The Mindstream is DEAD!! I'm getting mine soon!

[Oldreefer44]

Interesting discussion. As one of the original backers, I'm getting mine at 30% off. Would I have ordered it at $1000. Not sure.
What I do know is that I have used several testing and controlling systems, all of which have given me conflicting results. Ended up finding that, for my needs, hanna and a doser worked just as well as my Apex etc. As a traveling business person, all I want is something that gives me my parameters often enough that all I need to do is react to them by making incremental doser adjustments because in the end, I want to control my tank. Running a business and living on a large piece of property in the woods, I find myself not giving my tank the testing frequency it should get so this should work for me. For others maybe, maybe not.
Is their business model sustainable? Good question, but what isn't being considered here is their technology being applicable to other uses. Many of the largest businesses in the world started in someone's garage (Microsoft, Amazon) so to judge them based on their size seems silly to me and as far as thinking they have hatched a plan to defraud everyone....the same.
As with almost all new products that come into our hobby, there are skeptics (like me) who have legitimate reasons for their skepticism. After all, how many of us has seen something in the new items section of BRS that we have to have. A month later it is on a shelf in the garage.
There also those that have other agendas because they want to push another product. Also, it is human nature to try to convince others to purchase what they bought as validation for their own decision.
So we will see. What I do know is that there are many on this forum who wish they were getting one at the discounted price like me.

 

[o2manyfish]

Hey Everyone,

Dave B/ o2manyfish / the guy who posted on Facebook. Yes I have a Mindstream! Yes it's in my tank and Yes it's been working. I have been in touch with Mindstream for many years. I was part of their focus groups and kept in touch with them. They sent an email that the units were available for sale and a link. I followed the link, made the order, and in fact within just a couple of days I had a unit in hand and 20 mins later in my tank.

It wasn't until all the Conspiracy Theory popped up on Facebook and a few other forums that I found out (from Mindstream), that a few people were sent the email to test the website, shopping cart and fulfillment system. I have no idea how many people got that email or took advantage of the opportunity.

But the fact is the unit is up and running. And for any of you Yahoos calling bologna -- Goto my live webcam at www.o2manyfish.com/webcam - And if you can get your Neanderthal Fingers to use your mouse you can Move the camera and zoom in on the top left corner of my 400g display tank and see a Mindstream inside the tank.

For me, the price and subscription, is nothing compared to the potential losses should any parameter go out of whack.

I have a complex Apex system - and I trust it about as much as I trust the govt that we are going to have a 100% free healthcare system for all by the next election. And the investment I have in Neptune Products is much more than the Mindstream cost. And the amount of Neptune Products that I have to have spares on the shelf for is more than the value of the Mindstream.

I also have the Alkatronic.

--------------------------

To respond on a different topic of differences in controlling Alkalinity yes I have learned alot by measuring my Alk as much as 24 times a day.

My system is different than most in that I have 1300g and only 400g is inside the house. The rest is outside and sitting under the sun.

Prior to Alkatronic (15 months ago) I would test Alk and tweak the CalcRx only when something looked off. Once I started measuring 12x a day I discovered that while the Alk would always be pretty much the same at the same time of day - that in fact the swing during the day was over 1.5dkh. The frag tanks outside in the sun were sucking down the Alk, and then once the sunsets the CalcRx starts bringing it back up.

I finally had everything dialed in. I was running a Aquarium Engineering Calc Rx with an effluent of 700ml/min using Dastaco media. I went into my display tank and with a hammer and chisel knocked off a 30"x6" chunk of ORA Jedi Mind Truck. Within an hour I got an Alk Alert. Fragging just one colony out of 500+ pcs of coral sent the entire system into Alk shut down. I had to lower the effluent to 380ml/min. It was 5 days of slowly bringing it back up to get back to 700ml/min

When I found out the DKH swing during the day this past winter I upgraded to a Dastaco EXT 9. Now I thought I could keep up with Alk consumption. Over the winter I dialed in the DKH and I started dosing Coral Essentials. Everything was doing good (great actually). Then all of a sudden my Alk started dropping. Over a period of a week it just kept going down.

