Hard Water Fish Suggestions Needed?.

[saltyseadog]

Have just set up my first tank which is a 20 gallon, fresh water one. I have had water in it for a week now with around a dozen fresh water plants in it since day one and which all appear to have taken/bedded in and growing. We live in a very hard water area, the ph from the tap is 7.6 and the three tests I have taken with the API master kit have given me the same readings each time and the temperature is 27 degrees C. Test Results are:
PH=7.6,
HRPH=8.4,
Ammonia=0.25ppm,
Nitrite=0.0ppm,
Nitrate=10.0ppm
I would like to try and put a small amount of fish in the tank now and would appreciate suggestions on fish etc which thrive in hard water with high PH values. Ideally, long term I would like to have some bottom dwellers like shrimps and snails as well as fish in the tank. Any suggestions gladly accepted and thanks in advance.

 

[biggerfish]

neon/cardinal/rummynose tetras, peacock gudgeon, zebra danios, corys, and the good old classic guppies. should all do fine.
you could do

orange bristle-nose pleco
8 of whatever of those 3 tetras you like best, or 6 mollies
2 peackock budgeons
you could also throw some ghost shrimp in

 

[Lillefishy]

First of all if your tank's only been set up for a week the filter isn't cycled
If you put fish in now you're looking at weeks of daily water changes until the filter cycles & the possibility of the fish dying.
Have a look at the Cycle your tank section
Corys prefer soft water & Oto's don't do well in new set ups, neither do neon tetras

 

[biggerfish]

your water is actually bit hot for them after I translated C to F can you turn down your heater or lower the temp down to 78 if possible.
the ottos were for after algae starts to bloom and i didn't specifically say neon tetras, and my bad about the corys forgot they are soft water
for some reason whenever i see armored fish I think they're gonna like hard water lol
a orange bristle nose pleco could do fine for your bottom, and you get get mollies instead of tetras if none are to your taste.

 

[daizeUK]

Some fish that love hard water are livebearers or African cichlids.  Your 20G tank is too small for African cichlids and I would say a bit too small for swordtails and mollies.  Platies, guppies and endlers would thrive.  Threadfin rainbowfish and cherry barbs should do well too.
 

neon/cardinal/rummynose tetras

You did specifically say neons    I wouldn't classify those as hard water fish, you could keep them if they were acclimated but the OP was asking for fish which would thrive in hard water. 
 
+1 to Lillefishy, do a fishless cycle before you add fish

 

[Blondielovesfish]

Have a read of the fishless cycling thread which is linked in my signature.
 
As long as you get all your fish locally and they are already acclimated to your cities water hardness most fish should be fine. Just check with your LFS what pH they are living in in their tanks before you buy them.
 
You might want to turn your temperature down to about 25 degrees as that is the temp most tropical fish prefer.
 
I think that Guppies or Endlers would be your best bet as they are colourful fish. Platies would also look nice!

 

[biggerfish]

oh yeah I forget endlers those are beautiful, and I didn't realize i said neon tetras, my bad I probably should of checked my post before i tried correcting someone.

 

[saltyseadog]

Thanks a lot for the replies.