Looking Forward To Learning From You All!

All it says for the alkalinity is that it's CaCO3 in mg per litre and for hardness it just says mg/L. Does this help? Or should I give them a call?

Lol that's not rude, and my chemistry is terrible so I'd appreciate if you checked what I'm saying! https://www.watercorporation.com.au/-/media/files/about-us/our-performance/drinking-water-quality/dwq-annual-report-perth-aesthetic-tables.pdf
I'm in the Kenwick area, which is the eighth line from the bottom

...and similar to mine, too, in mid-Wales.

Virtually all fish from South America (I'm thinking tetras and dwarf cichlids) would be fine, just check on Seriously Fish that a particular species can cope with a high-ish pH as some species do need a low pH as well as soft water. And there are plenty of Asian fish that would fit the bill as well.

The main problem you might encounter is where you live - Australia. I know from other websites that Australia does not allow some fish that other countries have access to, so make sure you can get the fish you want before planning a tank round a particular species.



If you look at my signature you'll see the fish I currently have, which are fine for soft alkaline water. In the past I've had honey gouramis, golden pencilfish, dwarf chain loaches (I have sand!), ember tetras, emperor tetras, dwarf rainbowfish, aptisogrammas to name a few.

The simplest thing might be to check out a few shops and see what you can source locally. Then come back with a list of fish you liked the looks of. There are just so many fish out there........






Talking of alkalinity in water companies' data, it is worth an explanation.
This is not the same thing as having a pH above 7, which is more correctly called basic. Water companies use this term because of their test method. They take a sample of water and add an acid until the pH drops to a certain value (I think it is 4.5 in the UK). The amount of acid this takes is what they mean by alkalinity. Since the naturally occurring chemical in the water that resists the acid (meaning more acid must be added to drop the pH) is carbonate, the other term for it is carbonate hardness which is what fishkeepers use. It is called KH simply because the German for carbonate starts with a K.

This is a very exciting part of tank set up - researching fish. 

That sounds OK to me.

In the UK, the most common apistos are A. cacatuoides (cockatoo cichlids) and A. agassizii. Some shops stock A. borellii (umbrella cichlid). The first two come in a few different colour forms, while the third had a couple, including yellow head and opal. If Australia has these three available, they will all do fine at your pH. All three are in the fish profiles on here.

Be careful with cockatoos. In a tank with a lot of fish (ie a shop tank) there will be a dominant male and several subordinate males. These subordinate males often take on the appearance of females to escape being bullied by the dominant male. I once bought a pair from a breeder which turned out to be 2 males. And I later had a group of fry bred in my tank. One subordinate male even took on the yellow colour of a female in breeding condition before suddenly growing his fin extensions 

I'd keep an eye on the temperatures... zebra danios prefer cooler water than gouramis or apistogrammas and are a good fish for an unheated tank. There's a very narrow overlap at 24ºC. The danios are also very active and could stress out the gourami. However; I've never kept either species so I could be talking tosh!

Harlequin rasboras might be a good alternative to the danios. Colourful, shoaling, but more laid back.

I can confirm that zebra danios are very active fish and can be quite dominant at feeding time. I have mine in an unheated tank which also contains leopard danios, variatus platies, peppered cories and amano shrimp. They are all very active.
Rasboras are beautiful. Unfortunately I haven't got any as my water is very hard.

I like the harlequin rasboras so I'll get those instead

Excellent choice of fish. I have them too.