[Matt Nace]

You have no fish in this tank..so it is uncycled? You need to either cycle it with a few fish or do a fishless cycle.

I would not mess with the PH.
If you want to reduce hardness,you would need to mix R/o water with your water to get the water softer. You would have to do this with everywater change and if you top off it would have to be with R/o water.

You dont need to use Purigen. Do a water change on a regular basis and save your money. If you have ammonia in your tap/well water buy a conditioner to make it not harmful before adding it to the tank.