tubasavy

We used tap water that was treated and sat before being put in the tank. The way they transported the fish was by putting them in a large pitcher with their own tank water. Because all of the tank water was new I left the old (disgusting!) filter in for the first few days so all the good old bacteria could grow, and when I finally added the last fish (I did it over a short period of time) I added all the old tank water the fish came in. I'm not sure what all the fish are but there is one HUGE placastamous(sp?), 3 neons, 1 silver dollar, some fancy tailed guppy, and 3 others. It was a well established tank before it was moved. My In-laws (where the tank was) live about 30 min north of us, but definately at a higher elevation.

We were just given a fish tank last week from my husband's sister. The fish fared better than I thought, but my water test strips say that my pH is around 7.8 and that my alkalinity is high, at least 300ppm. My other exsisting tank has very hard water because I live in Utah I have the test strips to check what is in the water, but now I haven't the faintest idea what to do, or if it matters. Any help would be wonderful!