I've been trying to cure my goldfish for over a year! Any ideas on what to do now?

Back story: In March of 2011, I had 3 goldfish in a 55 gallon tank. By that point they were alive and healthy for about 1 year - 1 year and a half. Due to circumstances with my family and such, I ended up being too exhausted to take care of them properly. I feel bad that I neglected them, but I've learned my lesson and I got myself out of that situation. On to the fish, I had Nemo, Penny, and Lucky. One day I noticed that Nemo was at the surface gasping for air and his gills were very red with something growing on them. I attempted to save him and made the mistake of not keeping my head on straight. In my exhausted state, I convinced myself that he was well enough to go back into the big tank. He seemed a little off, but again I was exhausted and convinced myself that he would be ok. I was wrong and I couldn't save him when the disease relapsed. So I had Penny and Lucky left, both of which seemed doing well, but Penny had a little bit of red on her belly.


Now, both Penny and Lucky are still alive. Like the title says, it's been over a year and a lot of money later, and I still can't seem to cure Penny, yet Lucky has never had any issues. I feel as though I've tried everything and I'm not sure what to do anymore.

Penny is about 5 inches long and I've had her for 3 and a half years. I'll try to get a picture for you guys later. I had her and Lucky in a 20 gallon tank before I moved out of my parents house as it was easier and I was treating both of them. I moved in with my boyfriend in November of 2011, and they've been in a 55 gallon since then.


Over the last year, I have tried to treat Penny with many different medications. I'll try to list as many medications as I can remember.

Medications: Rid Ich, Lifeguard All-In-One Treatment, Aquarium Salt, Maracyn, Maracyn 2 (This one seemed to make it worse so I didn't do the full treatment), and Maracyn Plus


Now all of them have made her symptoms go away, but yet they keep coming back. More recently I've become more concerned because she got pop-eye. I treated with Maracyn Plus in a 10 gallon tank for 6 days. She looked great, until I took her out of the medication and realized that she had red on her. I put her back in the 55 gallon tank and put in stress coat. I'm doing a water change tonight about 50%. I'm concerned because her pop-eye also seems to be coming back and I'm leaving for vacation about this time tomorrow night. I'll be back about this time on Sunday, but I know a lot can happen in 4 days and it's really worrying me . . .


What do I do? I feel like nothing is working!

Oops, ha ha! I knew I'd forget something. I have 5 in the 55 gallon now. Lucky and Penny are both about 5 inches long and the other 3 are about 2 inches, 2 inches, and 1 1/2 inches long.

Keep in mind that I have not done my water change yet tonight. I am waiting on my boyfriend to help me do a 50% change. I am also going to clean out the filters before I leave.

Water Parameters:
Nitrates: 20
Nitrites: 0
PH: 6.0 - 6.5
KH: 20
GH: 160 - 180
Ammonia: .5

I tested the 10 gallon for ammonia right after I took Penny out last night at it was at about 1. I don't know how to medicate without the ammonia building up.

Tap water parameters

Nitrate: About 10
Nitrite: 0
PH: 7
KH: 40-80
GH: 60-120

Our tap water comes from a reservoir. I'm not sure what it's treated with. How can I fix the KH?
Chemicals that I've added recently are Prime and Stress Coat. There might also be some aquarium salt left over in my water.
I did have crushed coral rocks in the bottom, but I took them out about 3 - 4 months ago. There are still a few left in the bottom, but I don't think it's enough to really effect anything.

Oh ok! Thank you so much! Yes, I am using test strips that read in ppm. I didn't realize there was a difference between test strips and other ways of testing. Yeah, I know I'm supposed to change it every week and I usually do, but last week was really rough. I've worked everything out for now though. Yeah, they always seem really excited after I change the water.

What do you suggest that I do before I leave today to make sure that Penny will be ok for the 3 days that I'm gone? I am going to do a 50% water change and clean out both filters. I was considering adding stress coat and feeding peas before I leave. I noted that the peas I gave her while waiting for her meds last week seemed to help reduce the pop-eye a little bit. I just ordered Medigold with Jumpstart and Progold from goldfishconnections.com. Hopefully that comes in soon!