Ok! Sorry for the super late update: Lets get this out of the way, because its the best news ever:
I DON"T HAVE CANCER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Long story short: first pathology set everyone down the wrong path. It was a Myoepithilioid. Whats that? a tumor that in 94% of cases, NEVER becomes malignant when left completely untreated.
Mine was removed. They're 85% sure it'll never come back again.
That means I've got a 15% chance of it coming back, just to be removed again.
If it does come back, or is camping out somewhere small unnoticed, then in essence, I have a less than 1% chance of EVER contracting malignant cancer. I like those odds. My life is back in order. We've even planning on having another kid! (super secret as none of my friends are on here... We're 6 weeks pregnant.
)
I was in such a dark place for 3 months. It was absolute hell. I kept up a strong face for my wife and my parents, but the day they told me I was in the clear... was honestly better than the day My daughter was born. Why? because I realized - I'll be around to see her grow up! Ok, I have to change the subject before these onions get to me.
THe fishtank is looking better than ever. Via some Siamese Algae eaters, CO2 injection and semi-regular water changes, the BBA is almost non existant. I get a build up of easy to scrape green algae over about a 3 week span, but some regular glass scraping keeps it in check. The trumpet snails are under "more" control... the clown loaches keep the baby population in check, and the larger (more useful) MTS's live on in near untolerable numbers. During the day they hide, at night they clean the tank.
The Grass has grown like a WEED and spread a lot. My new plants (aside from the grass, I can never grow carpet plants!) are doing well. My anubis is constantly pearling now. its like an air stone!
I had bought 3 clown loaches from petsmart, the hell of all fish stores, and sure enough one had some sort of malady and would not gain weight. It passed, but the other two are amazingly plump and cute and growing really well.
Another exciting change is that I FINALLY got optics for my DIY aquarium light. I had NO idea how fast my 5+ year old thermal epoxy would set - So when "trying" the 30 degree vs 60 degree optics, the 30 degree became permenanty attached. Turns out it was pretty well 2 minute set epoxy.
The rest of them are 60 degree, I liked the look of the 40 degree but the spread wasn't enough to cover the tank. (the 60 degree is debatable too) My wife likes it with the optics as it doesn't blind her when the water level drops below the top bezel while watching tv.
I LOVE the way it looks. I hope some plants don't melt away from the increased/decreased light. (Depending where they are.)
Next step is the aquarium hood. I still have all the lumber sitting in the garage, but with baby#2 on its way, I realized I had to free up the 2nd bedroom that my wife currently uses as her computer/library/reading area... so I made a desk in the basement for the both of us. Its 14 feet wide!
Pictures of both!:
fishtank (water is low, sorry)
New Desk: (I'm a super nerd I.T. guy, and a PC gamer, and its not finished so the place is a mess, don't judge!)
Still have potlights to go in, finish the ikea cabinets, more shelves. I'm starting a mini recording setup in front of my computer - I was invited to Amazon Vine and have cleared a few thousand dollars worth of "free" stuff and now companies in china are asking me to review their stuff, so I think i might make a youtube channel!
Anyway, thats it for now. Water parameters are great and stable, I may do the discus thing pretty soon!