ChefConfit

I generally trim pretty short the first time and gradually move higher each time if I'm going for the bushy look. As @Hobbitsaid they will put of 2 new stems just under the cut so if you trim slightly taller every time it will Bush out more and more. Some people want just single stems so they pull the plant top it and replant every time it needs a trim. Way to much work for me and it would make a huge mess in my dirted tank.

Yea I've seen plenty of people do that. I have some 2in pots I usually use for caves that I've also used to grow out plants in a spare bare bottom tank.

Harm...no. But you'll see growth slow or stop until it reestablishes itself. Possibly anywhere from a week to a month+ depending on the plant and probably other factors. Some minor melting is also possible but shouldn't be crazy that's usually cause by a big change in water parameters or shipping. I've never had my crypts melt noticeably from moving them around/between my tanks but some people do. Also just so you know ecocomplete is considered an inert substrate. There's some debate about it if provides some micronutrients, but it definitely does not provide macros so tabs will most likely benefit your crypts once they're reestablished.

Don't know but you can always tag someone so they see it and might respond. I'll do it for you@Dean’s Fishroom

I've got a 29 hex. Looks close to the same size as yours in relation to a water bottle. Hex tanks are really cool because you've got a ton of height to play with and can do cool stuff with it but because the footprint if so small compared to the volume your limited to mostly fish that would do well in a 10 gallon (except for stuff like angels that usually need a larger tank because they need more height). Mines heavily planted with a Crinum Calamistratum in the center that has grown all the way up the tank and some rock work behind it. The back three panels are planted with various stem plants. The foreground is crypts and some rhizome plants. I've also got some pothos coming out the top with the roots reaching all the way to the substrate. For stocking I've got 12 neon tetras, 4 corydoras, 5 ottocinclus and 3 Amano shrimp. I'm getting ready to add another school that will just use the top of the tank and a centerpiece fish. You can do a lot of cool stuff with that tank, but it also has a lot of limitations. My best advice is get fish that will use all the levels of the tanks. Either different fish for different levels or multiple of 1 species that will use multiple levels. Otherwise you'll have a lot of wasted space.

I mean that already an extremely heavily stocked tank in my opinion. Personally I'd get another tank and rehome the danio and either the oto or loaches so that I can get larger groups of all three since they all prefer being in groups. Then I'd maybe get a gourami or betta for each of the tanks.

Sponge filters can definitely handle it. I believe @Cory runs just sponges on the 800.

I'd keep it bare bottom and empty until you need it. As others have said if it's got water sitting in it the temptation to get fish for it is way to much for any nerm to handle (most of us can barely even resist when we don't have a home ready and waiting for new fish) Keep the sponge filter for it running in another tank so that you always have it cycled and ready to go. My quarantine tank is currently holding my juvenile corys that are waiting to sell because my grow out tank is getting too full.

Snail eating fish like loaches are also an option.

My best advice for cutting back water usage in your tanks is do water changes when they're needed rather than on a schedule. Most of us change water to cut down nitrate buildup and keep them at levels that are safe for our fish. Some people with heavily planted/lightly stocked tanks may never get nitrate buildup and then only change water to replenish trace elements that aren't in our fertilizers. Figure out which one you are by monitoring your nitrates. If they slowly build up then do a change when the levels get too high(most people like them under 40 but if it's a planted tank above 20). If they stay stable or you can't keep nitrates in the water then 20% every 4 weeks should be more than adequate.

I've got my first batch or corydoras fry ready to post for sale but don't have any bags to sell them in? Where do you guys get your bags? I'd like to get square bottom ones like @Dean’s Fishroomhas spoken about in videos. Also is filling the bag with O2 necessary for local sales? Are breather bags necessary?

Personally I don't gravel vac at all. I let the mulm get mixed into my substrate by my bottom dwellers to provide nutrients, but my tanks are sand or sand caps and very heavily planted. Since you're using a larger size colored gravel you may still want to gravel vac but just do the surface around the plants so you don't disturb the roots. Certain plants barely notice when you mess with their roots but most heavy root feeders won't like it.

I'm not sure which plant in the picture you are referring to but that's exactly how you propagate Java Fern. Usually they are easy to pull off once they've gotten big enough though.

That's leaves. All the way to the right(circled in red) you can very clearly see the arrow shape of the first leaves dwarf lilly's put up. It also looks like yours (like mine) is sprouting then those sprouts are putting off roots(circled in green) rather than the roots coming directly from the bulb. Basically if it's red and growing towards the light it's the plant, and if it's white and growing towards the substrate it's roots.

@hamlet10yea it's been a long time since I took statistics. Your math seems better. I remember a coop video giving a number in the teens to give a 90% chance of getting a pair which lined up with my math so I assumed mine was right.

@hamlet10 with 8 fish there are 9 possible gender distributions ranging from 0 males to 8 males. Of those 9 possible distributions 7 contain at least 1 of each gender. 7(number of favorable distributions)/9(number of possible distribution) multiplied by 100 gives us a 77.777repeating% chance of a favorable distribution which gives us a 22.222repeating% chance of an unfavorable distribution. I subtracted repeating decimals wrong at the very end in my original answer and it was 0.111repeating off.

How much more light does it put out with everything maxed? That's a lot of Blackwater to get thru

@Bob if you see this do you remember what website OP is looking for?

I agree with @Brandy the water parameters shouldn't spike unless there's a mass die off. As their numbers begin to dwindle just make sure keep an eye on it but I wouldn't worry much.

The external lamp is a possibility, but it's going to change the direction of growth(plants grow toward their light source) and may cause algae on the glass. Assuming you've removed anything shading the plants your best option is increasing the amount of light either from addi g a second light on top (may not be an option on a hex) or getting a more powerful one. On that size tank a single 3.0 is probably medium light, but with Blackwater it's probably very low light.

@Ben_RF the back 3 sides of the hex are planted with various stem plants that had been almost to the top but when I pulled everything I cut them down to propagate them. There's also a dwarf aquarium lily and salvinia but even with plant growth throughout all level of the tank the neons rarely is ever used the top 1/3 of the tank

By sucked out quickly do you mean you see a rise in kh but then it drops back down again? If that's the case I'd be inclined to say your large water changes are to blame and we're back to finding a way to slow the buildup of nitrates so you can change less water and keep the parameters stable.

Just make sure the inside dries fully before you refill it. Because if the small opening it takes forever to fully dry out. I microwave mine for a few seconds to help the last of the moisture evaporate.

Corys like stable water parameters and large water changes mean large swings in water chemistry. I'd try to extend the time between changes and/or lower the % you change. Mine started breeding for me after I added crushed corral which raised my kh and switched to biweekly water changes. If you have a problem with nitrates getting too high you can try adding some really fast growing plants to soak it up. Right now other than your floaters your plants look to be all slow growing. Fish also are more likely to make babies when there is food around for said babies. Try feeding smaller amounts more often so that there is food around all the time not just for a little bit each day. The fry will need to eat a few times a day anyway so you might as well get used to it now. Also with 8 corys there's a 22.333% chance that they are all the same gender. It's unlikely but it's better than a 1in5 chance that they're all the same gender. But your comment about them having varying body sizes would suggest you have a mix.

@Dandy Pearl I didn't realize it until I pulled it out of the tank but it's about 3ft long at this point. I got it last fall and it was trimmed back to just the bulb with maybe 2 inches of leaves. They really don't deserve their reputation as a slow growing plant, they take awhile to settle in but given the right conditions they grow pretty fast. I find they like high water flow