pH experiences

Hi, to all
Sorry for my absence for a while, but here I am back. I read most of the latest posts. I would like to add my 2 cents worth regarding my experiences with pH. For the longest time I was unable to to do anything about my pH in my 24G NanoCube. It was persistently around 8.0.
I did not want to use any chemicals. Tried pH down in the beginning - useless. My tank is planted and plants were doing quite nicely.After reading a lot about CO2 systems, I bought one of those H...n units. I hooked it up and it worked for about 2-3 days. Then the bubbles started slowing down. However, the expiration date of the 2 packages was 2006! I read somewhere, that the date is critical.
So, I mixed my own, using the original setup. The systems works good for about 20 days - may need a little more tweaking. This system brought my pH down to 7.45 at KH 6. This may be helpful to someone? My plants grow like mad!
Regards to all
Mechanik

Thanks for sharing your experience, and welcome back.