Yeah I agree with everyone else. Btw, how can you be so sure that he has not had any losses? You said yourself he lives 6 hours away so you can't be too sure.
Plus I wouldn't be too hard on yourself, strive for a goal and you'll reach it with hard work. When I started fish keeping I was jealous of all my friends tanks because they all looked a lot nicer than mine. I kept at it, did my research, and started the correct way and by the end of the year, my fish were fat and happy and all my friends were envious of me instead since their fish die out after every few months. Yep feels good