see it took you five years of trying to dial in on ph. i am so glad you agree most tell i am stupid for not worrying about it. i have kept aquarium fish for years. they are ven more finicly about ph than plants. i tried many times to get my ph to go with the type of fish i wanted to keep. and i killed more than i could keep.
once i was able to just let the water keep to its own accord i was able to keep any fish i tried because my ph was stable. so now i never check my ph in my fish tank either