fish type

Question
hi again

me and my brother have started a pretty big tank  it is 2.5 ft long by 1.5 ft high. we have 7 fish in it.  2 black mollies, 2 zebras 2 big fish about 1 in long and 1 neon. the ph is at 7.8 is that the right ph for the tank? the temp is at 77. just before i began writng this our oven got on fire its out now
thank you

Answer
Hello again Andrew!
Sounds like you have started with a 10-20 gallon aquarium. Congrats!!! I worry when you say you have 2 big fish---exactly what do you mean by that? Some big fish will grow even bigger and might harm your others. A pH of 7.8 should be just fine for those fish you listed. And 77 F is also a good temperature too. Make sure you keep up with water changes with an aquarium siphon and always make the replacement water the same temperature as the aquarium's and ALWAYS add water conditioner to remove chlorine and chloramine which is present in just about every tap water system. Carefully cycling or establishing a new aquarium is essential to sucess and healthy happy fish. Cycling simply means to allow special beneficial bacteria to start colonies. These bacteria convert fish waste into less toxic compounds. But take weeks to develop in large enough colonies to keep your water quality healthy.
If you need anymore info on anything or have anymore questions, feel free to email me!

Please--in the meantime, watch your Oven! :-0 ;-)

My best wishes! Happy holidays!!!
Take care, happy fishkeeping!
Karen~