Fish keep dying!!

[AmyJade2004]

@seangee it seems to only be the balloon mollies, possibly the corys and possibly the guppies dying in this way but I'm not sure which ones died from the ammonia poisoning. All of these fish have been really disorientated before their death and couldn't swim properly. My plecos and endlers haven't been affected. About 5 months ago I did have an issue with keeping guppies as they kept dying in the same way but my lfs just said that some people can't keep guppies so I won't be able to have any in my tank but 3 have stayed alive for about 3 months so I'm not sure if this could be the same disease. What would be the best way to quarantine them? Also with the euthanising, would this be after they have shown a first symptom?
@LostBear I've had a small look behind the tank and it's not near the sides but possibly in the middle. There is only a small space in the lid where the wires go out that it could've jumped out but it couldn't really swim so I don't think it would have the power to jump out of the tank. I also don't think he could've been eaten because I was only gone for half an hour from the point he was nearly dead and the point where he had disappeared.

 

[itiwhetu]

Ok this has been going on long enough. You have had a ton of advise. I am going to put my 5 cents worth in once again. Forget everything just go and buy enough plant to about half fill this system, that will turn it into one big biological filter, give the tank 10 hours light a day. after a week do a 25% water change. Test the water half way through the following week.

 

[jonnyc88]

Your on demand system is usually mains fed, check in your attic for a storage tank though. If you can't access the attic turn off your mains and open your hot tap, if it stops quickly no storage tank.
Newer builds generally have no storage tanks.

If I turn off my mains I get no water at all. Access to the attic is a bit of a faff due to all the insulation but I wl try to have a quick look. My house is relatively new built, it was built 11 years ago.

 

[kwi]

If I turn off my mains I get no water at all. Access to the attic is a bit of a faff due to all the insulation but I wl try to have a quick look. My house is relatively new built, it was built 11 years ago.

Likely mains fed with solar assist, houses used to be built with one tap in the kitchen for potable water then all the other taps and toilet fed from a storage tank so not strictly potable. With improvements to water distribution storage tanks not really needed anymore, though you may find a small header tank for toilets still.
Heating systems have changed too from gravity systems which had a header tank to a pressurised system that need charged to a certain pressure to work, again doing away with storage tanks.
Many householders overlook the need to clean their storage tanks periodically.
On the caravan park I ran we had to do away with the water storage as after doing a legionella audit we discovered the 1st and 3rd highest risk building owned by the council were my two toilet blocks......not an issue due to be considerably lower than the resevoir we had good pressure coming in.

 

[jonnyc88]

Likely mains fed with solar assist, houses used to be built with one tap in the kitchen for potable water then all the other taps and toilet fed from a storage tank so not strictly potable. With improvements to water distribution storage tanks not really needed anymore, though you may find a small header tank for toilets still.
Heating systems have changed too from gravity systems which had a header tank to a pressurised system that need charged to a certain pressure to work, again doing away with storage tanks.
Many householders overlook the need to clean their storage tanks periodically.
On the caravan park I ran we had to do away with the water storage as after doing a legionella audit we discovered the 1st and 3rd highest risk building owned by the council were my two toilet blocks......not an issue due to be considerably lower than the resevoir we had good pressure coming in.

Yes, my home is sold as an eco home an came with extra insulation, energy saving lights, rain water harvesting system (bit of a pain this one) which supplies downstairs toilet and garden hose, and a solar panel to help heat water (useless in winter when it's needed? ) So I'm a bit confused by it all being not really good at these things. I'm almost certain I have combi boiler though, I have a small heated tank in upstairs closets but I don't think that's to store water, perhaps help heat the water.
Funny you mentioned water pressure as it's not great at ours, I think it's pressure driven instead of gravity fed. Love taking a shower (electric) and get burnt when someone flushes the toilet

Anyway apologies to OP for going off topic.
I am going through trying to resolve issues with my tank and fish lost so you have my symphathy.

 

[kwi]

Anyway apologies to OP for going off topic.

Yes, sorry @AmyJade2004

 

[AmyJade2004]

Yes, sorry @AmyJade2004

Its ok this is still quite helpful as I've never really thought about it before so I'll need to check what my water is

 

[Antichton]

Hi OP,

Do you know the KH/GH of your tap and tank water? If the KH in your tank is very low, the water has very little buffering capacity and might undergo big swings in pH which would not be good for the fish. In general I understand that livebearers (guppies, mollies, endlers) also prefer harder water (higher GH and KH) as well.

