New Hobby, Need Some Help!

[cturner14]

 

 
Maybe he put his hand in the tank after going to the bathroom

 

 
Ugh that's gross!
 
Welcome Cal

 
Don't worry about your pH, I have pH 8.2 and I am just a little more careful about which fish I choose to make sure they can cope with my hard alkaline water.  I can give you some ideas for fish who will be happy at that pH if you like.
 

 
yes that would be great...
 
thanks

 

[daizeUK]

Ok a Rio 125, that's an 80cm tank right?
 
Here's a few ideas of fish which thrive at pH 8:
 
Livebearers
Platies
Mollies (these would ideally prefer a longer tank)
Guppies
Swordtails (these would ideally prefer a longer tank)
 
Barbs
Cherry Barb
Odessa Barb
Tiger Barb (nippy, should not be kept with long-finned fish)
 
Rainbowfish
Forktail Blue-eye
Celebes rainbowfish
Threadfin rainbowfish
 
Misc
White cloud mountain minnows (prefers cooler temperatures so not a good community fish)
Empire Gudgeon
Florida Flag fish
 
Some other ideas that would ideally prefer a slightly lower pH but should also be fine:
Dwarf Gourami
Honey Gourami
Harlequin Rasbora
Neon Dwarf Rainbowfish
Kribensis
Emperor Tetra
X-ray Tetra
Lemon Tetra
Serpae Tetra
Rosy Tetra
Sterbai Cory
 
These are just the fish on my list, there are others of course.  The fish you mentioned would mostly be fine too, except the rummynose which prefer acid pH.  The zebra danios would prefer a longer tank as they're very active.