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i have very hard alkaline water and a very small (10 gallon) tank. what could i do with this? i'm thinking about trying to lower the pH...

Leave the PH alone. Most fish can be acclimated and can live fine in such waters. If your interested in breeding this because more of an issue. Also cant get the extremes of the other end of the spectrum like apistos.

What is the PH?

being a rather small tank and harder water first thing that comes to mind is Multis (Neolamprologus multifasciatus). rather small fish that doesnt have a whole lot of color but lives in a colony. Siblings will help guard other siblings. They live in shells like escargot shells. Love to dig in sand. Here are a couple links you can read about them.

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/n_multifasciatus.php
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/keeping_neo_multi.php

Hope this helps. Also here is the cheapest place ive found for shells.
http://www.chefswarehouse.com/Catalog/DisplayDetail.aspx?prd_id=GF101

I think i will leave the issue alone, I've talked to some of the local fish store guys and they all seem to think the fish around here are used to it. does that sound right?

In majority of cases, yes. If you have anything shipped in or a new arrival at a fish store it might not be acclimated. Even if a store tells you they have been acclimated I would still go through the acclimation at home just to be sure. Nothing worse then pickign that perfect fish with perfect marking out of 50 fish and have him dead the next day. Not only out of money but out of a perfect fish.

I float the bag in the tank for 15 mins. I then open the bag and add something like 4oz of water. I use a plastic drinking cup so not sure. I do this every 15 mins till the bag has doubled in amount of water. Then I dump half and do it again. (NOT IN THE TANK) This process seems liek forever but 3 hrs is worth it when you get to keep your fish for yrs.

Another method is drip. I use this on delicate fish or ones that I want no mistakes with. Take a 1g milk/water jug and lop the top off. Leave a hole like 2 fist wide and watch for edges. Put bag water and fish in and set it near your tank. Grab some airline tubing and tie a knot in it and pull EASY. drop one end in your tank and the other in the carton. Start a syphon by suckin on the end and see if water flows. Pull tighter if its a fast flow. The goal is 1 drip every 2 seconds or so. After you get that going place your net over the hole so no one jumps for freedom. Few hours the water will have doubled, take half out and repeat.

Ive lost 0 fish by either method.
Have fun good luck

(If you allready know these methods I am sorry for wasting your time. Easier to just say them then wait 2-3 days for a reply after asking if you do)

I disagree with most if not all that has been said.
All fish have a natural pH range that you should stick to. A lot of fish are wild caught and this will affect those a lot more than captive bred, however the fish will still not be showing its best colouration and i believe we should try to mimic their natural environment.
I personally think you should go with what your water suits
or lower it before you put the fish in (at least a few days before so you can monitor the levels) and go from there.
I would research lake tanganyikan fish as suggested. Any of the shell dwellers would be fine.
Also, whats the deal with linking to other webistes when we have perfectly good profiles on FishProfiles.com?

Taken this all kinda personally havent you? Wasnt aware this was about where the info came from but the poster getting as much information he can. Just for the sake of argument this site doesnt have info on Multis only similies.

And yes fish should be kept close to natural but some sway is forgivable. That being said he has said he has hard arkaline water. safe to say a multi is going to be fine in it. Acclimating instructions were given because even the slightest difference is an issue if you just plop the fish in the tank.(which you should never do)

Being a 10g tank he is very limited on the tang shell dwellers he will be able to fit. I would say multis are the best fit do to they live in a colony. Similis could also work but they are a bit tougher on sub males and are larger so less fish will fit. Occies could work but 1m/1f would be the limit.

Feel free to correct anything you would like. You told him to research shelldwellers which is what i linked him to. Never ever in the yrs ive been on this site heard of linking another page for info as bad.

Another great shellie site would be

http://www.shelldwellers.com/

If any moderators would like to tell me not to link other sites ill be more then happy to edit them all out. Until then I supply info where i can find it for the sake of the poster.

Well we never used to be able to link to other sites...
Id go with multis or perhaps one of the smaller julidochromis, or ocellatus.
There are no shell dwellers that will not really do well in a 10 gallon tank providing they are kept with only themselves. Sunspot Brevis are also quite nice.