Low Ph Help

[TianRunty]

I'm sure this has been a topic many times over but for whatever reason I'm not having much luck in finding anything.
We have low Ph in both our tanks, I'm assuming its either the bog wood or the drift wood we have since the gravel has been fine in the past and due to over active plecs all the plants are plastic.
Our tap sits between 7 and 8 but usually closer to 8.
I haven't got a kit to check how hard the water is but since we're in scotland i think it'll be soft.
I know from past experience that over the counter chemical products are hit and miss at best so i was looking into rocks etc to raise it.
I know limestone can help but is there anything else. I obviously want it to raise slowly, is this possible when using rocks?
I phoned around to see about limestone prices and one shop said they have rainbow slate that does the same thing but looking online came up fruitless (mind you my searching abilities seem non existant today).
I have a few fish that would probably like more caves so anything that can be built up like that would be better than just lumps of the stuff.
Any help would be great and sorry for repeating what i'm sure is a regular post
Thanks in advance

 

[drobbyb]

Crushed coral in a mesh bag in your filter will help keep your ph from crashing. I run it in my filters because my water is extremely soft. You have to be careful however because if you miss a waterchange (and you will need to do at least a 50% waterchange every week) your pH may rise too much and shock your fish when you do your next waterchange.

Your best bet may be to do larger more frequent waterchanges as this will replenish your KH thus buffering your water.

How often and how large are your waterchanges now?

 

[TianRunty]

once a week 20-30%
I wasnt too sure about using crushed coral since i've been told that it can fluctuate hugely in between water changes.

 

[drobbyb]

Well, It can if you go too long between waterchangs. The target you are aiming for is .5 pH difference. Once you reach .5 you need to dt a large 50% waterchange. In my case I can go xactly 7 days betwen waterchanges.

Your problem may be controlled by larger waterchangs. Really it only takes a few more minutes to do and your fish will be better off.

 

[TianRunty]

does 50% not stress the fish? I'm not new to fish keeping but it's been pretty plain sailing until now with only white spot being a problem with mollies i kept years ago and i always thought more than 30% is dangerous?
this is all stuff i was taught as a kid which never seemed to pose problems. just dont want to shock the fish with a huge water change.
just want to make sure i'm not going to end up with a big empty tank

 

[drobbyb]

No, 50% is not dangerous. For an exampl, people who keep discus often perform 90% waterchanges daily. Discus are very sensitive fish and if it does not harm them then the more tolerant species do fine.

It's a myth that more than 30% is harmful. I have been performing 50 to 70% waterchanges for about 10 years without a single death from it.

 

[MoneyMitch]

does 50% not stress the fish? I'm not new to fish keeping but it's been pretty plain sailing until now with only white spot being a problem with mollies i kept years ago and i always thought more than 30% is dangerous?
this is all stuff i was taught as a kid which never seemed to pose problems. just dont want to shock the fish with a huge water change.
just want to make sure i'm not going to end up with a big empty tank

When you perform a w/c you dont remove ANY bacteria as it doesnt just float around in the water. every surface in you raquarium houses good bac. when you do a w/c the only thing you do is restore the gh/kh AKA buffering capacity of your water and take out the nitrItes,ammonia and nitrAtes along with the gunk on the bottom. w/c is no way shape or form decremental to the fish.