I wasn't sure what was going on. I increased the output of the Dastaco, but still wasn't maintaining. And my pH was getting higher and higher.

What happened was we hit the Summer Equinox and finally there was more daylight than darkness. And within a few days of this transition my 1300g system responded. Before the Equinox I was running my Dastaco at 1 vent a 3.5 setting. Currently I am running at 3 vents and a setting of 5 - Each additional vent supposedly doubles the output.

On Bright sunny days like today in Los Angeles my 1300g system is consuming .5dkh per hour... Not a typo. If I run out of CO2, or if the Alk gets too high and I shut off the Rx .5dkh an hour.

I also see changes in Alk consumption based on feeding or based on doing sump or tank maintenance. While some of these might seem trivial, on my size system minimizing theses swings makes a big difference.

Dave B

 

[o2manyfish]

double post

 

[HCl+NaHO=]

.

 

[Torx]

Well it is official then. 1 person got theirs and it is a real product. I would have assumed more people got theirs considering the outpouring of interested people saying they ordered.

Any chance you have anything to share anything other then how amazing your set up is? Maybe something about the Mindstream or a pic of it working. After a 7 year wait I would like to assume you didn't wait to set it up and seeing how you appear to be the only person on social media who has one.

 

[Darrell Brady]

double post

what a awesome tank

 

[Darrell Brady]

I hope they start shipping soon I hate testing water I don't do it near enough.

 

[o2manyfish]

.... The product is working and giving me data. The data trending matches up with my Apex, ekor and Alkatronic.

I got mine set it up and then headed to the Carribbean for a week. I got back this past week and had 2 days of testing in the hospital. This coming week I have 4 days in hospital and then Dr. appts. - So my priorities have been on things other than my system.

I try to be as open as I can be. I have not had the time to start cross checking with my test kits, or double checking the calibration of everything to have the balls to say this one says this and that one says that - And that's the way it is.

The Mindstream salinity function seems to be spot on when matched against my ekor. pH swings on both eKor and Mindstream are in line - the values are different but I haven't bothered to check which is correct (they are in different tanks - same system). Temps on eKor and Mindstream match in terms of swing and value.

In comparing to my Apex - As I mentioned earlier - Salinity/Conductivity with my Apex is not a valid parameter - with 3 Apex probes it's merely a trend indicator.

The pH and Temp values on the Apex are 'similar' to the other 2 monitors. But the Apex values show much much more variation than the other 2 products.

Also the Mindstream is in my display tank. The Ekor in the 2nd 180g frag tank outside. And the Apex has probes in both the 400g display and the outside tanks. All 1300g are connected. The flow rate through all the tanks is 2200gph. But the outdoor frag tanks (360g combined) are what drives the system. So when the sun is out the photosynthesis in the frag tanks is just unbelievable.

The best example I can give is if you have a healthy refugium you can see 'pearling' which is the algae in the system photosynthesizing and producing air bubbles that rise to the surface. Multiple times after the summer solstice occurred and the consumption of Alk went up, I came outside to see full frag racks in the frag tanks, covered with frags and mini colonies FLOATING. Corals (always my favorites ones) were out of the water and baking in the sun. I had to weigh down the frag racks. And now if you watch the frag tanks during the day you can see the bubbles rising from the frag racks non-stop. It's like the frag racks are a porous airstone.

The 2 frag tanks have 6+ sheets of of eggcrate -- That's a lot of photosynthesis occurring. So the values recorded in the frag tanks are different from the sump and display tank. So calculating those difference to check which device is most accurate will be challenging.

The alkatronic and mindstream are following the same up down pattern. But the Alkatronic measured Total Alkalinity and the Mindstream measures Carobate Alkalinity. So these values should not be the same.

