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If you look at your tank and it looks to you like there is too much rock, then there is too much rock.

Nothing wrong with flexible hose. If done correctly it can be better performing than rigid. Yes, your closed loop should not be connected to your sump.

Gammaridea invisiblus

Yeah, that definitely helps. There used to be big sand bed swaps across the country because they really do work. But most of the sand bed infauna doesn't really reproduce in captivity so adding "wild live sand" to the tank once in a while is a huge boost to diversity.

1 - you're expecting things to happen faster than they should 2 - You're tank is handling a dead shrimp. It appears to have a good sized bacterial colony. My suggestion would be to remove the shrimp, if anything is left, and just ghost feed for a couple of weeks to allow the bacteria colonies...

Just a couple handfuls every once in a while will keep your sand bed healthy.

The Shrimp are going to be really good at catching Baby Banggai unless they make it to that Torch Coral.

Is it legal to find a couple handfuls of aragonite sand from near a reef to dump into your tank once in a while?

" I put a bunch of micro algae in the sump" I'll assume you meant Macro Algae ;) Good idea. Get your own test kits. Good ones. What is the Alkalinity level? "good" isn't specific enough. This is the #1 cause of slow growth in captive corals (too High and too Low are equally bad)...

A 75 is a really good starter size. The accessories aren't over the top expensive and yet there's a nice sized footprint for it. 55s are sized all wrong for reef tanks IMO.

RO/DI is a great investment. Silicates are not the only thing you don't want to add to your tank every week.

Really? I don't know anyone on this site harboring that much hate.

I disagree that the rock is needed to break down ammonia. Sand provides more surface area. Besides, there's plenty of Nitrate so breaking down ammonia doesn't seem to be an issue. In my opinion the issue is adding too many nutrients to the system vs the avenues of exporting the Nitrate.

In my opinion using the rock as is will create a tank full of Phosphate loaded rocks what will be a constant source of filament algae for at least a year. You could spend some time cooking the rocks (high flow, low light) until bacteria pushes out and consumes the majority of the PO4.

In my opinion Prime would be a catastrophe (it will consume oxygen). Marine Buffer is a mixed bag. It can raise the PH (your PH is REALLY low not slightly low) but at a cost. Do you know Ammonia, Calcium, and Alkalinity levels? Temperature? If ammonia is present do NOT add any buffer...

luck

In my opinion Sunlight doesn't cause algae, excess nutrients grow algae. I'm with Beth - heat can be an issue due to the amount of energy in Sunlight but if you have no heat issues you should be fine. Most tanks will have an issue with that much energy though.

+1 Caution on the Firefish - they like to surf carpet. Also, when they mature (4 or 5 years) they will pair and the 3rd wheel will be executed. They only congregate as juveniles.

There are a couple scenarios that do happen from time to time. 1 - Is your salt mix high in Iodine? Filament algae is good at sequestering Iodine in all forms and can make the algae inedible for most animals if there is too much. 2 - Was the rock the algae is on ever exposed to really high...

Wet Dry are great as long as you have a venue for exporting the nitrates. Personally I have not found anything better than a remote sand bed combined with an oversized foam fractionator but the algae scrubbers are a really really close second. If space is limited then the algae scrubber wins...