So what happened to all those MindStreams in the wild.

[ca1ore]

Perhaps the number in the field was exaggerated .... shocking, I know!

 

[GoVols]

I’m still running mine. It appears to still be accurate for salinity and magnesium with a 4 month old disk. All of the other parameters besides temperature are off now, though.

This is basically what I'm doing. No real hope that'll happen, but I figure maybe it's worth keeping just in case. Probably more a coping strategy than anything else. LOL

Are their servers still up and showing new readings with old disk?

 

[Daniel@R2R]

Yep. Seems to still be up

 

[robbyg]

Perhaps the number in the field was exaggerated .... shocking, I know!

I don't think so. The guy I have talked to has moved onto another job and he would have no reason to lie. He did say that he heard through the ex employee grape vine that a lot of people are still using them for salinity and Temp measurements. I guess that's why people are holding onto them.

 

[PSXerholic]

@lexinverts
@Daniel@R2R
@PSXerholic

Here's a few names I recall having the MS, maybe they'll chime in

I did not receive mine and got the money refunded at least.
So I bought the day of the bad news a Trident and Seneye, good now!

Hopefully someone can continue the technology.

 

[ca1ore]

The guy I have talked to has moved onto another job and he would have no reason to lie.

Maybe not a 'lie', just misinformed. i remember the 'so many sold' claims yet I never knew anyone who bought one …. just sayin'. Ultimately moot though.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Ive wondered about Mindstream.
The Talk
The Wait
The Anticipation
The Hope

That wasn't good

 

[User1]

I can't speak personally on them because I don't own one. However, if I did then I'd just leave it alone until the back end servers went offline and/or data was inaccurate. Once that happened I'd clean the unit, dry, prep for storage, and place it on a shelf in the garage. No reason not to hang on to it in case something changes down the road (assuming they take care of existing customers). If they don't or my garage cleaning window opens and I've not touched a box in X amount of time it gets recycled.

I think anyone who has one should just sit tight honestly. No down side.

 

[ActualProof]

I would not mind having one as a collectors item. It will probably go down in history as the pinnacle of SW water testing technology.

The pinnacle? So you think there will never be anything better?

 

[robbyg]

The pinnacle? So you think there will never be anything better?

Honestly no!
Both reagents and Ion probes have issues. Titration is always going to require precise amounts of reagent and SW to deliver accuracy and precision and also a fair amount of maintenance on the Cuvette, hoses and dosing pump parts to keep it that way.

Ion probes have a very defined life expectancy and requires calibration fluids to make sure it is precise. They are IMHO the second best option but of course they cannot test for certain things like Alk.

The use of reflected dyes eliminated both of those systems problems and with some more time could have been a simple once a month disk change out system. No hoses, no pumps, no calibrations and no reagents. The bonus is that is is also small and does not require much space.

 

[MabuyaQ]

Honestly no!
Both reagents and Ion probes have issues. Titration is always going to require precise amounts of reagent and SW to deliver accuracy and precision and also a fair amount of maintenance on the Cuvette, hoses and dosing pump parts to keep it that way.

Ion probes have a very defined life expectancy and requires calibration fluids to make sure it is precise. They are IMHO the second best option but of course they cannot test for certain things like Alk.

The use of reflected dyes eliminated both of those systems problems and with some more time could have been a simple once a month disk change out system. No hoses, no pumps, no calibrations and no reagents. The bonus is that is is also small and does not require much space.

Seems a dead product is already getting mythologized. The mindstream requires disk with a lifespan so those are just 'probes'. The mindstream never measured alkalinity, it was calculated based on some of the truly measured values using an algorithm.

 

[robbyg]

Seems a dead product is already getting mythologized. The mindstream requires disk with a lifespan so those are just 'probes'. The mindstream never measured alkalinity, it was calculated based on some of the truly measured values using an algorithm.

Yes the disks have a lifespan, I said that in my post. It does not take more than 20 seconds to pop on a new disk and your good to go. Also none of the other methods offer real time data! Getting 96 tests per day can never be achieved by the other methods.

as for calculating out Alk what is the problem? Alk is dependent on pH and CO2 plus I think one other factor. These chemical bonds are not magic! They are known relationships that are used in the same calculations done by large water testing companies.

 

[Silver14SS]

as for calculating out Alk what is the problem? Alk is dependent on pH and CO2 plus I think one other factor. These chemical bonds are not magic! They are known relationships that are used in the same calculations done by large water testing companies.

Melev’s MS carbonate alk reading was higher than other methods that measured total alk, was that a calculation issue or a parameter measurement issue? Was there an update to correct?

Who are you referring to in post 12?

Alkatronic takes 8 min to test, I guess I could run 180 tests per day if that offered me meaningful data . Maybe someone with a KHD or KHG can add their info on max daily tests.

What’s the # of tests for something like a pH, temperature, or salinity probe that’s continually reporting data?

 

[robbyg]

Melev’s MS carbonate alk reading was higher than other methods that measured total alk, was that a calculation issue or a parameter measurement issue? Was there an update to correct?

I don't know anything about Melev's data. He did a one hour Mindstream video and in it he spent less than 5 minutes of talking about the MS. That is about all I know about him and his MS.

Who are you referring to in post 12?

Since the forum section has been taken down I cannot tell you his name but you might know him or certainly someone else reading this will know him. He is a well known aquarium owner in California that keeps his tanks outdoors and subjected to the elements. He has evidently been doing RK for 30+ years.

Alkatronic takes 8 min to test, I guess I could run 180 tests per day if that offered me meaningful data . Maybe someone with a KHD or KHG can add their info on max daily tests.

