New to me 55 gallon setup

[jndturner]

I purchased a 55 gallon set up off of Craiglist last week with fish included. The tank currently has 3 Silver Dollars, 3 X-ray Tetras, 3 Black Skirt Tetras and 1 Serape Tetra. The setup came with a Tetra EX 70 filter and some plastic plants. It had not been maintained in I don't know how long, the gravel in it was filthy. I have since added pool filter sand as the substrate and a few more plastic plants. I upgraded the lighting to a Marineland single bright LED system since the exisiting lights were fried. I also changed the heater out to a Eheim Jager 150W more than sufficient for the tank. This is not my first tank, but I have been tankless for over 15 years. In the past I had a 20 gallon reef tank and had started breeding Discus. i got out of the hobby when I started Grad school. With this tank I plan on staying with a basic community. I will add a picture from my phone later. living in central Indiana the water is pretty hard (not sure on the total dissolved solids number) and Alkaline pH was reading close to a 8.4. My question is what could be added? I realize I probably need more of the X-Ray, Black Skirts and Serape Tetras for them to feel safe. I am thinking about Cory Cats or Loaches but would like to stay with South American fish for this tank.
Thanks,
Jim

 

[jndturner]

Here's the picture if that helps. I realize that I should have cycled the tank first but it was up and running when I bought it. I tried to keep the filter media wet during the move. I tested Ammonia yesterday and it read 0.5 from an API master test kit included with the set up.

 

[Samzter]

Welcome to AA! I love what you've done with the tank! Cories would love your substrate . I would suggest panda Cories but I think you need to lower the pH. To do that you could add driftwood or bogwood. Don't use pH up or down because that can cause pH swings and can kill the fish. The most important thing is to keep a stable pH. First things first, if you haven't done so get yourself an API master test kit. You can buy these on the Internet brand new for $18. You could consider khuli or yoyo loaches with the Cories but do 8 Cories the 2-3 yoyo loaches or 5-6 khuli loaches. I forgot to say if you haven't done so already remove the silver dollars. They can grow large and need schools. Hope you like the site so far!

 

[jndturner]

I am trying to rehome the silver dollars. They have never been a favorite of mine. I looked at some Cories today at a lfs but there were to many dead fish in the tank for my taste. I will keep an eye out for them in the future.