# Stocking a 27 gallon tank



## keechak (Oct 21, 2010)

This is for a friend of mine.

What species would you suggest for a 27 gallon? She doesn't like platys but that's all I know for sure. 

both warm and cold water suggestions would be nice, no salt water.

The tank it's self is nearly squarly built with a bowed out front wall. so I think a high swimming spieces and a lower swimming species would look nice but I don't know what to suggest. I think a small school of tetra would be cute.
Someone else suggested a pair of goldfish would fit in a pinch.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

How about a couple of ottos, with a couple of dwarf gouramis and 7-10 cardinal tetras?


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## ladyonyx (Apr 20, 2009)

I always suggest community aquariums for freshwater setups. Maybe a school of tetras and/or rasboras and some corydoras for the bottom. Guppies, platys and mollies are always options too. My 20g long planted tank currently has hatchet fish, rummynose tetras and panda corys and they all get along great. I usually recommend corys in every FW setup; they do a great job of keeping the substrate clean from leftover food.


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## keechak (Oct 21, 2010)

well got some kinda bad news. Turns out the faucet water that would be used to fill and cycle the tank has a PH of 8.5 so that rules out almost all fish. I have heard that Bettas are very hardy fish would they adapt to a PH that high?


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## snail (Aug 6, 2010)

8.5 is pretty high but not as bad as you think. Try testing the water after it has been sitting overnight, some times it drops a bit. Driftwood or peat can help, don't try any ph down products as they just mess things up.


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## beaslbob (May 29, 2009)

keechak said:


> well got some kinda bad news. Turns out the faucet water that would be used to fill and cycle the tank has a PH of 8.5 so that rules out almost all fish. I have heard that Bettas are very hardy fish would they adapt to a PH that high?


what is important is the water parameters in your tank not out of your faucet.

With a planted tank your tap water will be fine.

my planted tanks have a pH of 8.4-8.8 (api high range pH kit) after a few weeks even with peat moss in the substrate. yet fish that "require" low ph (6-7) like silver hatchedfish or neon tetras live and thrive for years. The reason for the high pH is the plants are removing the carbon dioxide from the fish and returning oxygen. Which is hardly a bad thing.

So don't worry about high pH from the faucet. 


my .02


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## ladyonyx (Apr 20, 2009)

More important than your actual pH is your ability to control fluctuations in pH. Many fish, especially in a heavily planted tank, can easily adapt to a pH level that's generally considered to be out of their comfort range, as long as the pH remains steady.


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