[Tang Salad]

Great information! Thank you for doing all the work to collect and post it.

Another variable that I'd like to see thrown into the equation would be flow within the tank. It's my humble belief that most reef tanks, nearly all beginner's tanks, and 99.9% of tanks with algae problems, simply do not have enough circulation. It's so easy to look at big GPH numbers and feel somehow that whichever number you've come up with is "enough". (3,000 GPH sure does sound like a lot!) Current in the ocean, especially on the reef crests, is tremendous. Even on calm days the movement of water is immense. It is difficult to understate.

We know that flow is important for nearly everything a coral does. As they're immobile creatures, they rely on flow to bring them what they need and, even more importantly, to take away what they do not need. Studies have shown that when facing rising temperatures, temperatures that often trigger bleaching events, increased water velocity can help corals cope and survive. IIRC the same goes for light. Too much light can cause over-photosynthesizing and can result in oxygen toxicity to the tissue of the coral. Increased flow can bring that O2 away from the tissue and keep it from getting burned.

Anyway, I don't mean to preach to the choir or sidetrack the thread. It's just something I thought could possibly be integrated into your formula at some point in the future.

Imagine that. A Grand Unified Theory of reefkeeping!