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I just moved to a new town and our tap pH is around 8.2 and the alkalinity is a little low...about 3 dKH. I would like to raise the KH a bit and the best way to do this is with baking soda, correct? I would like to keep the pH from the tap.

Also, I would like to keep some inverts, maybe snails or shrimp. Do I need to add a calcium supplement for their shells? I don't want anything that will raise the pH higher than it already is.

Also, high pH and low alkalinity mean almost no CO2 in my tank, but it's not planted so I don't need to worry about that right?

Are you sure both tests are working and that you are talking about KH not GH. Ph and KH are very closely related and usually you can't have 1 low without the other being low. Unless this water has tons of phosphate buffers which could cause other issues especially lots of algae. Usually 3dkh means around 6.8-7.0ph and 8.2ph has a dkh closer to 12-15. I wonder if the ph will drop significantly when you actually setup the tank and introduce acids such as those that result from the breakdown of fish waste.

A test for GH would help determine how much calcium might be present in the water but usually GH and KH are also fairly close since KH measures calcium carbonate and GH measures calcium and magnesium. You can add calcium to a tank without raising ph but if the ph is truly buffered to 8.2 then it shouldn't go up very easily anyway. The most fool proof way to add calcium is to use Kent Liquid Calcium which is sold for marine invertebrates. Add 1/4th-1/2 the dose suggested for a marine tank.

I know high pH usually means high KH...but not so in this town. I was actually letting some rocks sit in a bucket to see if they raised the pH and instead it dropped way down, which made no sense at the time. I didn't have a KH test yet because I was assuming it was high...I went and bought one today and got the 3 dKH result. They were out of GH tests. I know we have hard (basic) water, but I have no idea how hard.

My husband is actually a scientist so I had him take a water sample to work and test it on his fancy equipment. He got a result of 6.5 pH after letting the water sit a few days...I didn't believe him so he used another machine and got the same result. I guess I'll get a phosphate test from the LFS too. So far I'm not liking my new town!

If you name the town/general area there could be member/s in the area who know about the towns water. Also what are the local LFS doing about the water situation? I know our water supply constantly changes with the seasons especially during the colder months and at the begining of the warmer tourist season.

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I'm in Burleson, TX. They're aren't any "local" stores...the closest is about 30 minutes away and it's another city (and county for that matter). There water is quite a bit different than mine.

That's what I was wondering. The 8.4 is a temporary ph. Exactly why I'm not sure but once it is exposed to the air and different acids it adjusts to the correct ph which matches the amount of buffer in the water. If you fill a tank with that water as is it will not hold the current ph. You will have to let this water sit 24hours before using it in your tank unless you change a very small amount of water or if you buffer the tank well with limestone rock you could probably do a water change right away. The buffering of the limestone would keep the ph from dropping back down but it will keep the tank ph high at around 8.0 all the time. Depending on what ph you want as an end result you can either use the limestone or buffer it a little with baking soda to reach a point between 6.5 and 8.4. I would probably get a powerhead and a bucket or other clean mixing container, add baking soda to buffer around 7.2, and leave it to mix overnight for doing a waterchange the next day.

I filled the tank with all the rocks and stuff I'm planning on using and turned all the equipment on...no fish though of course. In about 24 hours the pH has dropped to 7.9. So I'm just going to wait and see what it drops to and where it wants to stabilize at. Basically get familiar with the new water here. I'm in no rush for fish I guess...I know if I take my time and figure this out it'll be much better in the long run.

If using limestone your ph should stay right about there. It might fluctuate a tiny bit over the next several days as the outside of the rocks start to break down but should be steady within a few points of 8.0. The test would be changing some of the water and see how the rocks buffer it. I'm thinking it will work out fine because at a higher ph less of the rock will breakdown to buffer the water and at a lower ph more of the rock will breakdown evening out the changes in ph but the only way to know is to do an average size water change and see if the ph moves.