Dave B


Dave B

 

[Ernie C]

Hey Everyone,

Dave B/ o2manyfish / the guy who posted on Facebook. Yes I have a Mindstream! Yes it's in my tank and Yes it's been working. I have been in touch with Mindstream for many years. I was part of their focus groups and kept in touch with them. They sent an email that the units were available for sale and a link. I followed the link, made the order, and in fact within just a couple of days I had a unit in hand and 20 mins later in my tank.

It wasn't until all the Conspiracy Theory popped up on Facebook and a few other forums that I found out (from Mindstream), that a few people were sent the email to test the website, shopping cart and fulfillment system. I have no idea how many people got that email or took advantage of the opportunity.

But the fact is the unit is up and running. And for any of you Yahoos calling bologna -- Goto my live webcam at www.o2manyfish.com/webcam - And if you can get your Neanderthal Fingers to use your mouse you can Move the camera and zoom in on the top left corner of my 400g display tank and see a Mindstream inside the tank.

For me, the price and subscription, is nothing compared to the potential losses should any parameter go out of whack.

I have a complex Apex system - and I trust it about as much as I trust the govt that we are going to have a 100% free healthcare system for all by the next election. And the investment I have in Neptune Products is much more than the Mindstream cost. And the amount of Neptune Products that I have to have spares on the shelf for is more than the value of the Mindstream.

I also have the Alkatronic.

--------------------------

To respond on a different topic of differences in controlling Alkalinity yes I have learned alot by measuring my Alk as much as 24 times a day.

My system is different than most in that I have 1300g and only 400g is inside the house. The rest is outside and sitting under the sun.

Prior to Alkatronic (15 months ago) I would test Alk and tweak the CalcRx only when something looked off. Once I started measuring 12x a day I discovered that while the Alk would always be pretty much the same at the same time of day - that in fact the swing during the day was over 1.5dkh. The frag tanks outside in the sun were sucking down the Alk, and then once the sunsets the CalcRx starts bringing it back up.

I finally had everything dialed in. I was running a Aquarium Engineering Calc Rx with an effluent of 700ml/min using Dastaco media. I went into my display tank and with a hammer and chisel knocked off a 30"x6" chunk of ORA Jedi Mind Truck. Within an hour I got an Alk Alert. Fragging just one colony out of 500+ pcs of coral sent the entire system into Alk shut down. I had to lower the effluent to 380ml/min. It was 5 days of slowly bringing it back up to get back to 700ml/min

When I found out the DKH swing during the day this past winter I upgraded to a Dastaco EXT 9. Now I thought I could keep up with Alk consumption. Over the winter I dialed in the DKH and I started dosing Coral Essentials. Everything was doing good (great actually). Then all of a sudden my Alk started dropping. Over a period of a week it just kept going down.

I wasn't sure what was going on. I increased the output of the Dastaco, but still wasn't maintaining. And my pH was getting higher and higher.

What happened was we hit the Summer Equinox and finally there was more daylight than darkness. And within a few days of this transition my 1300g system responded. Before the Equinox I was running my Dastaco at 1 vent a 3.5 setting. Currently I am running at 3 vents and a setting of 5 - Each additional vent supposedly doubles the output.

On Bright sunny days like today in Los Angeles my 1300g system is consuming .5dkh per hour... Not a typo. If I run out of CO2, or if the Alk gets too high and I shut off the Rx .5dkh an hour.

I also see changes in Alk consumption based on feeding or based on doing sump or tank maintenance. While some of these might seem trivial, on my size system minimizing theses swings makes a big difference.

Dave B

Wow! Awesome. You should set a preset for the mindstream location on your webcam. I couldn’t find it in your tank but it all looks amazing!

 

[hart24601]

Hey Everyone,

Dave B/ o2manyfish / the guy who posted on Facebook. Yes I have a Mindstream! Yes it's in my tank and Yes it's been working. I have been in touch with Mindstream for many years. I was part of their focus groups and kept in touch with them. They sent an email that the units were available for sale and a link. I followed the link, made the order, and in fact within just a couple of days I had a unit in hand and 20 mins later in my tank.

