PH and shell dwellers

[bghill]

I am planning to convert my 10g guppy fry tank to a shell dweller tank. I know that these fish like a higher PH of around 8.0 - 8.3. My tap water is about 7.0 out of the tap and stabalizes around 6.8 after a few days.
My question is should I try to buffer my tap water to a higher PH or acclimate the shellies to a lower PH?

[Jayhawk]

I'd replace your substrate with aragonite or aragonite sand which will buffer your water significantly. If it's still lower than you'd like, you can use a bag of the stuff in your filter as a form of bio-media which will also increase the buffering of your water since it will leach into the tank faster with the waterflow.

That said, find out what the breeder/store is keeping their shellies at and that's all you really need to aim for...some are kept and bred with no problems at 7.5 to 7.8 pH range.

Eric