Appreciate your experience here, I just bit the bullet and just ordered Vee Gee Scientific STX-3 (as Slingfox suggested)For what it’s worth, I’ve had corals (sps, lps, softies) die from everything: high/low lighting, high/low flow, high/low nutrients, bacterial infection, etc. Most of this from a young tank + beginner mistakes.
The ONLY time I had every coral in the tank screaming at me overnight was when my salinity was way off (1.030). I no longer trust electronic salinity meters!
IMO disregard the tank age comments: I have acros still with me that were added month 2, and some that I added 1.5 years in that didn’t make it. Sure it’s a higher percentage of success by having a mature tank, but some lessons can’t be learned until you face issues head on.
In the long run it would be worth it I am sure