It wasn't until all the Conspiracy Theory popped up on Facebook and a few other forums that I found out (from Mindstream), that a few people were sent the email to test the website, shopping cart and fulfillment system. I have no idea how many people got that email or took advantage of the opportunity.

But the fact is the unit is up and running. And for any of you Yahoos calling bologna -- Goto my live webcam at www.o2manyfish.com/webcam - And if you can get your Neanderthal Fingers to use your mouse you can Move the camera and zoom in on the top left corner of my 400g display tank and see a Mindstream inside the tank.

For me, the price and subscription, is nothing compared to the potential losses should any parameter go out of whack.

I have a complex Apex system - and I trust it about as much as I trust the govt that we are going to have a 100% free healthcare system for all by the next election. And the investment I have in Neptune Products is much more than the Mindstream cost. And the amount of Neptune Products that I have to have spares on the shelf for is more than the value of the Mindstream.

I also have the Alkatronic.

--------------------------

To respond on a different topic of differences in controlling Alkalinity yes I have learned alot by measuring my Alk as much as 24 times a day.

My system is different than most in that I have 1300g and only 400g is inside the house. The rest is outside and sitting under the sun.

Prior to Alkatronic (15 months ago) I would test Alk and tweak the CalcRx only when something looked off. Once I started measuring 12x a day I discovered that while the Alk would always be pretty much the same at the same time of day - that in fact the swing during the day was over 1.5dkh. The frag tanks outside in the sun were sucking down the Alk, and then once the sunsets the CalcRx starts bringing it back up.

I finally had everything dialed in. I was running a Aquarium Engineering Calc Rx with an effluent of 700ml/min using Dastaco media. I went into my display tank and with a hammer and chisel knocked off a 30"x6" chunk of ORA Jedi Mind Truck. Within an hour I got an Alk Alert. Fragging just one colony out of 500+ pcs of coral sent the entire system into Alk shut down. I had to lower the effluent to 380ml/min. It was 5 days of slowly bringing it back up to get back to 700ml/min

When I found out the DKH swing during the day this past winter I upgraded to a Dastaco EXT 9. Now I thought I could keep up with Alk consumption. Over the winter I dialed in the DKH and I started dosing Coral Essentials. Everything was doing good (great actually). Then all of a sudden my Alk started dropping. Over a period of a week it just kept going down.

I wasn't sure what was going on. I increased the output of the Dastaco, but still wasn't maintaining. And my pH was getting higher and higher.

What happened was we hit the Summer Equinox and finally there was more daylight than darkness. And within a few days of this transition my 1300g system responded. Before the Equinox I was running my Dastaco at 1 vent a 3.5 setting. Currently I am running at 3 vents and a setting of 5 - Each additional vent supposedly doubles the output.

On Bright sunny days like today in Los Angeles my 1300g system is consuming .5dkh per hour... Not a typo. If I run out of CO2, or if the Alk gets too high and I shut off the Rx .5dkh an hour.

I also see changes in Alk consumption based on feeding or based on doing sump or tank maintenance. While some of these might seem trivial, on my size system minimizing theses swings makes a big difference.

Dave B

Wow. That is one heck of a system. Thank you for sharing!

 

[lakai]

To me the cost factors don't match... ;Wacky

Mindstream is a tester / monitor

KH Director / Alkatronic / Trident... are all tester / monitor / controllers

Just say'n...

And that’s why you pay $400 more going apex route.

 

[road_runner]

Wow these guys are serious. Now this is real production..

https://www.facebook.com/172032453001343/posts/1049567031914543/

 

[road_runner]

And that’s why you pay $400 more going apex route.

To me apex is not worth half what it cost knowing what is available in the market..
Its measurments are sub bar
Its control and quality are bad(only exception is outlet control)
I rather get something that can give me right measurment and pay more than pay less and get measurment that are called "good only for trends monitoring". Well I did by investing in a GHL

 

[GoVols]

And that’s why you pay $400 more going apex route.

