Mr_docfish

What size (wide) is your tank?

For 12 or 14 inch wide, and only 18 inch deep - one of these units will do for medium light plants.
If the tank is wider and/or deeper - you should use 2 units....

At Aquotix, we have the ISTA LED light units that are from the same Taiwanese factory - I can match the price of the eastern states seller (with freight to WA Metro area = $260)
Aquotix has a 2 for special deal - best to pop into Aquotix to have a chat about what they can do... And see these light units in action in the many display tanks.

Aquotux imports their own - the fore-mentioned Whale (VK2000) from 25-300watt - we prefer these glass core heaters to other ceramic core versions - the filiaments last longer due to the even heating and no residual heat from the ceramic after the heater turns off.
We back them up 110% with less than 1% returned over the 5+ years that we have been importing them.

As with the majority of heaters on the market, they mainly use mechanical switches (bi-metal strips or relays) so it is advisable to replace your old heater every 5 years (particularly the higher wattage ones) due to arking on the contacts every time the heater switches on or off.

For larger tanks, we advise the use of inline heater (Hydor for 200 and 300watt units, or our own generic import for 1000 and 1500watt units) - these come with replaceable relays and are very dependable. These are simply plumbed into existing plumbing under the aquarium. We have methods of plumbing (very neat) that allows more than one hydor heater to be run in parallel without restricting the water flow from any pump or filter.

We have stopped the shoguns and titans due to the number of warranties - we still carry the Eheim jaeger heater for those that still believe in them - warranties are still high (~10%), but random...

If you keep orchids and Broms - or any plant in a tropical/humid greenhouse, then you will find a plethora of different types of MB... Not the fish type, but other types that can infect humans....
When you go to a tropical country, wade through tropical creeks or road run offs, you will be in contact with an even greater variety of MB including water born types that infect fish and humans....

So scare mongering asside.... Yes you will find all sorts of different MB in all sorts of warm, moist areas.....
If you are worried about getting an MB infection personally, bathe yourself in antibacterial soap.
If you are worried you will lose all your fish to MB, then clean them up, keep them healthy and happy and your fears will will never come true.
If your fish show symptoms of MB, try anti parasitic/flagellate drugs first just in case it is that simple (like in the first post) - if no luck, then do the affected fish a favour and put it out of its misery. Fish can also waste away when they get old, refuse to eat, or have other internal issues like tumours in the wrong places, organ failure, specific nutrient uptake issues etc etc..... Often MB is just the last bug to hop onto an already failing creature.... Test a dead or dying fish and you will find a lot of issues... Almost none of them the initial issue, but secondary/tertiary problem not related to the first.
MB is not a serious issue in the hobby. It is best kept away by following Buccal's first post in this thread. It will only wipe your fish out if the conditions you keep your fish in are poor to start with, or you sorce fish from similar poor keepers of fish (I generally don't like buying old fish from people who keep their fish in NO3 over 80ppm for example) - next time you buy fish, test the water they are packed in....

whoa..... hold your bolting horses......

Fish TB is often a cop-out for many issues.....

 

We run a recirc system.... try finding a TB issue with our fish.....

 

Too often it is an issue with either worms (variety of types) or flagellates... hence how aajvcad managed to stop the problem.

 

TB is easy to control (trade secret - I wont tell... ) but Buccal is on the right track.

 

If you have a fish with suspected sunken belly issues - let me know who, what, why, etc..... and Ill do my best to help.

 

Even though some think every LFS has a problem..... consider that not all LFS's (or actually, supermarket pet shops) have the same husbandry system in place to serve up and maintain quality fish as us.  Some shops get in, then sell same day - any fish they can... no time for treating the fish for issues before they sell them.... we have received fish from a major wholesaler with big swollen red backsides - full of worms  - took 5 days to clear them of the issue before we offered the fish for sale....

 

Don't tar all the shops with the same brush..... some of us try harder than most..... real LFS's, I'm sure, will do the same as us.... but for the supermarket stores - I don't know if they know what to use to treat for worms or flagellates.....

Rant Over

Buzz me if you have a problem

In case the blackout happens when you are not there (ie at work) - use one of these (below) 24/7 on your bigger tanks (or multiple tanks) - the battery backup kicks in when the power goes out - aeration is the most critical - filtration is not so much in that time - when you get home, you can kick up the generator to run the filters.

 

http://www.aquariumo...ck-up-bb-15000/

Easy as to breed...

 

http://www.aquariumo...e-co2-atomiser/

 

 

 

http://www.aquariumo...ne-co2-reactor/

 

 

 

http://www.aquariumo...robe-electrode/

 

 

http://www.aquariumo...-3l-side-valve/

 

 

http://www.aquariumo...-cleaner-large/

http://www.aquariumo...on-cooling-fan/

 

 

http://www.aquariumo...le-cooling-fan/

 

 

http://www.aquariumo...lease-tap-12mm/

 

http://www.aquariumo...lease-tap-16mm/

 

 

http://www.aquariumo...nt-aquasoil-9l/

 

 

 

http://www.aquariumo...-ph-controller/

 

 

 

Safe is the purer form of Prime (metabisulphite) - even $85 for a kilo is a bit rich - but you get dose rates with it and you know you got the right stuff...., Safe is also a lot more stable than Prime or other liquid based metabisulphites (Ammolock, Chlormon etc) - particulrly during storage in high temps. It is also known to go off if you rinse the cap in the aquarium and return it to the bottle top - it can introduce anaerobic bactetia and in time, start breaking down.... Now prime does have a smell of sulphur - but when it changes the hydrogen sulphide (rotten egg gas) then it is time to throw it and get a fresh bottle.

I recommend Prime, Ammolock, stresscoat plus etc for those living on the Mundaring pipeline (contains chloramines)
Personally, I make my own dry salt based mix which contains Thiosulohate and EDTA (amoung other stuff).
If you read up on the stability and of all the active ingredients, you will find the metabisulphites only lasts up to 48hours in the aquarium - whereas EDTA lasts up to a week.... For the sake of heavy metal binding, I prefer the EDTA.

Check batch numbers/useby dates on these products to ensure you are getting fresh product, and not something picked up in bulk and stored on a shed or hot warehouse.... And store them on a dark, cool capboard and avoid contaminating the solution with aquarium water.

Got a heap of new blue diamond discus coming out of our quarantine this weekend

Aquotix has it nearly all year round

Aquotix have black calvus...

I would recommend getting your water double checked (get it tested by a reputable store - add your location to your profile so we can advise you where to go)
Getting a nitrate of 0ppm is concerning with that number of fish - either the test kits are not in date or the methods of testing are not in line with directions.... Or you might be right... But best to get someone else to double check it... If conditions are perfect, then post up more info.... We will find a cause and then a cure.

With all the alleged "aquarium fish" dumping.... what have the fisheries and councils done to educate the people? 

When was the last time you noticed a sign on the edge of any council water hole indicating that dumping fish is wrong.... you see the signs on beaches indicating that surfing or fishing or camping is not allowed.....

 

hang on, the fisheries have a better idea in mind.....

 

They are currently formulating a "white list" of fish that we will be allowed to keep... so if it is not on the list, you can't keep it.... that will stop these fish getting into our water ways and introducing exotic diseases huh?  good thinking... Im glad we have clever people working in our "public service" biosecurity based departments

 

JDs are tough fish - give it another couple of days and see if it starts healing on its own. Melafix is a good mild start in the mean time if you are concerned. Multicure can help prevent fungal infection too if you already have it handy.