bare bottom water buffer

[kingie11]

ok open for more abuse
had a problem with PH crash in my bare bottom tank set up is 20g long 10 caves with slate and planted bogwood 1 large air stone the filtration is a fluval 205(external) and fluval 3 plus for extra airation and water flow the tank holds 7 x 1.75" zebs
i tested the water and the PH was five with 1.0 ammonia (using API test kit) my tap water is PH7.5 with high chloramine content
the bloke at the lfs said the low ph has wiped out the filters and i need ti add some substrate to buffer the PH
since moving from england to scotland with differing water peramiters i feel like a newby fishkeeper what do you guys use to buffer am i making this hard for myself

[Plastic Mac]

i tested the water and the PH was five with 1.0 ammonia (using API test kit) my tap water is PH7.5 with high chloramine content

I'm assuming the water that is ph 5 is out of the tank...if the water out of the tap is 7.5? Have you tested the water hardness?
You don't need to add substrate, and depending on which substrate you use it may have no affect at all anyway. Better would be to get a mesh bag and put some crushed coral in it, the calcium in it will raise the hardness and help prevent against any future ph crashes. I'd recommend testing as often as you can during this process to make sure your water doesn't swing to violently or rapidly the other way.
btw, while they're still not sexually mature, once they are I'd reduce the number of caves by about half if not slightly more.

[Barbie]

Keep in mind that while you must raise the pH (I've killed zebras crashing the pH, not a fun time!), you have to also realize that bringing the pH up with ammonia in the water can kill them just as fast. I would add amquel and plan on doing some frequent small changes. If you don't have a second tank running, definitely look into borrowing some filter media from someone. Just doing enough changes should slowly bring the pH up. Once you get it up in the 7 range, then add the coral to your filter. That way you won't cause any bounces that can really stress the fish. They could have small water changes twice a day and it will definitely stress them less.

Barbie

[kingie11]

ok have just tested TAP water PH 7.5 KH 2 GH 6 ammonia 1.0 nitrite 0

TANK water after adding hagen gravel 4 days ago (says on bag may alter PH)
PH 5.5-6.0 KH 2 GH 6 ammonia 0 nitrite 0

have just done water change zebs look ok can i asume the gravel will do the trick and buffer the ph or do you still recomend using coral chips in the filter

your advice is a great help