Best way to obtain a PH of 7 and high GA and KH

I think adding coral to the filter will get me the GA and KH values I need for my shrimp tank but it will also raise my PH. So what should I do to keep my ph near neutral but obtain high GA and KH, tank will be a 5 gal medium planted tank with RCS...

 

Raising KH will always increase your pH, so there's nothing that you can really do there. Coral will help with KH, but from what I'm to understand, it will do very little to increase GH. What are your tap parameters? (pH, GH, KH especially.)

 

Coral should help raise both, GH and KH. It will also raise PH by default. I wouldn't worry about your ph at all and trying to maintain it at a certain level. Better just to have a stable ph.

 

Yeah, unless you're adding super sensitive fish (i.e. Discus), or your pH is leveling out at like 8.4+, your fish can acclimatize. I have very hard tap water that comes out at about 8.2. With the driftwood I've added, my pH now sits between 8.0 and 8.1 (big tank, not a whole lot of driftwood haha). All of my fish have adapted just fine and are healthy, colorful, active, and happy, even though most of them on paper do better in soft acidic water (neon tetras, harlequin rasboras, etc.)

Much more important to have steady, stable pH than an exact 7.0.

However, if you're totally bent on getting you pH down, try adding some driftwood and/or putting peat granules into your filter. I recommend getting this dialed in and stabilized before you add any fish. It's theoretically possible to keep your pH at 7.0 even if it's more alkaline out of the tap, just difficult and requires a lot of dedicated and regular pH testing to make sure it's staying where you want it. pH swings and putting your fish through a roller coaster ride is MUCH harder on them than just letting the acclimatize to the pH you have.

 

Thanks much, it's really the GA and KH I am looking at for my shrimp... Thanks again