I believe that there is some truth to this because I have done it many times myself. I am one who does not typically test my levels except for SG. I have done it recently because I was dosing Tech-M for bryopsis in a brand new setup.
I have not done a nitrite, nitrate or ammonia test on any tank in about 10 years and have set up probably 30-40 tanks in that time.
There are certain things that should be considered though. None the least of which are a firm grasp on concepts like filtration, flow and flow-friendly aquascaping, early fish and invertibrate disease recognition and/or proper quarrantine and treatment procedures, knowing how to identify properly cured liverock, what corals and other inverts can survive a mild cycle, what fish can be sustained on a system with little or no pod population, proper lighting to support your inverts (that includes knowing when to change the bulbs), knowing how to identify and correct water parameter problems before they become detrimental to your animals, what fish are compatable, what size and population your system can sustain, how to properly maintain the different grades of sand substrate, what order to add fish in a system of a particular size and a myriad of other things that are not right at the top of my head.
. Anyway, all the things you've mentioned, I take people's advice on readily. I don't hesitate to ask "what is wrong" when I think something is out of place. The thing that I did absolutely no research on is the CBS. I bought it cause it looked nice, well that guy is gone now, traded for a cleaner shrimp. The anemone, I'm just trying my best and giving it a go. You can't teach your kid to ride a bike by just telling him right?
they can be really rough on the nem.
