It's been a long time since I posted, but I wanted the general opinion on buffering tap water with an 8.0 ph. I have multiple tanks and I do routine water changes, (20% once a week). My community tank consists of barbs and tetras. A ph of 7.0 would be the desired range for the tank. My concern is, with routine water changes, how drastically am I going to effect the ph? If I lower the ph in .2 increments each day, and somehow manage to get 7.0 on my test results, then what's going to happen when I do the water change and add tap water with 8.0ph? Is it even worth the extra effort? My water always tests with 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, nitrate so low it barely registers a color change, and the ph stays constant at 8.0. Sudden shifts in the ph are my conern. Do you think the fish that prefer a lower ph range adapt to a higher ph and do ok? Or is the fishes health at risk? I can't seem to keep Gouramis.