My tank only just under 5 months old and new to saltwater but my journey so far has been doing lots research like 2- 3 hours every day for last 6 months and same about 5 years ago when bought tank and plan was after researching lots then try to reolicate what has been successfull for other reefers and try catch problems before or just as they started and do the basics.
10% water change weekly
Keep hands out tank as much as possible but this is hard when my urchins like picking up hermits,3 times in last week alone lol.
Go slow and add fish 1- 2 a time and give least 2- 3 weeks before adding more so give tank to adjust etc.
Try keep parameters stable as possible as reading chasing numbers can take fun put of reefing and if dont get certain parameter certain number you want then more inclined to buy some reactor or dose something that not needed and cause problems that you never had so just get parameters in-between a certain range.
Saltwater fish more aggressive/territorial than freshwater fish so add least aggressive- most aggressive.
Research the fish you would like and get to know what they need to thrive and be happy,also same with corals to see what flow/lights they need .
So basically my best practice at moment is like the old saying " a smart man learns from his own mistakes but a wiser man learns from others mistakes " ^_^
So mine is research,research and research some more and try to keep as simple as possible and get to know how my tank behaves and acts as every tank is different and try not to keep adding chemicals to solve problems if there is a natural way,im quite a liberal guy so bit of algae even though i think looks little ugly,it doesnt bother me that much and i know im going through the algae cycles ( ugly phase ) so just keep doing basics and let tank do its thing as one example.
