The tank has actually been looking really good. I'm going to try and get some new pictures up tonight.
I think there were a few things going on. I had some small cycles, moved too quickly with some fish, had new tank syndrome, and had some silicates leeching from quartz deposits in the sand. I also made the mistake of adding tiny amounts of organic sugar which seemed to have the opposite effect than I intended. I was hoping to produce more bacteria- instead it seemed to extend the brown algae issue.
The diatoms/brown algae has dissipated, but I do get the occasional coating of brown algae on the front of the acrylic which must be scrubbed off.
Ironically, I had pretty severe issues with fish and not corals. The only coral I lost was a very small piece of blue xenia that melted away. The chalice has a burn off spot from being in too direct of a current from the Magnum. I've since moved it to the other side of the tank and this has not progressed.
Man did the fish puzzle me. I lost two sets of clowns. The second set came down with what I think was marine Velvet. One clown I did a recommended fresh water dip, but the water was too cold. Unfortunately, I lost him about a week later. Both clowns seemed to lose the Velvet for a day but it quickly returned. The naked clown fought on for quite some time but eventually stopped eating and gave up.
I had also lost a large Kole tang that just did not acclimate well and was dead the next afternoon. I had a starry blenny that went carpet surfing- no more blennies for me. I had a Banghaii Cardinal for a few weeks and then disappeared. I don't think it really liked the "flow" in my tank, nor did it ever seem to be anywhere near the food when I fed the tank.
More to come soon- I just remembered to dose my 2 part
