How to buffer RO/DI Water naturally

[Keybler]

How to buffer RO/DI Water naturally and to what levels?

My well water is 8.2 - 8.6 ph and the hardness is 4 times to highest level I can test.

I started buying RO/DI water from my lfs. I've been using "kents ro right". But can not get my water above 6 drops, and have been told it should be between 9 - 12 drops (api gh test)

I've been slowing doing water changes on m 55 gallon planted tank. i'm down around 16 drops gh, 8 drops kh, ph of 7.8-8.0

What do I need to do?

Thanks for any advice.

I have a 55 Gallon planted tank. I also have a 15 gallon tank i'm using for water storage and buffering, it has a marineland 30gallon filter and a powerhead to help move/mix the water around.

 

[BillD]

The normal method is to use the RO water to dilute the other water to get what you want.
What type of fish are you keeping or want to keep?

 

[Keybler]

I'm trying to have a community planted tank. To be prefectly honest I enjoy the plants more than the fish. I currently have

2 angel fish
1 pink gourami
5 yoyo loaches
5 red wag platies
3 glo tetras
1 albino algae eater
6 zerba snails

My well water is horrible, and the water changes from time to time so i'm not sure if I could ever determine what type of ratio would always work like, 5:1. I have a 15 gallon tank I bought just to buffer the ro water before adding it to my main tank. The 15 gallon tank has a marineland 30 gallon filter with a carbon ritesize "b" filter I think. It also has a bubbler, power head and heater.

I've read that adding diffrent types of shells,coral and others to the filter could help buffer the ro water, but I can't find anywhere with extact instrustions on how much of what, will give you this result. Seems like only chems likes "kent ro right" can tell me, so many teaspoons per gallon will give me these results.

Either way of buffering the ro with chems or coral or just 5:1 with well water, what results will work best for the planted tank. What GH/KH is recommended?

Thanks