Tank pH and future tank mates

Question
Hi Susan,

I hope this message finds you well.  I recently set up a new planted aquarium (30 gallon) and cycled it in about a week and a half and hold it at 77 degrees. I added 10 tiger barbs and 4 amano shrimp about 3 weeks ago.  As of now, everyone seems to be thriving and tank levels (ammonia, nitrites and nitrates) have been fairly constant.  I do have a couple runts in the barb school but that's to be expected.

My first question is regarding the pH.  It has been a constant 7.6 (with a high pH of 7.8) ever since I first added water to the tank.  I would prefer if it were closer to 7.  What do you suggest I use to bring it down?  I'd like to not use chemicals as I have a feeling that that is more of a short term solution rather than a long term plan.  Would driftwood be beneficial?  Anything else on that front that you can tell me would be great.  

Secondly, I'd simply like to get your opinion on what kinds of fish I can add to this tank.  I'd like to add some color to the tank with something that would be able to live with the barbs and the shrimp.  I initially thought about a German Blue Ram but I don't think I'm at that level yet in terms of experience. Any suggestions on this would be greatly appreciated.  

Thank you for taking the time and look forward to hearing from you.

Andrew

Answer
Hi Andrew,
Sounds like your aquarium is off to a fine start!

Honestly, the only way to adjust your pH for longterm consistency is by mixing R/O (reverse osmosis) water with your current tap water until the desired pH is met. R/O water contains no minerals or impurities. In fact that if used solely in the aquarium, the inhabitants health can start to detoriorate due to the lack of much needed minerals normally present in water.

Even with that said... In most cases, its actually not necessary to adjust your pH. While most sources still recommend keeping your pH at a specific level for certain species of fish -- unless you are keeping extremely rare or very sensitive wild-caught fish -- most fish in petstores today are hardy enough and adapted to the general pH level where you live. One of the best things to do is ask your local petstore about the pH level they keep their aquariums at. More than likely, it will be the same as yours. The fish are usually already adapted to that pH level, so they will do just fine. And thanks to years of captive breeding, most common aquarium species do well at a wide range of pH readings.

Driftwood definitely can lower your pH. It also releases tannins that can turn your water a slight amber-yellowish color. Its not a bad thing, many amazonian and southeast asian species appreciate these tannins. But then there's the problem of when you do a water change, you'll be taking the tannins and reduced pH out, and replacing it with normal hard tap water.
You have to do water changes... there's no way around that, which takes us back to the whole situation that pH is hard to lower and maintain at a specific level consistently. Unless you have an R/O unit.

But again, a pH of 7.8 is really not that bad -- for most species anyway. The German Blue Ram has sucessfully been kept in harder water types. It all depends on the fish you get. If you do decide on German Blue Rams, ask what pH they are being kept in at the petstore and go from there. If its drastically different (which I sorta doubt) then you might want to reconsider or take a chance and slowly adapt the rams to your tank's pH via the 'drip-method' which you can find out more about techniques by a simple search on the web.

Some sources say the German Blue Ram is difficult to keep.. But it basically boils down to they are easily outcompeted for food by more boisterous tankmates and they are sensitive to high nitrates and other pollutants in their water. So frequent partial water changes are a must.

An alternative is the Bolivian Ram. While more subtle in coloration than the Blue Ram. Bolivians are tolerant of a wider range of pH levels, they are peaceful, form faithful pairs and are generally undemanding of their water chemistry so long as it is kept clean with a frequent partial water changes. Just a thought.

One of the best tankmates I can recommend for tiger barbs is the different color morphs tiger barbs come in. There is the striking green tiger barb and albino which would look great mixed with the regular tiger barbs which is what I assume you have. Other barb species also generally mix well with tigers because they all -usually- have the same activity level except the cherry barb. Good barb species to consider are gold barbs, black ruby and rosy barbs.

Most tetra species would mix well with tiger barbs and contrast nicely with them. In my mind I picture even red or red and orange platies swimming with tiger barbs. Platies are generally hardy and very colorful, they get along with most fish and are easy to care for.

Zebra Danios and leopard danios are also a nice option too. They are fast and bold and their colorations/patterns look interesting when mixed with tiger barbs.

I would also recommend some corydoras catfish or kuhli loaches.

I hope this has helped you a little on deciding new tankmates for your aquarium, just be sure to do research on any species you are considering (also ask around) and you should be able to avoid most of the troubles that could come along with them.

Best of luck!
Susan~