Dwarf Cichlids in Hard Water Comunity Tank

[perfectgravity]

Hi,

I have a community tank set up with the following:

29 Gal
AC 70 Filter
Heavily Planted, with an open front for swimming.

6 Bandit Corys
6 Red Eye Tetra

Ph 7.5
KH 7
GH 13

I was looking at adding a RAM cichlid (Bolivian or German), but from my research these South American varieties require Soft water with a lower PH.

So I was wondering what would be the best choice of Cichlid to add. I was thinking of thses kinds:

Kribs
agassiz dwarf cichlids
Cockatoo

I don't need them to breed, so I could just get one if they are too aggressive for my tank when breeding.

Any suggestions? Experiences?

[talldutchie]

Kribs are often bred in Dutch tap water which is considerably harder than yours at times. Best bet.

[~firefly~]

I think you might be ok. Most fish will tolerate (and sometimes thrive) in imperfect water hardness/pH if they are acclimated slowly and carefully.

If you were worried you could get some RO water from a store and use it in combination with your tap water (dechlorinated) over a few weeks until you wean them onto just your tap source water. One of my stores sells RO water in very large plastic kegs that you can bring back for re-filling at a discount. I have no idea how expensive it is though.

[KevinVA]

You'll be fine. My GBRs are doing quite well and display wonderful colors in a pH of 7.6. Be sure to acclimate them appropriately.

You should take a look at the Apisto. cacatuoides, too. They have beautiful varieties of Double Red & Triple Red.

[madagascariensis]

all fish you are looking at are generally farm bred nowadays and are adaptable, even though their great great great great great great grandfathers and grandmothers may have come from some soft water stream in south america or africa.
unless you want to breed them your fish should be completely fine.