https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/859739753/mindstream-aquarium-monitor/description. This looks pretty cool and if it works it will be super cool!
$30-50 per month for the discs on top of the $700 retail price? No thanks!
For my money, the FishBit is much more likely to be a success:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1758456789/fishbit-your-aquarium-made-simple-beta-release
These things are 2 completly differant things! Yours is an apex knock off. Mine is a monitor that will measure 10 differant water parameters! No more test kits! Yours only does salinity and ph.
I think not doing those stupid tests is great thing and knowing right now that my potassium is low could be usefull. (Just joking)but it does offer a lot of nice things. I’m sure the refills could probally be used a little longer but they won’t garuntee the accuracy after a months use.
True. The discs are expensive, but hopefully the price will come down at some point.
Now you did call the post “look out apex!” ;D
I agree it is a cool device, but anything other than solid state is the wrong approach, IMO. There are apps out there that will analyze test kits for you using your phone. What happens if you get a spike in one of the reading while you’re doing a water change? My guess is that the pad isn’t going to go back to some lower reading (I could be very wrong here) and then what? You have to replace your $50 pad after a week of use?
If you read more about the fishbit, they have a lot of sensors on their list for later inclusion. The fact that this is a sensor-based system coupled with a controller means that it can potentially react to a change before it is a problem. Like an ATO stuck on and your salinity is dropping and it automatically powers off the ATO. That’s a simple example, but you get my point.
ReefBuilders just posted a FAQ on the MindStream…
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I was wrong about the test pads. They are continuous and reversible so they should work for the 30 days straight. They are aiming for a target price of $33 per disc at production rates.
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The unit relies on the cloud to work. This brings to mind a subscription based model. You’re reliant on them for the pads and now your unit is just a glorified camera that reports the color to their systems which actually tell you what is happening.
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Integration with a controller is not on their roadmap. Major flaw IMO.
They will probably interface with other controllers at some point. Since it’s all done on the cloud it should be easy to integrate at a future date.
Yes I did say look out apex, should have said look out test kits!
At the end of the day, it is nice to see progress being made for our hobby. I just wish there was some competition in these spaces. Look what happened when someone disrupted the Vortech way of thinking…
Whats your idea? We can start our own kick starter.
I have quite a few, but I’m working on a spinout from my current company right now so there’s no time for me to tinker. I’m an electrical engineer though and with a few exceptions, I’ve built most of the electronics for my systems over the years. I was actually working on something similar to the ReefAngel right before it came out. Couldn’t beat their price for my one-off though.
The one that I’ve had in my book to work on, and I’m surprised no one else has to my knowledge, is a self-adjusting skimmer.