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

Silver14SS · Dec 15, 2019

I thought I had read that alk isn't directly measured and is derived from an equation using other measurements? If so, wouldn't that mean one (or more) of the components of the alk calculation are incorrect?

lexinverts · Dec 15, 2019

Silver14SS said:
I thought I had read that alk isn't directly measured and is derived from an equation using other measurements? If so, wouldn't that mean one (or more) of the components of the alk calculation are incorrect?

It's the CO2 reading that starts to go bad after 30 days. So, likely, the CO2 and the alk will be off. I don't have another way to measure CO2, so I don't know for sure.

Bleigh · Dec 15, 2019

What happens if the disk is rinsed in RO water? I would suggest not trying that until all the usefulness is gone.

K7BMG · Dec 15, 2019

My guess or assumptions based on Mindstreams own testimony.
The Mindstream came about with 7 years plus of time invested and 10 million dollers of investers money on the line.
The inversters were not convinced by the amount of sales that actually occured once the unit was released. So the return on the investment or lack thereof had more to do with it. So the investers took the loss and moved on to something else more lucrative.
Mindstream basically stated this within the letter the wrote to its customer base.
I would not put blame on anyone here. This is nothing more than a buisness decision.
Can or should one blame the investors for no longer funding what they feel is a losing investment? Nope.
As far as the developers go, are they to blame? because of what? I cant fathome the costs associated with the mindstream, 10 million in my opinion was not enough from the start even if no salary was drawn.

User1 · Dec 15, 2019

K7BMG said:
My guess or assumptions based on Mindstreams own testimony.
The Mindstream came about with 7 years plus of time invested and 10 million dollers of investers money on the line.
The inversters were not convinced by the amount of sales that actually occured once the unit was released. So the return on the investment or lack thereof had more to do with it. So the investers took the loss and moved on to something else more lucrative.
Mindstream basically stated this within the letter the wrote to its customer base.
I would not put blame on anyone here. This is nothing more than a buisness decision.
Can or should one blame the investors for no longer funding what they feel is a losing investment? Nope.
As far as the developers go, are they to blame? because of what? I cant fathome the costs associated with the mindstream, 10 million in my opinion was not enough from the start even if no salary was drawn.

Interesting take. And yet some people can take their 401K's and turn 140,000 or so thousand dollars into a million dollar company. Those people have always intrigued me. How they do it, the drive, and of course luck.

MnFish1 · Dec 15, 2019

Did everyone get this message? There was more explanation -came last pm at Midnight.

Our ultimate desire is to bring this paradigm-shifting capability to reef keepers worldwide. While we had hoped to do it as Step Ahead Innovations, we are now diligently working to enable a new firm to realize the potential for this innovative technology to revolutionize water quality analytics in a wide variety of industries (including beyond saltwater aquariums), so that we can make things right financially with our customers, satisfy our obligations to our creditors and investors, and ultimately give the science behind the MindStream Monitor another chance to truly change how aquarists understand and manage reef chemistry.

There is no question that we were severely challenged by our ambitious goals, but at our core we are passionate scientists, aquarists, and lovers of this hobby, and I want to assure you that we tried at every turn to act in good faith with our customers and the reef keeping industry at large. We hope that in the coming months there will be good news to share for those who still believe in the power of the MindStream approach, but in the meantime, I want to thank you again for your support and understanding.

Sincerely,
Brian Degen
CEO, Step Ahead Innovations, Inc.

BZOFIQ · Dec 17, 2019

This whole thing just doesn't make sense - there is more in the cards that we are not shown.

Nami · Dec 17, 2019

Its mind boggling that the interest for this tech did not take off. This is perhaps the best idea out there for automated parameter monitoring, no reagents, test tubes, wired probes, etc. The device itself is small and just need to replace chip periodically.

Only reasons that I can see holding this back are - exorbitant cost/price, or the parameter monitoring tech is still not very accurate.

User1 · Dec 17, 2019

Nami said:
Unless the price is exorbitant, this will probably be staple for every reef keeper.

In your opinion. Which is perfectly fine. Reagents and probes are fine. Just a different way of doing things.

