Another newbie!

I have been reading and reading and then reading some more and I am very impressed with the extensive knowledge that all of you have!

I would love some feedback as I have thoroughly confused myself!

We have a 56 gal that has been up and running for about 8 weeks now. My roommate has had many SW tanks in his life but has not had any for about 7 years.

This tank is doing really well with the 2 deaths (kromis and small blue tang)as a result of an unfortunate experience with the filter. That has since been corrected to hopefully avoid any further issues.

We have too much in there. Way too fast. The fish are doing really well for now anyway. It was my fault for being too excited and I bought on impulse.

However, not before making another significant error. We have a 55 gal that we started also and have cycled it with 2 damsels and then added a percula without any issues.

Today I went to the LFS alone and thought the anemone and clownfish combo was too cute to resist. The sales guy knows us well since he has been helping with the process. We had an extensive conversation about the anemones and a maroon and yellow clownfish. I asked about conditions, lighting, water quality, getting it established, feeding, and suitability for the new tank. He sold me 2 79.99 bubbletips and a 49.99 very small maroon clown plus the food for the anemone.

It's completely my fault for not doing my research. I just wish he had not told me there would be no issues with adding them now. His only caution was the percula and the maroon might not get along.

The one anemone is attached and gives off the appearance of being normal as of this moment.

The other one is attached to the side of a rock and is completely and utterly deflated. There is an upper and lower side if that makes sense due to it's positioning and the lower part is hanging down. I can see what looks like a white ball of some sort that is still inside.

Can they die this quickly?

I am planning on going back to the LFS tomorrow when they open. I have never made an attempt to return something like this and my roommate is going to be out of town. Any suggestions? Is this pretty common for people to take things back or at least try?

I believe I have learned my lesson on this one. I am just sick that I did this.

Any input would be great and I promise my future posts will not be so lengthy!

Thanks for the response and for not telling me what an idiot I really am--although very justified if anyone does!

The 56 gal that has been around a little while has:

about 2" of live sand and coral substrate
10 lbs of live rock
1 fake coral piece that is rather large
-1 live rock that is about 4" across with mushrooms on it
-1 yellow tang about 3"
-1 blue tang probably 4.5"
-1 koran about 3 "
-1 percula 1"
-2 haitian anemones--these were 9.00 and from a different shop who also insisted that they would be fine
-1 largish leather coral
-5 crabs
-5 snails

-It is running a Rena 400 and a BakPak 2 skimmer.
I do not have the test numbers but will tonight.

The 55 gal tank just converted from fresh has

-2" live sand only
-1 dead tonga branch that now live rock
-1 dead coral that is also live rock now--both came from the 2nd LFS we go to and they were long term pieces there
-2 kromos that were used in the 56 gal for cycling
-1 yellow tail damsel about 1/2"
-1 3 stripe black damsel about 1/2"
-1 Coral Beauty from the other tank about 2" long
-1 maroon clown about 1/4"
-2 b.t.a
-2 snails
-2 crabs

It is running a fluval 300 and a rena p3 which I believe is the 300
There is a power head in this one but I do not know the size or model.
The protein skimmer is an Aqua C Remeron is to be delivered this afternoon.

The 1 b.t.a. that looked dead last night is normal looking this morning. My roommate said to move the percula as it was chasing the damsels endlessly and went after the maroon clown. So now the maroon has 2 b.t.a that he is having a blast in for now.

If I understand, there really is no way the b.t.a will survive in this tank correct? Now that I think about it, there was a 3rd place where we got the leather that said the same thing about the b.t.a. We specifically looked for places that had been around for at least 5 years and were either almost all or entirely SW. Sigh.

I will post the test numbers for both tanks as soon as I get them.

Thank you!

Both tanks as of right now have only the regular lights.

The new lights will be here tomorrow for the 56 gal and are the T5 with reflectors.

The 55 gal only has the regular lights. I was trying to figure out what to do for the lights on this one and was doing research before making a decision. I have thoroughly confused myself between the MH and the T5. My roommate does not want the MH that stands up because he thinks it puts too much light out into the room.

I have read so many opinions I do not even know what I need at this point so any suggestions are great!

I am really frustrated and so the help provided here is invaluable.

I was talking to my roommate and realized that we had spoken with the owners at all 3 locations. We were very clear on what we have and what we don't. No one saw any issues with this. I had done research on the other fish and thought that the LFS had more experience than me and would know what they were talking about! Therefore, I ignored the research.

Now I have spent a fortune on fish and anemones that we cannot have! Still completely my fault but it is irritating to be given so much conflicting information.

I appreciate the rec on buying online in the future. I have looked at some of the recs and have spent time on liveaquaria.com.

Has anyone tried to or had success with returning things that do not work in their tanks? I see people recommending take things back on other posts and am not sure how that works.

What does anyone do with fish, etc that they cannot keep? I have looked on the Chicago craigslist but have not seen any fish recently. Any other sources would be great!