Ugh! I had a big long post written but it timed out and logged me off.
Slightly condensed:
6 Rams down to 5. The sick one perished about 2 weeks after my last post. His appetitie and "spunk" was not up to keeping the other GBR's at bay.
Wife is still pregnant! 19 weeks. ANOTHER GIRL! Due date March 8th.
Tumor still gone. Checkup on halloween day! (creepy)
The rams seem happy now. They fight occasionally, but are all eating, active, social, plump (but not Bloat plump...
) and come greet me. Very rewarding fish to keep! The plants have grown in (a bit too much?) But I'm not satisfied with the light. I can't grow carpeting plants.
As a result, I'm ditching my DIY lighting, and the 2, 24 inch fixtures I have. I'm replacing them with this:
https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B073B7BMQD/ref=pe_3034960_233709270_TE_item?th=1
No more 3 separate light timers, jungle of cables, etc. Just a simple cord to the Fixture, with the lighting controller built in. I'm beyond excited. It'll take about 2 weeks to get here. On another planted oriented site I saw an unverified stat that it hits about 80 PAR at 26 inches, so I should be good to finally try some ground cover plants!
My Sun Sun Cheap knockoff Fluval naturally is broken. 2 days ago It started sucking in air from the inlet (Thank god it was the inlet!!!) I've done everything I can (wrapped it in tape, tried to use parts from the Outlet) but it still continues.
I found someone selling an Ehiem 2217 only a year old for $100 bucks. Picking it up tomorrow. No self prime is a PITA, but its a good quality pump thats more than enough for how this tank is stocked. The added flow might be nice for my CO2 Infuser, and My tank already uses the 16-22mm tubing, so I'll have spare.
I've started 3D printing stuff. When I was trying to make my old pump work, I bought an ehiem solid tube to go over on the outlet side (so I could use the outlet as an inlet, (didn't work))
THe straight tube was making noise, yet not enough agitation, so I made my own little bell:
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2588285
Works really well. I made it asymmetrical so I can flip it around to make the drop more/less pronounced. Turning it 90 degrees also provides a nice stream of quiet water. I'm very happy with how it turned out. One of my first 100% Sudz Designed prints.
So yeah!
TLDR:
Wife Still pregnant (Girl!)
Fish Good (1 lost)
Tumor Gone
New lights on the way
Broken Filter
New Pump/filter Tomorrow
New 3D Printed Nozzle