Want A Schooling Fish For A 20 Gal Long With Cherry Shrimp

[attibones]

Hey everyone. I've got a fairly empty 20 gallon (long) I would like to stock again. Right now it is running two cycled HOBS (both Aqueon 40s or 30s, something like that) and is heated. I've got a few plants in there. My pH is 8.3 (too red to be 8.4, too purple to be 8.2 on the API high range kit) which used to be lower. I've got soft water. Currently I have two platys and two guppies in the tank, but I'm thinking I may rehome them, though I've gotten attached. However, I know they prefer hard water.
 
So what ort of schooling fish could I keep in this tank? I really want to get this colony of shrimps to breed because my peacock gudgeons picked off the last colony. The gudgeons have been moved to a new tank though, so I've got a nice twenty gallon to fill again. I would like to get something that's relatively low demand. I'm not particular about color or size. I just want a lovely school. I like large schools of tiny fish, and I'm also fond of weird looking fish. Throw me some ideas?

 

[nofishinginmytank]

Neon tetras are fine with livebearers and they look great, a school of tiny fish together neons are fairly easy to care for and fun to watch. Cardinal tetras also look beautiful in a large school rummy nose tetras, they are also beautiful little fish Zebra danios are lovely little unusual fish, they look great in a large school Rasboras, there are different types to choose from, they are slightly bigger than the tetras but are still fairly small fish, they school and are very pretty, my personal favorite is the harlequin rasbora hope I helped

 

[attibones]

Rummy nose tetras and the danios are not appropriate for the length of my tank. 
 
I like several rasbora species, but I've never actually been able to keep them before. I've kept aggressive species lately. I'm just now in a place where I can get a functional community. I'm concerned that my pH is too high for all of those species. Many tetras are South American fish which prefer a lower pH. I think rasboras from the Thailand area also prefer lower pH.

 

[nofishinginmytank]

To be honest I forgot that your pH was high, I will have another think

 

[Goggy]

Maybe Indian dennisons or maybe little cichlids
Also gourami could be really cool in your tank
Actually screw the Indian dennison idea they need big space

 

[nofishinginmytank]

White mountain minnows can do well in higher pH so can zebra danios, buenos aires tetras and diamond tetras do well in high pH you might also want to consider and research emperor tetras and penguin tetras, they do very well in high pH but I don't know much about them
Like goggy said, gouramis are lovely fish

 

[daizeUK]

That's a surprisingly high pH for a soft water tank.  I was about to suggest forktail rainbows but your water might be too soft for them.  They shoal rather than school but do look unusual.
 
How about Espei Rasbora?  http/www.seriouslyfish.com/species/trigonostigma-espei/

 

[PrairieSunflower]

I love my little norman's lampeyes, they aren't very colorful but I find them little and cute.  They like a pH of 6-8.

 

[sbenbow]

We have pearl danio's that get on well with our RCS.  The RCS colony is thriving - we often see a RCS and Danio swim side by side without one going for the other (but we have too many RCS to really tell whether the Danio's do have the occasional snack).
 
Danio's are also supposed to be notoriously hardy, which could help with your "low demand" wish as well.

 

[attibones]

I was looking into celestial pearls, actually, but I'm again running into the pH problem. Would filtering with moss be safe or, because of my soft water, would the pH fluctuate too much? I've got driftwood in this tank but both pieces are a year old, so the natural pH lowering has stopped.

My pH used to be 7.5. Those were the days. I use city water, and I can't find any reports suggesting the rise in pH.

I'm getting frustrated. I want some fish!

 

[attibones]

I love my little norman's lampeyes, they aren't very colorful but I find them little and cute.  They like a pH of 6-8.

Hmm, I'm trying to find more info. They are interesting.

Do any of you know if hatchet fish would work? Marbled hatchets are smaller so I know that my tank is fine based on size.

If my pH were not so high, I'd go with a school of corys and leave the top open. But they like more acidic water.

 

[nofishinginmytank]

I thought of hatchet fish but I think that they prefer more of a 6-7 pH

 

[attibones]

It's been a few days of some serious thinking, and I still haven't found much that I think would be suitable for my tank. I'm getting really frustrated. At the beginning of the summer my pH was a nice, even 7.5. I'm not sure why it has spiked. All the fish I like prefer a lower pH. 

 

[daizeUK]

What is your tap pH after standing 24 hours?
If it's much lower then maybe there is something in the tank like a rock that's raising pH and you could take it out.

 

[the_lock_man]

Rummy nose tetras and the danios are not appropriate for the length of my tank. 
 
I like several rasbora species, but I've never actually been able to keep them before. I've kept aggressive species lately. I'm just now in a place where I can get a functional community. I'm concerned that my pH is too high for all of those species. Many tetras are South American fish which prefer a lower pH. I think rasboras from the Thailand area also prefer lower pH.

 
FIsh which are naturally from low pH areas can survive quite happily in high pH, but generally not the other way around.
 

White mountain minnows can do well in higher pH

so can zebra danios, buenos aires tetras and diamond tetras do well in high pH

you might also want to consider and research emperor tetras and penguin tetras, they do very well in high pH but I don't know much about them

Like goggy said, gouramis are lovely fish

 
WCMMs and zebra danios both like much cooler tanks, and, as the OP has already said, they need much longer tanks than he has.
 

What is your tap pH after standing 24 hours?
If it's much lower then maybe there is something in the tank like a rock that's raising pH and you could take it out.

 
Perhaps your water company is using CO2 to raise the natural pH, to prevent the pipes from corroding (it's fairly common). As Daize says, test the pH after 24 hours, and see if it has dropped back to the level you'd be expecting.