Thank you,GULP! And to say that I have tank envy is an understatement. Looking forward to seeing the progression. I have no doubt the tank will mature and blossom into a wonderful and awe-inspiring reef!
PS, I think that running the skimmer part-time will be fine for now. It won't be long till you have it running full time and are working on lowering the phosphate as you get more fish in there anyhow. I ran very low phosphates and nitrates with no apparent ill effect on my SPS's. They just adapted and I fed a lot. Now I'm back at getting the numbers down a bit. Things have a way of finding a balance in the long run. Tinkering too much ends up being the most problematic. As soon as I just let things ride the tank always looks better. An alternative to turning off the skimmer part-time is to open up the output so you are skimming less but keep the gas exchange up, FWIW.
You are right, I have been leaving the tank alone and problems are going away. Like I stated before, I have a problem with a need for instant gratification. I'm just hoping one day my tank will look half as good as yours.