I've found guppies to be a bit temperamental. I lost 3/5 of the ones I bought within a couple weeks with similar symptoms as yours (fish became lethargic, labored breathing and then poof). The ones that survived did very well though, and the influx of babies have made up for any losses I had at the start. I'm sure your baby fish will do very well if the tank is properly cycled (no ammonia or nitrite).

The fact that water from your tap is pH 7.4, but your tank is pH 8.2 is strange. The only thing I can think of that would cause this is supersaturated CO2 in your tap water lowering the pH and then outgassing when added to your tank. If this is the case, I would recommend you to let your tap water sit in a bucket or similar for a few hours before adding to your tank.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Yes, my home is sold as an eco home an came with extra insulation, energy saving lights, rain water harvesting system (bit of a pain this one) which supplies downstairs toilet and garden hose, and a solar panel to help heat water (useless in winter when it's needed? ) So I'm a bit confused by it all being not really good at these things. I'm almost certain I have combi boiler though, I have a small heated tank in upstairs closets but I don't think that's to store water, perhaps help heat the water.
Funny you mentioned water pressure as it's not great at ours, I think it's pressure driven instead of gravity fed. Love taking a shower (electric) and get burnt when someone flushes the toilet

Anyway apologies to OP for going off topic.
I am going through trying to resolve issues with my tank and fish lost so you have my symphathy.

Your house sounds awesome Mine was built in the 1920s, so things were done a little differently then

 

[kwi]

Your house sounds awesome Mine was built in the 1920s, so things were done a little differently then

Bet you're not using an outhouse though.......I remember my Grandads house with outhouse and the excitement when he got an extension for a bathroom.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Bet you're not using an outhouse though.......I remember my Grandads house with outhouse and the excitement when he got an extension for a bathroom.

I might still use an outhouse, you don't know! Kids these days with your solar panels and indoor plumbing...
The river was always good enough for us!

 

[kwi]

I might still use an outhouse, you don't know! Kids these days with your solar panels and indoor plumbing...
The river was always good enough for us!

Not allowed to go in a river anymore, the enviroment agency come after you........

 

[AilyNC]

@AmyJade2004 how are all your fish today? Your API Test nitrate at 0 after the water change. If you test again today is that number still 0? I would test daily just to get an idea of when the nitrate builds up, and also to see if ammonia & nitrite stay at 0 for a week. Get to know your tank & see what patterns emerge. As someone suggested at more live plants, some floating ones too. Keep an eye on your fish and flag any issues and change in behaviour.

 

[AmyJade2004]

@AilyNC most of the fish look ok. I came back today and found that one of my endlers had died but I left early this morning so couldn't see if he had any symptoms. I haven't had an endler death for a few months so this could just be an odd one from old age or something. My ammonia, nitrite and nitrate are all at 0 still even after the dead fish being left in there probably for a few hours. I'll keep testing the water just in case it rises. As @itiwhetu suggested, I'll get some more plants but won't be able to do this until the weekend as one of my local shops don't have many.
@Antichton I'm not sure about the KH/GH as I don't have a test for this. The water that I get out of my shower goes through a water softener but I do also have access to harder water so would it be better to use this? The only issue is that I read harder water has a higher pH and mine is still really high using the soft water.

 

[AilyNC]

@AilyNC most of the fish look ok. I came back today and found that one of my endlers had died but I left early this morning so couldn't see if he had any symptoms. I haven't had an endler death for a few months so this could just be an odd one from old age or something. My ammonia, nitrite and nitrate are all at 0 still even after the dead fish being left in there probably for a few hours. I'll keep testing the water just in case it rises. As @itiwhetu suggested, I'll get some more plants but won't be able to do this until the weekend as one of my local shops don't have many.
@Antichton I'm not sure about the KH/GH as I don't have a test for this. The water that I get out of my shower goes through a water softener but I do also have access to harder water so would it be better to use this? The only issue is that I read harder water has a higher pH and mine is still really high using the soft water.

Do you use the softened water for your tanks? The sodium content might be too high.