freshwater fish

i would have not went with the cichlids, sorry i haven't been online much, but not much is compatible with them, maybe some catfish will survive...spotted cats are very active but i like the white shark cats but don't know if they'd survive....if u can find em get an electric blue crawdad but proo vide plenty of hiding places, they are awesome, just ask your lfs before adding em and do it before yer cichlids are over 2 in long. as for your ph, just find the problem....if its in the tap water just get some chemicals to bring the ph down...i have tap water that runs 7.8 to 8 and usually bring it down to 7.6 and almost everything does well. I love angel fish, silver dollars, and sharks (bala, rainbow/red fin, and irredescent) i always got bored of aggresive fish because u get so limited on additions to the tank