* Test Results for the Following:
Ammonia Level? OK
Nitrite Level? OK
Nitrate level? I Think it says ok….I cant read it well. I think the humidity in the apartment may have messed up the strips.
Ph Level, (If possible, KH and GH and chloramines)? OK
Ph Level out of the Tap? No idea, our ground water is awful so we only use purchased water.
* Tank size (How many Gals) and How long has it been running? 20 gal, and its been running for several months
* What is the name and size of the filter/s? I think it’s a Top Fin filter, I know it was suggested for a 20 gal tank. It's had the carbon in there continuously.
* How often do you change the water and how much? About 5 gal, every other week.

# How many fish in the tank and their size? 4 fish- all goldies. One medium small, 3 small.
# What kind of water additives or conditioners? Kent Freshwater Ph neutral controller, Kent ammonia detox, Kent goldfish essential (mineral traces), stress coat, and some aquarium salt. We've been using all these products for about 6 months.
# Any medications added to the tank? Yes, we sort-of panicked and added some Maricen II to the main tank and the quarantine tank 2 days ago- so they've had 2 doses.
# Add any new fish to the tank? The Medium fish came in October.
# What do you feed your fish? Normally Goldfish Bio Blend, with treats of dried baby shrimp and algae, but when Auren started acting lethargic we started trying to give them some anti-bacterial food.
# Any unusual findings on the fish such as "grains of salt",
Bloody streaks, frayed fins or fungus? Auren had Ick early in December, but we treated it, and he's got no visible ick anymore.

# Any unusual behavior? Yes, he's clearly having a very hard time swimming, he's been on his side almost continuously, he's very lethargic, I think he may have been gilling heavily earlier, but that may have been the stress of moving to the quarantine tank, which we did as easily as possible. Unfortunately, we had to put the sick fish in a bowl, and we plan on doing small, daily water changes. He has a bubbler. He is not bloated, and has no red streaks or irritated gills. He's not eating, but I can't tell if that’s just because he can't find or get to the food, or because he actually has no apatite. He's also the only fish in our tank that who hasn’t been growing like CRAZY. Seriously, all the others have been growing nearly by the week. So, he's been laying on his side, sometimes on the gravel, sometimes about an inch above it. The water in the bowl came from the tank.

Help!! What's wrong with my little Auren, and how do I help him??? 2 of the other fish are fine, but Sun Tzu is starting to seem lethargic now as well!

You need to try and find something bigger than a bowl, like a bucket at least. Unless the bowl is bigger than a bucket..

Can you get the exact numbers of the test results, what it says as Ok, may not really be Ok.
Your tank is overstocked by two fish, so the params are probably not perfect.

Right now I would do a 100% waterchange in the bowl and at least 50% change in the tank.

Unfortunatly, no, i cant! I'm a dead broke social worker, who didnt realize when she offered to rescue a freinds neglected fish how much these little guys cost. I've never been able to afford one of those good water test kits.

I cant belive the tank is overstocked...realy? thats...no good. the fish bodies are smaller than the first two joints of my pinky fingers. Id put him in a bigger container...but i cant find anything I'm certain is clean and chemical-free!

does he realy need a bigger bowl? I just dont know what to get for him... he...realy cant move right now. not from the bowl. from the illness. I realy do watch my water pretty carfully.... is there anything else it could be?

I would take a a wild guess and say your water quality is definately part of the problem.With the tank being set up for several months,and you only changing out 5 gallons every other week,I imagine that your levels of ammonia/nitrite/nitrate,may not be too good right now.Even though your fish are small,goldies do produce a lot of ammonia/waste in the water.Your water could look perfectly clear and yet be deadly.
Those Top fin filter's are not always the best filters either,so although it says it's for 20 gal. tanks,it may not be working enough for you.
If you can't afford the test kits,the major stores do test your water levels for free.If you do that ,just make sure that you have them write all those #'s down so that you can pass them on to us. If you feel that you can't do that either,then your best bet would be to change out at least 50% of the water once a week. Most times if you see a fish begin to act odd,a good water change will help improve their appearance/health almost immediately,unless their behavior has gone on too long and they've gone bacterial or something.
If you do enough water changes,you won't need half the things that you're adding to your tank.
May I ask why you are using a PH neutral conditioner if you don't even know what your ph is.And as for the salt,what kind,how much and how are you using it?
I was wondering too about your water out of the tap,what makes it that you can't use it?

I had been useing the people at PetSmart, and letting them test my water...exept that i could actualy watch them doing it incorrectly. I havent got anyplace else to go get it tested. The strips had always indicated that my water was perfect.... The Ph controller has instrcuctions that its to be used as a preventative measure. I've been useing the salt the way the bag (and a previous forum i was on) reccomended, just a couple teaspoons of aquarium salt. I heard it helps them breath a little easier. I usualy put in a bit less than the bag reccomends for freshwater fish though..all that salt makes me nervouse.

oh, and for my tap water...its incredibly hard, not clear, and actualy has some ammonia out of the tap. Its gross. I'm not happy I even have to drink it, i certainly wouldnt ask anything to breathe it.

Well,the thing with those test strips,is that they're good in a pinch,but not always the most accurate.It also will be hard to know what your params are on a daily basis.When- you test your water makes a difference too(before water changes,after water changes,etc)as to what your readiings are,so if you're water changing for instance,and then you get water tested and it's "okay",you may be getting a false security as to what the tank is really doing all the time.(Making any sense?) Work week and tired,so I hope I'm explaining it clear,
You also have to watch when using salt all the time.It should always be dissolved in a bit of tank water first off,and salt can build up and cause salt creep,as the only way to rid your tank of salt is big water changes . Just an FYI,
I personally wouldn't bother with any PH controller myself.I don't trust most of them,and until you have an actual drop test kit,it's all guesswork kind of right now. Tampering with ph has to be done very cautiously. I would start wit a couple nice size water changes on your tank,with treated and matched temp water and put the sick fish back in there.Normally,I'm all for quarrantining a sick fish,but putting him in a bowl will not do him much good.Are you able to get a Rubbermaid bin? They are usually pretty cheap.You can add airstones and just do daily water changes if you don't have another filter.