The MindStream is clearly one of the most revolutionary aquarium devices ever conceived. The only thing you need to know to run a MindStream is that you put it in your tank, replace the disc once a month, and you have real time monitoring of ten crucial aquarium water parameters.
But if you want to know more about how the MindStream works, even beyond the super comprehensive coverage we gave on the water monitor, you should have been at the MindStream MACNA workshop a few weeks ago. However if you couldn’t make that presentation, MindStream has graciously uploaded their entire powerpoint presentation online which anyone can download and dive into themselves.
The 30+ page powerpoint file is bursting at the seams with tons of information about the MindStream, from the very basics of how the company started and how the device was conceived, to the intense technicalities of how the system works on a granular level. You don’d have to absorb the entire presentation to appreciate how critical their measurement of certain water parameters has become.
We’ve plucked out a sampling of several of what we believe are among the most crucial slides which show how insanely accurate and sensitive the MindStream is at detecting levels of pH and calcium. For example, when 5ppm of calcium was added to a solution of seawater, a precise uptick of 5ppm in Ca++ was detected by the MindStream almost immediately; more importantly, Step Ahead Innovations is confident that they’ve achieved a 1ppm resolution in the registering of calcium levels.
The MindStream team also looked at the pH level of their aquarium over a one week period, and they found a curious weekday/weekend pattern of pH fluctuation. With more people around the office breathing in air and exhaling carbon dioxide, the pH level of the aquarium was erratic during the week, but very steady over the weekend when no one was around to affect the CO2 levels of the office air.
This is just some of the tantalizing evidence of how powerful a water quality management tool the MindStream will be, once it finally gets in our hands. The KickStarter may not have reached its lofty goal but be assured that there is no way that the MindStream will fade away into vaporware. Some beta units of the MindStream will be sent out to early real-world testers in the next couple months and we’re still keeping an ear out for the launch of the Mindstream store after the FCC certification is completed. [MindStream]
