Where we are lucky though is that in the sharing of our experiences we all learn from the mistakes of our own and others ... keeping a small chunk of the reef in a glass box thousands of miles away from the nearest natural reef is a achievement in itself ... the trick is to find the right formula for success for the animals you choose to keep.
water changes vs no water changes
skimmer vs no skimmer
and on and on will likely depend on the individual reefkeepers combination of parameters ( size of tank/inhabitants etc plus whatever came in on our rock/fish)
I will say that there will always be the possibility of disaster which will test your resolve and I have had my share as well
but there are lots of examples of reefers that have done a magnificent job ( both low tech and high tech ) and have figured out what combination of factors keep their reef going beautifully year after year ( there is a article on RC of some guy with a 20 yr old reef and a " undergravel filter " as his primary filtration outside of live rock !