BestMomEver
2500 Club Member
Just saw the nifty add at the top of new forum for the new Mindstream monitor. So I clicked on it. Intriguing.... but, geez Louise! $1000? Does anyone have one of these?
Holy Mess.... Mindstream
- Thread starter BestMomEver
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See this thread
www.reef2reef.com
The Mindstream is DEAD!! I'm getting mine soon!
I get it. New gadgets are fun. But if the company has to charge your credit card 2 months in advance of shipping the product, that’s pretty indicative of a company completely strapped for cash. If so, the only possible way for them to survive long term is constant new influx of customers buying...
www.reef2reef.com
Let me start off by saying I do not have the Mindstream. I was one of the original backers and waited forever for it to come to market. Over those years I got more and more frustrated. I am glad to see they finally have a product but have no intention at this time to get one. I thought long and hard about it. I was offered 30% off, like all original backers of the product. I chose not to get the Mindstream for a couple of reasons. First and foremost, I already have the Alkatronic on one tank and the Trident on my other tank, I feel like Alk testing is my biggest need, Calcium next. The Trident takes care of the big 3 on my big tank and the Alkatronic takes care of the alk on my Nano-Tank so I'm covered. I run SPS dominated tanks so alk has always been my Achilles heel. Second reason, their program is a monthly fee to use the machine. You must 'subscribe' for that monthly fee plus pay the $1000 to, IMHO, rent the machine. You are forever tied to their schedule, their subscription, etc. With the Alkatronic and Trident you must purchase reagents so you are tied in that way, but it is pretty cost effective with both, $40 or there abouts will last you months, heck the alkatronic, due to only testing 2-3 times a day will last me 6 months for $42. So all in all, two solid reasons for me not to purchase. I think I would have gone for it if they had gotten it to market prior to others. There are a number of good options out there now, the Mindstream does the most comprehensive testing for sure. For me, I figure that 2-3 times a year I send off ICP tests anyways on my tanks so I get a lot of the info I need on the trace elements, and anything bad that may be building up through those tests.
Overall, It's so awesome to see all of these these choices now for testing on a more comprehensive schedule and to see the technology getting more and more impressive.
Jonathan Troutt
Well-Known Member
I had the same thoughts. Pay a $1000 dollars only to have to pay a subscription as well. Total joke and a waste of money in my eyes. But to each their own.
codygarner08
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How much are the replacement discs? I didn’t see it on there web site. So 995.00, pulse 35.00, and then I’m assuming the discs are probably 50+. Also they are recommending that they be replaced monthly.
codygarner08
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the disc is included in subscription.
MTBake
2500 Club Member
It is a very cool device, imo.
That said, it's well above what I would need. I test alk and calcium a couple to 3 times a week. Everything else is tested monthly at best. Doubt I'll have a use for this to be honest.
That said, it's well above what I would need. I test alk and calcium a couple to 3 times a week. Everything else is tested monthly at best. Doubt I'll have a use for this to be honest.
codygarner08
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honestly, if I had a bigger mix reef tank I’d probably do it, but I honestly don’t test.
It’s really cool if you definitely have the income.
It’s really cool if you definitely have the income.
rushbattle
Valuable Member
Just the O2 monitoring and notifications alone are worth the money, in my scenario. I will have many thousands in livestock in a single tank. If MM helps me prevent a big issue by alerting me to a problem sooner then it will be worth many many years cost.
Curious as well, I received an email about this from a friend and he said he could get me a discount on it if I wanted, but I don’t know if I want this at all. $40 per month is the cost of a frag. I’d rather have 12 of them!
I preordered mine and for me the subscription model is not an issue when you compare with what you get. I am away from my home 3 to 4 days a week and I currently use the KH Director and ReefBot. I am happy with both items especially the ReefBot, but the MindStream (if it works) will be better than any system out there. You get Alk, Cal, Mag, Sal, Tmp, pH, O2, CO2, NH3, and even K+ (Potassium). 7 of those water parameters are very important to me and will always be updated every 15 minutes (Awesome!). The size of the unit (Awesome!). No water removal from tank (Awesome!).
Yes I agree it's expensive but it's worth the cost for me as someone that is not always home. Now if it doesn't work as advertised then I am the idiot for supporting another company that can bring something special to our community.
Yes I agree it's expensive but it's worth the cost for me as someone that is not always home. Now if it doesn't work as advertised then I am the idiot for supporting another company that can bring something special to our community.
vetteguy53081
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Seems to be the going price for todays' new technology
rushbattle
Valuable Member
I've got the same combination in mind, MM combined with RB for N and P testing is the ticket in my opinion. My RB is handling everything now and works well.
rushbattle
Valuable Member
I know what you are referencing, so nice for folks in our circumstances!Oh and no calibration (Awesome!)
I don't get why people are upset about the subscription. You need to purchase reagents for other monitors...what's the difference? One gets sent to you automatically (subscription) the others you need to remember to order yourself. Trident reagents may cost less per month, but it doesn't test for as many things.
MnFish1
10K Club member
Just bought one. Its comparable to buying a trident and apex (especially for how I use my apex - which is basically an expensive surge suppressor that I can control from my computer when I want to change water). I have found the salinity to be quite variable on the Apex - and nearly useless (have to double check with a refractometer) - The ORP is basically useless on the Apex (variable - and what does it tell you ?? - I'm hoping O2 and CO2 levels with the Mindstream will be more accurate and more useful than ORP. People often ignore the replacement of probes, etc with the apex - which should be calibrated frequently - and replaced every year or so - to me - this is already taken care of with the monthly disk subscription.
It will be interesting as more people use them - to see whether they are as good as they seem (and worth their cost). From a monitor standpoint (not controller) - I find the model much better than Apex/Trident
It will be interesting as more people use them - to see whether they are as good as they seem (and worth their cost). From a monitor standpoint (not controller) - I find the model much better than Apex/Trident
