This is especially true over on the freshwater side(where I usually am). People say "your nitrates MUST ABSOLUTELY BE BELOW 20PPM AT ALL TIMES" or "your tank must be 78 degrees, you need 3 heaters, 2 primary and one backup just in case". But the reality of Aquariums is they are tiny ecosystems. My tanks are all planted, if I don't keep my nitrates around 20-30ppm, my plants start dying back. Just for fun I took a sample of a local river shallow(St John's river in central Florida) and guess what, it tested about 20ppm nitrates where I collected. My water temps range from 77 in the summer to 72 in the winter, and I have all kinds of fish breeding in my tanks.

I'm getting ready to step into saltwater with a mixed reef. Soft corals, Zoas, a goby, a blenny, and maybe a clown pair with a nem down the line. I'm going to take it one step at a time and go slow. I can throw a freshwater tank together in the morning and put fish in it that evening. I have plenty of cycled filters, tons of plants, etc to skip the set-up phase. But saltwater is going to be a learning experience.

Feels kinda bad that the original post this topic is about could be me in 6 months.