Conor_K · Dec 17, 2019

saf1 said:
In your opinion. Which is perfectly fine. Reagents and probes are fine. Just a different way of doing things.

Agreed, but I have to believe there are plenty of us in the market with the first opinion.

As I plan to run CaRx.
I really wanted the mindstream to work. Manual testing sucks and all the solutions to that problem out there now is a lot of extra hoopla I don’t need. As a GHL guy, to avoid testing I need 3 extra pieces of equipment geared toward dosing. Apex is no better at this point. .

I never adopt anything early so I have no skin in the game, but I am extremely unhappy that this endeavor has failed.

User1 · Dec 18, 2019

Conor_K said:
Agreed, but I have to believe there are plenty of us in the market with the first opinion.

As I plan to run CaRx.
I really wanted the mindstream to work. Manual testing sucks and all the solutions to that problem out there now is a lot of extra hoopla I don’t need. As a GHL guy, to avoid testing I need 3 extra pieces of equipment geared toward dosing. Apex is no better at this point. .

I never adopt anything early so I have no skin in the game, but I am extremely unhappy that this endeavor has failed.

If you are GHL then your decision should already be set. It is a cheaper entry point for you and most things will be covered. Also different pricing model for you. In your case I wouldn't switch to either MS or Neptune.

On the other hand if you didn't have something, a controller, then you have choices. Also agreed. Testing isn't fun. However, we have has a hobby been doing it for ages now most successfully. Throw in a DNA or ICP test, well, you are covered and have lots of options and price points. In my opinion anyway :)

Regardless - hope whichever route you go works best for you. That is what matters!

Conor_K · Dec 18, 2019

saf1 said:
If you are GHL then your decision should already be set. It is a cheaper entry point for you and most things will be covered. Also different pricing model for you. In your case I wouldn't switch to either MS or Neptune.

On the other hand if you didn't have something, a controller, then you have choices. Also agreed. Testing isn't fun. However, we have has a hobby been doing it for ages now most successfully. Throw in a DNA or ICP test, well, you are covered and have lots of options and price points. In my opinion anyway :)

Regardless - hope whichever route you go works best for you. That is what matters!

Decision is set. But I don’t know about your pricing angle. Need KHD and the Ion to get what the mindstream could do. Adding a CaRx puts the price through the roof and seems like overkill. I know testing has been the way of the world for decades, but no one likes it and this was a really nice solution. Ah well...

Nami · Dec 18, 2019

Nothing against reagents and probes, they are true and tested.

While its just my opinion, but barring someone who prefers to be hands on reagent testing or only need to test a couple of parameters, I fail to see how this is not the preferred option for routine monitoring, provided costs affordable. Of course, using this device may come off as taking the shortcut :p (but its no different than other devices i guess)

Rapidtransport28 · Apr 14, 2020

TheHarold said:
I updated my post with more explanation.

They claim that the disk has to be changed every 30 days, due to algae growth, hence they will LOCK your units test ability. I think that is VERY sketchy, and the explanation is insufficient.

They say algae grows on the disk and the results get worse over time. That makes sense to me.

Why does it mean day 30 is the “set point” for forcing consumers to buy another disk?

Surely my tank with 0 nutrients grows less algae than someone else’s filthy tank.

Their are clear holes in Mindstreams claims, that seem (to me) to be an attempt at making more money.

Let’s say I put the unit in RODI. They will still lock my unit at 30 days- even if there is zero algae growth.

I would love if they joined the forum so I could ask! I consider myself an informed skeptic. I look for things that “don’t make sense” in advertising and business practices. That’s just how look at new tech, and it’s up to the company to explain otherwise. I don’t just chug the advertising Gatorade, haha

(I was just as skeptical about the trident minimum dosing interval. After talking to many people, it seems like that “makes sense”)

dang!!!❤

robbyg · Apr 14, 2020

I think that was an optional feature on the server side. It was evidently turned off because one user told me a month or two ago that he had a 90 day old disk still running. Some of the readings seemed to still be accurate, while others had stopped and reported an error. Temp and salinity should run as long as the servers are up.