PH difference in 2 tanks, same water

[Juicebox]

i have 2 tanks, 1 is 14 gallon with betta and some mts and 3 ghost shrimp, i have organic potting soil in it capped with play sand,i have a couple big rocks i took out of a river,some frogsbit, a piece of driftwood and a fake plant, some small stones from craft shop. the ph is 7.2

i have in my 5 gallon black gravel,. 1 piece of driftwood some java moss some frogsbit,a rock, a terracotta pot,some small stones from craft shop,living in this tank are 2 adfs, 2 ghost shrmip, 3 assasin snails and about 10 - 15 mts.. the ph is reading 6.2

the ph in 5 gallon seems too low,i would rather it around 7 for the safety of my assasin snails shells,i use same water and water conditioner for both tanks so im wondering why the big ph difference. is the terra cotta pot in my 5 gallon lowering my ph?? are the rocks in my 14 gallon making the ph too high?

how can i get my ph to around 7 in my 5 gallon without having to buy any expensive products?i have spent all my fish budget untill after xmas :(

[AyalaCookiejar]

I believe the driftwood may lower the PH, but I'm not sure if it's supposed to lower it that much. I think it depends on the kind.


"Rocks like limestone and things like crushed coral, white sands, and sea shells can increase hardness and pH"

[shellieca]

As ayala stated the driftwood will lower your Ph. Have you tested your tap straight from the tap & then after letting it gas off for 24 hrs? Because the 5g is a considerably smaller volume of water than your 14g the water parameters will change faster. Smaller volumes of water tend to be less stable. How often are you doing water changes & how much are you changing? If your tap water has a good Ph then water changes will bring it back to where it needs to be. Trying to adjust your Ph with chemicals / additives & such will typically be more a problem than a solution. A stable Ph is highly important. If you really want to raise your Ph, if I'm not mistaken you can use crushed coral, start with a small amount & then increase it in small amounts until the Ph is where you want, wiating at leats 24 hrs between each adjustment.