:thinking: in retrospect, what i would've done is buy hard equipment first. get a big tank. get a ro/di filter. buy a year's worth of different salts because you'll want to mix and decide. buy as much essential first as you'll realize you need very expensive stuff that you didn't know, and you won't have money.
figure out how to plumb it get everything running really well, then see if you can keep ls/lr test levels consistent. DEFINITELY keep a daily journal of water parameters. this is something you should check every single day, i don't care what anyone else says. if you lose one fish and don't bother because the tank is clear... you have spikes in levels and you could lose a couple more. keep a journal. once a week is not realistic.
i jumped into lr/ls/fish/55gal too quickly and then had to spend every waking moment of my free time and money fixing what i didn't know. now i keep a 180, 135, 125, and a bunch lower salt as well as some cichlid and 4species water turtle areas.
it's not hard if you have the proper equipment. as i stated above, get the equipment first. otherwise you will lose your livestock and have to rebuild.
personally my hardest thing is finding time for testing. freakin' test tubes are expensive as he11 also!!!!! i was hoping to get a gift certificate so i could do 20-30tests at the same time. (
hello sis!)
keep in mind that you will be going to the store to buy regular supplies. and you will be doing this on a regular basis. and you will succumb to a reef, a fish-only, then reptiles, then birds, your cat will eat the bird or fish, your dog will show up with the gecko in it's mouth, then the snake freaks out your girl. i advise burrowing sw eels over snakes
good luck, welcome to the hobby and losing all your money
one last piece of advice... this is a very expensive hobby. you will read things from poor people who do their best to try to get and keep jobs in marine biology because they love to do it. you will also read threads from people who pay us to have their tanks and animals. both groups are hobby supporters, and have different ways of speaking.