What’s the # of tests for something like a pH, temperature, or salinity probe that’s continually reporting data?

Thanks that's exactly the point. You want to see your pH and Salinity as it is now! Not what it was four hours ago. It would be great if the Alkatronic could do 180 tests per day but unfortunately you would spend a small fortune on reagents, dosing pump parts and pH probe calibration fluids.
Also it would accelerate the need for dosing pump calibrations and probe calibrations, both of which are things I hate to do.

I like the Alkatronic and seriously thought about buying one, but the threads on them have a lot of people complaining about various issues and it kind of scared me away. A lot less people seem to have issues with the Trident and it does do three tests.

 

[User1]

I don't know anything about Melev's data. He did a one hour Mindstream video and in it he spent less than 5 minutes of talking about the MS. That is about all I know about him and his MS.


Since the forum section has been taken down I cannot tell you his name but you might know him or certainly someone else reading this will know him. He is a well known aquarium owner in California that keeps his tanks outdoors and subjected to the elements. He has evidently been doing RK for 30+ years.



Thanks that's exactly the point. You want to see your pH and Salinity as it is now! Not what it was four hours ago. It would be great if the Alkatronic could do 180 tests per day but unfortunately you would spend a small fortune on reagents, dosing pump parts and pH probe calibration fluids.
Also it would accelerate the need for dosing pump calibrations and probe calibrations, both of which are things I hate to do.

I like the Alkatronic and seriously thought about buying one, but the threads on them have a lot of people complaining about various issues and it kind of scared me away. A lot less people seem to have issues with the Trident and it does do three tests.

O2Manyfish I believe is who you may be referring. He is the only one in Southern California that is keeping tanks outdoors with a 100% success rate. I mean crazy outdoor tanks - he is also a great guy. He did have great success with his MS I recall. I always wanted Neptune to reach out to him also to try a Trident in his environment.

One interesting note during the Neptune live stream at the end of February they talked about the Trident, reagents, and stock. Before the product was launched a lot of the polls they did most hobbyist said they only wanted 4 or so tests a day of all three (ALK, Ca, and Mag). However, now that they have data over several months they are seeing that yeah, while that is what people asked for they are actually testing much, much more.

I personally test at the lowest setting 4/2/2 (Alk, Ca, Mag) but found the topic interesting. I saw above a note about number of tests during a day and this is what I right away thought of. Seney, Neptune, MS, and a few others that collect data can now do some real data analysis on what they have. Sounds like Neptune is doing as such and I think that is the right thing to do.

 

[User1]

A lot less people seem to have issues with the Trident and it does do three tests.

Default is 4, I believe 24 Alkalinity tests per day and 12 Calcium and Magnesium tests is max.

Edit: One last thing is that we can test manually at any time. This is what neptune is starting to see that people are using the manual button more than what people actually said they would. Lol - I don't know. Go figure.

 

[TheHarold]

Ive wondered about Mindstream.
The Talk
The Wait
The Anticipation
The Hope

That wasn't good

Don't forget the shade towards people who were skeptical of their claims/business model.

 

[robbyg]

Don't forget the shade towards people who were skeptical of their claims/business model.

Yeah those people were real helpful. They are the ones that basically kept on shooting down the product when it was only probably a few weeks away from being self sufficent. We can all thank them for lending a big hand in sinking the product and leaving many people with a paper weight.

 

[robbyg]

O2Manyfish I believe is who you may be referring. He is the only one in Southern California that is keeping tanks outdoors with a 100% success rate. I mean crazy outdoor tanks - he is also a great guy. He did have great success with his MS I recall. I always wanted Neptune to reach out to him also to try a Trident in his environment.

One interesting note during the Neptune live stream at the end of February they talked about the Trident, reagents, and stock. Before the product was launched a lot of the polls they did most hobbyist said they only wanted 4 or so tests a day of all three (ALK, Ca, and Mag). However, now that they have data over several months they are seeing that yeah, while that is what people asked for they are actually testing much, much more.

I personally test at the lowest setting 4/2/2 (Alk, Ca, Mag) but found the topic interesting. I saw above a note about number of tests during a day and this is what I right away thought of. Seney, Neptune, MS, and a few others that collect data can now do some real data analysis on what they have. Sounds like Neptune is doing as such and I think that is the right thing to do.

Yep Thanks, that is the guy. He has had better tanks in 2003 than almost all of us have in 2020. I think he said he was beta testing the Mindstream for over a year and said he had excellent results with it. Everyone should look at @o2manyfish reef build thread, it's amazing what he has done over the years.

 

[robbyg]

Default is 4, I believe 24 Alkalinity tests per day and 12 Calcium and Magnesium tests is max.

Edit: One last thing is that we can test manually at any time. This is what neptune is starting to see that people are using the manual button more than what people actually said they would. Lol - I don't know. Go figure.

My fault, I meant it can test for three items and not just one like the Alkatronic.

I also 100% agree with your other post. Back when I started keeping reef tanks we tested for pH and Salinity just a few times each week. People had the same kinds of arguments back then. Some people said oh you don't need to see pH or Salinity all that often, they stay pretty stable between tests. There was really no point debating them because we really could not do anything about it. Fast forward thirty years and everyone wants real time salinity and pH.

In an ideal world we would want real time Alk, Cal, Mg, Ammonia, Nitrate and even Co2 levels. The Mindstream was a major step in that direction. Given time it is quite possible based on what we are now seeing from @lexinverts 90 day old disk is that these disks might have evolved to a point where they lasted 90 days or more for all the tests and possibly been able to do tests every five minutes during a day. We might never know what could have been but a lot of evidence suggest they were getting it right and starting to be able to do it consistently.