could cut back on would be the 3 pinch valves for ALK/CAL/MAG and maybe the second tank input pinch valve if you wanted to drop the dual tank option. So 4 pinch valves, all other components would remain as they are now. Now how much would that drop off the price? I really dont know, maybe $200? but you wont see a 60% reduction in cost due to going from 5 tests to 2 tests, it just doesn't reduce enough hardware since many things are still needed.

Now on the other hand I think it would be nice to allow users to swap out reagents for other future tests maybe. So be able to add in iodine or maybe copper testing instead of alk/mag/calc. That might be something much more realistic but again I am just throwing that out there as an idea.

 

[BAMatter]

Most likely in the short term, your best option is to just not run those reagents/tests on the current maven. The way the programming is set up, doesn't force you to run any tests if you dont want to. So you could technically just run the 4 reagents for PO4/NO3, and leave the rest disconnected. But yeah I know the cost for just those 2 tests is kinda of a waste to pay for just 2 of the 5 tests.

Now on the flip side, and back to your org concept of a Maven Jr. If you did cut down the current design to test only PO4/NO3... alot of the same components would have to remain... the only things you could cut back on would be the 3 pinch valves for ALK/CAL/MAG and maybe the second tank input pinch valve if you wanted to drop the dual tank option. So 4 pinch valves, all other components would remain as they are now. Now how much would that drop off the price? I really dont know, maybe $200? but you wont see a 60% reduction in cost due to going from 5 tests to 2 tests, it just doesn't reduce enough hardware since many things are still needed.

Now on the other hand I think it would be nice to allow users to swap out reagents for other future tests maybe. So be able to add in iodine or maybe copper testing instead of alk/mag/calc. That might be something much more realistic but again I am just throwing that out there as an idea.

Makes sense. I’m just not a buyer for automated calcium or magnesium testing. Calcium gets tested maybe once every 2-3 weeks and magnesium even less. Alk is really the only one that I need more frequent testing, making the X10 worth it for me, as well as weekly testing of PO4 and NO3, for trends. The cost of the Maven is just not justified for what I need/monitor.

I did see Dave mention on a FB post that alk/PO4/NO3 testing is king, hoping he was manifesting something here

 

[JeffB418]

Makes sense. I’m just not a buyer for automated calcium or magnesium testing. Calcium gets tested maybe once every 2-3 weeks and magnesium even less. Alk is really the only one that I need more frequent testing, making the X10 worth it for me, as well as weekly testing of PO4 and NO3, for trends. The cost of the Maven is just not justified for what I need/monitor.

I did see Dave mention on a FB post that alk/PO4/NO3 testing is king, hoping he was manifesting something here

Completely understand, and I agree. When i get a maven, I will still use a X10/iV for my alk testing since its way cheaper to run for more tests. But I will use Maven to spot check my alk every week or so, just as a backup. And calc/mag will be only checked every 1-3 weeks.
As for a re-configured/smaller model, any chance of that would likely occur after a year or more after maven is out. That would make the most sense since more will be learned after the current device is on market for awhile.