(lol)
I have the Alkatronic paired up with my GEO 2 stage calcium reactor setup, and it's been I great fit.

Reefer's needed to pick what's the best fit for them, and what kind of setups that they run.
I'm not going to bash any manufacturer including Neptune.

@o2manyfish has put it down right.

Not only does your alk change within the day, but alk in-takes different, from day to day too.

 

[Murica]

To me the cost factors don't match... ;Wacky

Mindstream is a tester / monitor

KH Director / Alkatronic / Trident... are all tester / monitor / controllers

Just say'n...

I would agree with you 100% but if you have a ca reactor instead of dosing it may be worth it. On the other hand though... If your tanks flourishing and you know your ammonia is in check, then all you really need to keep an eye on is the big three.. [emoji848]

Too many choices! [emoji12]

 

[GoVols]

Too many choices! [emoji12]

(lol)
I hear ya and, I only test cal and mag, every two weeks with my cal reactor.

I would not put an Alka-T in full blown "Action Mode" with an Dastaco. It might tare up an Dastaco.

I let my Alka-T monitor for along time before kicking in the controller part. At some point I could be burned too.

Do your research and go with what best fits your needs, and comfort level.

Like @MnFish1 said
No body has to buy anything, they don't want or need.

 

[chicago]

Just watched the video.. very cool .. I was under the inpression for some reason it was not doing Alk.. O2many.. I assume my assumption is incorrect... did I just say that? Let us.. Know.. if that is the case .. and how the readings are.. thanks

 

[MnFish1]

Just watched the video.. very cool .. I was under the inpression for some reason it was not doing Alk.. O2many.. I assume my assumption is incorrect... did I just say that? Let us.. Know.. if that is the case .. and how the readings are.. thanks

It reads alkalinity

 

[lakai]

To me apex is not worth half what it cost knowing what is available in the market..
Its measurment is sub bar
Its control and quality is bad(only exception is outlet control)
I rather get something thsy can give me right measurment and pay more than pay less and get measurment that are called "good only for trends monitoring". Well I did by investing in a GHL

Worth about two or tree fiddy. I don’t control anything with it.

 

[Jeff_H]

All,

Like @mdbannister, I have a MindStream on order. Since there doesn't appear to be any good details outside what you can find on their website, I thought I would share some of the Q&A I received from their support staff on 7/10. FWIW: They "have" been reasonably responsive to email questions it just took me a while to find some time to post them here.


1. Is my account locked out if I don't replace the disk at 30 days?
You will never be locked out of your account. You will always have access to your historical data even if you do not keep your disc subscription active.

2. Is there a grace period after 30 days if I don't get the disk right away due to travel, shipping delays, life events, laziness, etc?
Every 30 we will be shipping you a new disc regardless of whether or not you install the disc immediately or wait. To ensure the highest level of accuracy and precision we encourage you to swap you your disc every time you receive a new one.

3. Will the unit only stop reporting at 30 days or am I locked out of the account somehow? Meaning can I still log in and see my old data or how will this work?
Assuming your account is active, the web app will always report data regardless of the disc that is on the monitor. Theoretically, you could use an old disc to report new results but as I mentioned in answer #2, a new disc will provide you with the best accuracy and precision.

4. Is there an export feature to download my data without the need to do a screenshot?
At this time we do not have the ability to export data. We have heard this feedback before and will look to add this feature in the future.

5. Do you plan to have some videos on how to set up the unit, and replace the disk?
Great question! We already have videos developed to assist with installation and other helpful topics. You will also receive a Setup Guide in your initial shipment that is very descriptive and should help get you set up with no issues.

6. Do you know if the beta testers plan to post on forums or post videos about their experiences?
Another great question! We hear this question a lot. The answer is YES! We are working on releasing these folks from their Product Testing Agreements very soon which will give them the ability to share their experiences with the masses. We understand that people interested in the MindStream Monitor will see tremendous value in hearing about beta tester experiences, and the beta tester reviews will carry a great deal more credibility than any marketing we would do ourselves.