Check My Stock

[KrystaK]

One of my major fish-tank fears is being over stocked, (as I'm sure it is with some people) 
And In my mind the stock I want for my 20 Gal may be a bit over the top, so I thought I would check in here  
 
My tank is a 20 Gal with an Aqueon Quietflow 30 external filter. The pH is around 8 out of the tap.
Tank is fully cycled and already has one inhabitant.
 
-1 GBR (No idea it's gender)
 
I was wanting to make the tank more interesting to watch as it's in the family sitting room and the first tank people see when they come into the house.
 
I was hoping to add (Not all at once of course):
-5 Juli or Strerbai  Corys
-6 or so Neon Tetras
-2 Platys
 
I have a soft spot for platys  
I feel like I should up the number of neons, but as they're the only schooling fish int he tank, just them and a ram wouldn't be as varied a color spectrum as I would like...
 
So does this sound over stocked, or could it be tweaked?
Also, my GBR is pretty slow at getting to his/her food, how would he/she be with these fish as far as getting enough food? 

 

[Questions?]

the ph is too high for rams. and neons, corys and ram live it lower towards about 6.8 and  platys (and other livebearers) dont do good at those ph levels. i could get rid of the platys and get one more juli or sterbai corydora

 

[KrystaK]

I know my pH is too high, and I've tried lowering it and it hasn't worked. I've tried bog wood, a water softening pillow, peat AND water from a store - the water from the store worked, as did peat in conjunction with the water softening pillow, but spending 6$ every week for 20 lt of water just amounts to too much after a while. And having to recharge the pillow every 2 days and deal with brown stained water isn't a very attractive prospect. 
 
I've considered getting an RO unit but after research it seems rather expensive as I'd have to change the cartridges pretty often for the amount of water I'd need to produce, (Aprox 20 Gal every water change day, as I do all my tanks in one day) And most RO units in the range I'm willing to pay are only 50GPD Max, which would create around 2 gal of RO water in an hour, which is far too slow in my opinion. I also don;t have a convenient way to contain 20 Gal of RO water if I choose to buy an RO unit with a volume induced shut off switch. It would be a big tub attached to the RO unit on my bar faucet in the basement.

I suppose I could always do one tank a day, but I like to get them all done at once, and then I don;t have to bother for another week. 
 
 
As you can see, I've given my pH a lot of thought over the months....
Besides,
My GBR has adapted fine, not as colorful as I've seen other's, but he/she doesn't display stress stripes unless I'm doing the water change. 
 
And I find a higher pH acts as a natural birth control for my live bearers (Unless I buy them pregnant),
I have Panda cory's and I've had them for over 6 months and they do fine in my pH, they even breed every two weeks or so. 
 
I am concerned about Neon's in my pH, but I hope that if a Ram can adjust that a Neon could. But I guess it's worth a try, unless someone can recommend a small schooling fish that would do better in my pH 

 

[Questions?]

they will do fine, but in thier natural habitat it is way more acidic. and my ram had adapted too, but it was only 7.4ph