Odd pH/kH/gH Combination...

[noonbug]

Straight out of the tap, my water has a pH of 8.4, kH of 2 and gH of 3. Any ideas on how this combination can occur??? What advice can you offer here - can I do something to change levels to something more reasonable, or (preferred) are there any fish that might tolerate this combination? I'm a little concerned with the low kH, because I don't think the pH will remain stable enough to maintain a healthy tank...

Notes - 20 Gallon tank. Currently not much there - I'm willing to completely redo it if there is some type of fish that would be happy in these conditions.

Thanks to anyone that can offer any insights.

 

[loganj]

This is unstable water...high pH with low buffering capacity. It will go acidic easily IMO. You could add some buffer (Seachem, Kent, ect...) to increase the buffering capacity without affecting pH much...if at all. Sounds like perfect water for African Cichlids after you buffer it. I would probably use Kent A F Cichlid Buffer to achieve a hardness of 10-12 dkH. You might look into some of the dwarf Africans for a tank that size.

 

[noonbug]

Thanks for your suggestions. Can you, or anyone, recommend a few dwarf cichlids (readily available) that I might research? I really know very (VERY!) little about cichlids, though I suppose that's about to change.