I've been bitten by the fish bug SO BAD. I have a fluval spec v and a female betta. But I want a bigger tank now eventually. We have very hard water here, and a high ph, so I was thinking African cichlids make the most sense for me because I wouldn't have to alter the water chemistry much if at all. I really love huge schools of tiny fish like tetra though! But I heard they only linger on in hard basic water. And altering water with peat or chemicals makes the chemistry unstable. What do??
HMMMMMM well you could get other fish that like a higher pH like any livebearers! Guppys, mollys, platys, and swordtails are all going to dig a high pH!
Another option are Congo tetras, although they get kind of large (3") and need 30 gallons+.
Using peat is not something I'd recommend because of it's environmental impact, but you can try using driftwood and indian almond leaves! In conjunction with each other and with some practice you should be able to lower your pH to what you want it at.