3 day cycle?!?!

you are encouraging him to get an anemone and clownfish already?
after just 3 days? i don't see anything coming good from that either.
please wait at least a few months like i said till your water is stable.. however it is very hard to keep very stable water conditions in just a 10G tank.. i would make sure you get the hang of keeping your water parameters very stable before thinking of getting an anemone.. if you are REALLY itching and you have to get a clownfish, you could do it after a few weeks of cycling and your water is starting to show some stability as the clownfish is alot hardier.. a dead anemone can crash your whole system, kill everything in your tank and a start over

 

should i get rid of the damsel? if i added more live rock and get the clownfish the two should be able to coincide correct?

i really don't want to risk crashing the whole system...and probably wait on the anemone... but how could I raise the pH and decrease the salinity? 20% water change?

Thanks for all the help!

 

Do not do a water change! That will only make things worse during the cycle period. Cycling normally takes at least 4 weeks. It will most likely take longer and go through two cycles that you will have to go through since you added the "cycle in a bottle" (which should never be done IMO). ALL of your levels (ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate) will go through rises and falls. Since you are only reading ammonia, you have just STARTED a cycle.
You need to wait to get the clowns. You need more rock. Big time. If you do ever want to keep an anemone, or have a reef (any corals), you need to have about 2 pounds of rock per gallon. So that means aim for AT LEAST 15 pounds of rock in your tank. You need to get that up and cycling before you add anything else. Also what are you doing about flow? Youre going to need some powerheads in there.
On to the anemone. You said you don't want to risk crashing the tank. Thats impossible with an anemone. If they die in your tank, they will release toxins that can kill EVERYTHING. I have been down that road myself. They are among the hardest creatures to keep succesfully in an aquarium also. You are going to have to mantain PRESTINE water conditions, and also have good lighting. At least T5's, or even MH's. Personally, I wouldn't keep one in a 10 gallon. Things can fluctuate too wildly and quickly in small tanks, and with an anemone that will only spell disaster. Also, keep in mind that those clowns you want do not need an anemone to be happy by any means. Even if you get one, there's a good chance they will never go near it anyways.

 

I also should have added that you will not be able to keep the damsel and get clownfish. Just the two clownfish alone in a 10 gallon would be overstocked, but it could be done. But nothing more, that would be it.

 

Thanks for the advice! I really appreciate it!

Maybe I shouldn't get the anemone... it is quite a small tank that I wanted to try before I move on to bigger more expensive tanks... so I'm just trying to get a feel for everything. The local Petco and Petsmart employees really don't help all that much!

So maybe 2 clownfish... some shrimp? crabs? that should be enough would you say?

I have no water flow in the tank.. just a filter and heater... what's a powerhead? what would you recommend?

 

A power head is a pump that you submerge into your tank to create flow. There are allot on the market but Koralia seem to be the most popular. for a 10 gal a nano sized pump would be sufficient.

 

You can certainly keep inverts in there with the fish. One HUGE, GIGANTIC, ENORMOUS piece of advice: stop going to the big chains like PetCo. There is a reason we refer to it as DeathCo :-/ While I can't speak for ALL of them, I personally have NEVER seen a marine fish at ANY deathco that wasn't seriously diseased, dying, starving, or in some other fashion in dire stress. Ever. And I have never personally met anyone at any place in this country to say otherwise as well. Find yourself a good, locally owned, fish store. While the advice may still be shakey, the quality of livestock should be MUCH better
A powerhead is basically just an underwater fan that creates waterflow. A good one for your tank would be a Koralia Nano

 

but...but... they got tangs super cheap! and those white fuzzy dots on them just make them pretty!!!

+k

-fritts

 

Last time I was in deathco, I counted about ten dead fish in their tanks rotting.

 

You probably shouldn't get an anemone, and I would wait at least a year first in a tank that small. Contrary to popular belief, the "bigger more expensive tanks" are far easier to take care of. Because there is more water, things don't fluctuate as quickly, and they are far more forgiving. No, Petco and Petsmart employees are not helpful in general. If you must go to them, Petcos usually have an aquatics head that has some idea of what's going on. Lastly, I have had great success with bio-spira, for both my fresh tanks and my reef. However, a better way to do it is with fully cured live rock. It's more expensive than bio-spira, but does a better job. IMO it was fine to add it. Good luck, this is a good hobby. K+ for taking criticism and advice so well and controlling you excitement.