At a loss

[Fishyfanatic]

I have been battling a planted tank for about a year and a half now. I say battling because it has not been easy. When I lived at my old apt in another town the plants thrived. I was trimming back Anacharis on a weekly basis. Finally ran out of places to plant it between three tanks so I started tossing the extra clippings. My very first plant, an Anubias Nana (I think I spelled that right), was thriving. Then we moved.

Our water is like liquid rock (above 300). I just re-tested the pH and it is off the charts. It reads 8.8 but that's the highest that the AP kit tests. This is great for the Africans, but not so much for my plants. I'm thinking that this is the cause. BTW- The Africans are not in the same tank. The tank has Angels, True Rummies, Hi-fin Serpae Tetras, and a few cories.

I have been testing, dosing, and changing up the pwc schedule to try and increase my Nitrates and Phosphates. When I was doing weekly 50% water changes the Nitrates were trace and phosphates were non-existant. I cut it back to a 50% every two weeks, still had the same results. The plants were eating it up but still wilting.

It is a low light tank (stock lighting). The lighting was never an issue when I had a pH of 7.2 and soft water. That's why I think it has to do with the pH and hardness. I can't even get Anacharis to live. What do you guys think? I don't want to buy a new light strip if I am not going to be able to have plants because of the pH and hardness. I have a large piece of Malaysian driftwood in the tank but it does nothing to lower the levels. Do I have to resort to altering the water chemistry with peat moss? I am at a total loss here.

Tonights test results:
pH 8.8+
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 20
Phosphates 2