Great information! The truth and reality here is that african cichlids can acclimate to ph levels of 7.0.to 7.5 just fine. In fact, all of the African cichlids you purchase in stores have the same ph of all the other freshwater fish for sale. Plants and african cichlids can work well together providing that you feed them properly. Currently I have anubis flowering out of my aquarium at 7.3 ph. 280 gallons with over 100 haps, peacocks, victorians, west africans, and synodontis. The trick is choosing plants that require the same overall care and maintenance. Don't buy a low light java fern, and high light pearl carpeting plant.