My wife likes the minimalist reef look.

I am an even worse OCD addict than you, so I usually end up with the maximized reef look.

Noticed some diatom patches on my very clean sand bed. Would this be a mini cycle due to extra rocks added? Is this bad should do something about it or just let it be.

I like more and then more rock. My fish also love this. If my sps ever grow to the size of some, I may not like it but for now thats my choice......:D

With your posts it appears as though you are moving too quickly with your tank. It looks great for 8 months. You shouldn't have to be turkey basting your rocks or corals, ever. Best to keep your hands outta your tank. Fiddling can cause crashes. I'd ease off on buying corals and livestock and buy some decent power heads or wave makers. Your tank is lacking flow.

Agreed, I've never had to take a turkey baster to my rock

I've got 4 powerheads in my 75 and a speedwave 2640 return and I'm still finding I want more flow

IMO flow is one of the many keys to success with sps

On the subject of flow, the more rock, I think the more flow you want. I have a medium rock load, 2 x Tunze 6100, 1 x WP60, 2 x Tunze 6085 and a Maxijet for fun :) I'm adding a second WP60 this weekend in the hopes that I don't have to baste the end pieces of rock.

FWIW, I think your before pic is better. Allows more flow and still has enough room to grow out corals.

IMO, the more rock, the more nutrient build up occurs.

Damn that's a lot of of power heads. I guess I should add another hydor 1500 I have laying around. I'm gonna order a WP40 with a variable power supply and just use that only or should I just get a wp25 instead? What size is ur tank?

I have a 180g. For your tank, I'd go with 2 x WP25 to stir things up. Even if you add a hydor, the static flow always greats dead zones where you'll get detritus build up. In your tank, that will likely be on the rock and still need basting. Using a couple of variable speed pumps will reduce (but not eliminate) that happening.
I will occasionally move the pumps around to change the flow, this tends to stir up the dead spots.

I found turning the pumps off for 5 minutes then back on will stir up a lot of detritus as well

Adding a mp10 to my tank on pulse mode ontop of my Korilias did a lot as far as detritus export

My newly cut frags i made during my rearrangements in the tank has gone all pale. Why did this happen? Is it because I left them in a small container with a tiny bit of water for about 4 hours while I was rearranging my tank?