Trying to save this situation

Seelarry · Feb 14, 2019

So my girlfriend has an aquarium with rocks, objects, filter,light bubbler all that. She misguidedly bought an anemone and a clownfish for this tank which was supposed to be for freshwater fish.. So we did research and added salt adjusted temperature and salinity to support them for the night. Now as we do more research we realize how wrong we went. So my question is, we have these guys and they seem to be doing okay.. How can we save this situation?
I'm very upset with the pet store for selling her these fish because they require more knowledge than goldfish and they didn't give it another thought They said "oh a new tank? You want these then"

vetteguy53081 · Feb 14, 2019

Yes shame on them especially knowing anemone should be in an established tank and as an initial introduction. You need to chuck gravel and switch to sand or crushed coral. Additionally, you need to upgrade lighting for that nem snd increase filtration assuming you have basic filtration.
Bottom line is:
Take the leap and switch tank to saltwater completely or return the specimens and be glad you escaped a potential disaster

James M · Feb 14, 2019

Welcome to reef2reef !!!!
Your best bet is to return everything and restart form the beginning.
New rocks and sand
Adding more equipment
I would stop going to that lfs

SPR1968 · Feb 14, 2019

Hi there and welcome to R2R

Anemones require very good water quality and an established tank to thrive.

Have you cycled the tank yet ? If you haven’t ammonia will start to build and if it isn’t being removed it may well kill the inhabitants

If your unsure of what to do, I would take the anemone and clownfish back to the shop and ask them for a refund or to keep them until you get the system properly established

Here are a few guides for you

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/cycling-an-aquarium.306554/

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/the-supreme-guide-to-setting-up-a-saltwater-reef-aquarium.138750/

MSB123 · Feb 14, 2019

Seelarry said:
So my girlfriend has an aquarium with rocks, objects, filter,light bubbler all that. She misguidedly bought an anemone and a clownfish for this tank which was supposed to be for freshwater fish.. So we did research and added salt adjusted temperature and salinity to support them for the night. Now as we do more research we realize how wrong we went. So my question is, we have these guys and they seem to be doing okay.. How can we save this situation?
I'm very upset with the pet store for selling her these fish because they require more knowledge than goldfish and they didn't give it another thought They said "oh a new tank? You want these then"

Will you post pictures of your tank?

reef lover · Feb 14, 2019

This is scary! Shame on that store!

PirateDan · Feb 14, 2019

Should always do a little research first before buying any living thing. Pet store was wrong but a quick google search would have saved you alot of trouble.

davocean · Feb 14, 2019

I would strongly suggest returning it to store or get them in an established tank asap.

Anemones hold water for quite a while, probably why it may look ok at the moment, but that is going to change quickly.

BeejReef · Feb 14, 2019

That's ridiculous of the fish store. If you had everything you needed on hand and spared no expense, it would probably take an absolute minimum of two to three weeks to get a tank set up to the point where those animals (particularly the anemone) have a coin flip chance of surviving. The clowns might live the way you are doing it, but you're in for a lot, lot, lot of effort and will need to spend another $100-$150 just on testing supplies and at least $100 more on lights. That's just to give them a reasonable chance at life short term. Hundreds and hundreds more beyond that to make it fun and sustainable.