Stocking advice or is mine already good?

[Nightwing42540]

Hi, I'm planning on stocking a 55 gallon with 1 angelfish, 8 corydoras, a bristlenose (or snowball) pleco, and a small schooling fish (not sure yet can anyone give me a suggestion?) The problem is, my pH is 8.4 and my TDS (total dissolved solids) is 200 ppm I've had multiple people tell me it's ok but others have said it's not so I'm not sure. Thanks in advance!

 

[coralbandit]

200 ppm is modest not hard IMO..
That being said cories prefer soft water so not sure..
My water is 350 TDS with a 7.6 Ph so often the ph reading is useless. Not always though..
8.4 is pretty high. Have you done a 24 hour test on your water?
Take a bucket of your tap water and test it.Then let it sit for one day and test again..This will give you real ph after the O2 and CO2 outgas.Many water suppliers add these to keep the chlorine in force and fight bacteria...

 

[Nightwing42540]

200 ppm is modest not hard IMO..
That being said cories prefer soft water so not sure..
My water is 350 TDS with a 7.6 Ph so often the ph reading is useless. Not always though..
8.4 is pretty high. Have you done a 24 hour test on your water?
Take a bucket of your tap water and test it.Then let it sit for one day and test again..This will give you real ph after the O2 and CO2 outgas.Many water suppliers add these to keep the chlorine in force and fight bacteria...

I've left it out and it hasn't changed but on AqAdvisor it says 6.5-7.8 so 8.4 wouldn't be far off??

 

[coralbandit]

PH is logarithmic I believe . That means .1 more is 10 more then of whatever .1 less so the difference between 7.6 and 8.4 is actually pretty large..
Most say don't mess with your water ph so all you can do is try and see.

 

[Nightwing42540]

PH is logarithmic I believe . That means .1 more is 10 more then of whatever .1 less so the difference between 7.6 and 8.4 is actually pretty large..
Most say don't mess with your water ph so all you can do is try and see.

What would be a good stocking choice for hard water? I'm trying to make the fish's life enjoyable and not make them endure harsh conditions.

 

[coralbandit]

African cichlids love the higher PH over 8.
You can choose from 3 lakes..Don't mix lakes. Tanganyikan are the most docile with Mbuna[Malawi] being pretty tough.. Fish from lake Victoria are less common.
Also most livebearers like Guppies ,platies ,swordtails and mollies like hardwater..

 

[Nightwing42540]

African cichlids love the higher PH over 8.
You can choose from 3 lakes..Don't mix lakes. Tanganyikan are the most docile with Mbuna[Malawi] being pretty tough.. Fish from lake Victoria are less common.
Also most livebearers like Guppies ,platies ,swordtails and mollies like hardwater..

Aren't cichlids too hard to keep for a beginner?

 

[King Fisher]

I run between 8.4 and 8.6 pH out of the tap. I've kept several fish for their full life span that weren't supposed to be in high pH. They seem to adapt. I think you would be fine with your pH as Coral mentioned.