Re-Stock Ideas?

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KrystaK

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Hey there, my tank has a pH of 8 or so, so the fish I can put in it is rather limited (I love live bearers, but I've found that the pH that high doesn't do well for them and they don't breed and are prone to illness)
The tank is a 30 gal (115 lt) 36 in  long x 18 in high x 12 wide. It\'s got 2 filters, a 30 Gal internal filter and a 20 gal external filter.
 
Anyways I currently have a sorority of 5 female Betta's and an assortment of Guppies (They all get along fine, before anyone gets it into their head that there may be a problem there) 
 
Anyways I was thinking of rehoming the guppies, as their not doing very well, no matter how well I clean the tank they still look rather sickly. 
 
I figure if my girls were good with guppies they'd be fine with just about any smaller fish, so I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions for a hardy schooling fish? 
(I know a pH of 8 is better suited to cichlids, but my tank is a bit small for them and I don't want to spring for a new tank, and it seems no matter how much bog wood I put in the tank it makes no difference)
 
That's odd.  I would say that a pH of 8 is far more suitable for livebearers than bettas.  I've been keeping platies at pH 8.2 for over six months now, they breed like rabbits and are perfectly healthy.  Perhaps you just have a sickly batch of guppies?
 
For other fish that do well at pH 8, have a look at rainbowfish and barb species.
 
I've moved house recently (Not far, the pH at both houses is the same) Both houses have been on wells, so it could be that it's the mineral content in the water that affects them thusly, but again, my other fish seem fine. (I have 2 BNP, and 5 Panda Corys who all seem healthy) 
 
I've had Platy's and Mollies and Guppies at the old house and just re-tried platy's and guppies at this new house with basically the same results. The platy's just waste away, they don't seem to eat and then they just die, no signs of illness other than being skinny. And the Guppies seem to develop fin rot, then ick and then die (I do my best to treat, but it doesn't seem to help) (This I've noticed after a few different attempts with platys (acquired from different places) and at least 3 different batches f about half a dozen guppies (also acquired from various places) So it's not as if I'm continually getting sickly fish from the same store :/ )
 
I've been thinking there may be some sort of virus in my tank that some of the fish are somehow immune to or can live with - but that seems highly unlikely to me. So I figure me and live bearers just aren't meant to be. 
 
I'm thinking I'll just revert to what I know works in my tank (And that I like very much)  Pearl Gourami - Perhaps a pair of females. I was also thinking of upping the Corys to 8, and once I know the gender of my new BNP I may re-home (I don't want to have 2 male BNP, I don't know if their territorial or not)
 
Any particular barb's? I was thinking perhaps Cherry barbs, as their rather small - and I've had rosy barbs before, and their beautiful, but they get too big. And I hear tiger barbs can be nippy
 
Yes I was thinking of cherries, you could also look at Odessa and Rosy barbs although I don't know if they're nippy like Tiger barbs.  Your tank might be a squeeze for Rosy barbs and I'm not sure if any of them school either.  It's hard to find true schooling fish that thrive at pH 8+.  Possibly Buenos Aires Tetra?  Otherwise there are several good schooling fish that are listed up to pH 7.5, e.g. Harlequin Rasbora, Lemon Tetra, Sterbai Cory.
 

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