floridareefs,
The tanks pics with the bright deco coral are no where near the looks of that anymore. Although all these pieces are still in there, you would not think it was the same tank. All of the "deco" dead coral became part of the live rock by majority vote from the tank's inhabitants. Some of the barnacles are still partially intact, but have been bored through and broken in pieces over time by all the critters. When these dead corals were used in the FO setup, they were bleached from time to time to maintain their appearance. Not only have most pieces been stacked with liverock on top of them, but they are also covered in coraline algae and all the other "stuff" that grows over time in reef tanks. So they eventually end up blending right in with the live rock. If I knew this would happen at the time I re-added them back to the tank, I would have left them out and placed them on a shelf or somewhere else in the house as part of the decor. Especially since they cost me a pretty penny back then and were more expensive when compared by weight to live rock.