At 2months old on a school 15gal tank , I only had a hermit crab. I went through all the ugly algae issues without worrying, even though the teacher thought I was neglecting the tank and was probably second guessing why she let me put it in her science lab. After 6 months, I did rush a few things by adding lps corals without quarantine and I lost some. I was trying to add specimens for the topics she was covering. Now everything goes thru QT even clean up crews. As others have said, be patient so that your loss or failure don't defeat you before you have really gotten to enjoy this endeavor. I would question everything that LFS tells you. Read Coral magazine, search old posts here on RC, for a second opinion