It's likely that the fish-in cycling process will have accounted for what is / might be whitespot. eSHa Exit is a good treatment for this condition (and, if it comes to it, can also be used in conjunction with eSHa 2000 for finrot/fungus).

Try to keep tank water nitrates <20 (and keep ammonia and nitrite at 0) once the treatment course is complete (assuming that you've started it). A heavily planted tank, which is largely a jungle of plants and a few fish dotted here and there, could keep nitrates very low (especially as your tap water is zero). Therefore, keeping nitrates below 20 should be very do-able once the cycling is complete.

Best of luck, and let us know if the treatment solves the problem.

To help us get the fuller context and thereby help you further, we need to know:
* size of tank, and when the tank was set up, cycled and how it was cycled, make/brand of filter;
* inhabitants (incl number of each species), and when each were added;
* actual readings for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and PH in recent weeks, pre- and post- water changes;
* water change maintenance regime;
* GH and KH and/or CaCO3 and German degrees hardness readings for your postcode from your water supplier website;
* how you set up the filter in the hospital tank, and whether you treated her with medication and what (if so).
Thanks.

Sorry that I wasn't able to reply yesterday.

Can I just check if that's your tap water or your tank water that those liquid-based test kit results are for?

If it's for tap water, then great that your nitrates are at 0 - that ought to mean that you'll be able to keep tank water nitrates at 20 or less, but may need to adjust the volume and frequency of water changes to be able to achieve that and nitrites and ammonia at 0 each time.

I think if you can maintain tank water at 0 for ammonia and nitrite and <20 for nitrates, the tank and its inhabitants will take care of themselves. Don't consider buying any more fish until you've managed to keep these levels stable for several months.

As for the PH, is the liquid-based test kit showing the same results for tapwater and tankwater? Test now but also test the tapwater again after you've let a tube of tapwater stand for 24+ hours - sometimes water suppliers buffer the PH so a true reading will occur after 24+ hours.

A few thoughts/musings:
* PH seems on the low side, and lower pre- water change [2 issues/possibilities here: test strips inaccurate - my PH is the same as yours but test strips always give a similar reading to yours, whereas liquid tests give the same reading as water supplier; if KH and water hardness were much lower, that might account for PH dropping over the course of the week pre- water change; on balance, given your KH and water hardness, more likely that test strips are inaccurate];
* KH and GH, but more importantly your water supplier's water hardness result [2 issues/possibilities here: test strips inaccurate; no difference pre- and post- water change suggest that water-correction gravel not doing anything (*if* the test strips are accurate but unknown without more accurate liquid-based ones - my test strips don't give accurate readings for water hardness) BUT unsure why you were advised to use this as water hardness is not low, although possibly if KH had dropped vastly in the past when tank neglected];

Advice:
* monitor ammonia, nitrite and nitrate during week - nitrite and nitrate should always be at 0, and nitrates no more than 20 above tap water nitrate levels (worth measuring that to find out), therefore do an extra water change as soon as levels start to rise above those;
* either do more frequent or larger water changes - safe/better to do up to 50% 1-2x per week (or even more frequently if need be).

I haven't cross-checked all your fish against water hardness requirement range but, as your water doesn't seem to be *too* hard (cf previous comment though re KH/GH test strip results), wouldn't think this is the problem. Also haven't checked stocking levels but it's *possible* these were too high for size of tank. Will try to get back to you tomorrow on these aspects.

In order to help us to help you better, can you tell us what your PH and water hardness is:
* according to your water/utility supplier's website? [If you live in the UK, input your postcode and find out the PH, CaCO3 and German degrees hardness levels];
* what your PH, KH and GH levels are from your tank immediately pre- weekly water change and immediately post- weekly water change.

What is the brand/name of the gravel specifically?

What are your ammonia, nitrite and nitrates readings immediately pre- weekly water changes?

Thanks.

How did you cycle your tank and how long did it take? The 0 reading for ammonia and nitrite is good, but the 0 reading for nitrates makes me wonder if your tank isn't properly cycled; what is your tap water reading for nitrates?

Welcome!

What size of tank have you got / are you planning to get? If you haven't got it already, opt for the biggest you can fit in / afford, to avoid later regrets.

If you've not kept fish before, or haven't for a long time, then this section https://www.fishkeeping.co.uk/beginners_articles/ may be helpful as well as this https://www.fishkeeping.co.uk/articles ... hless-cycling-article.htm

Any thoughts on proposed fish? We can help with advice on that once we know what size of tank you have.

A few points worth bearing in mind:
* re time/energy: the larger the tank, the less time-consuming they are to keep - water quality is less likely to fluctuate and weekly rather than daily water changes usually suffice;
* re £: it's possible to get second-hand tanks via aquarist-classifieds.co.uk, preloved.co.uk, freegle/freecycle for considerably cheaper than from new or indeed free-of-charge, and new tanks on sale via LFSs;
* rehoming is definitely something worth considering (esp as you mention lack of time/energy) - aquarist-classifieds likely the best option for finding a suitable/responsible fishkeeper - but might take some time to identify, and not something that's going to be feasible during the current pandemic's lockdown, so best to have your own measure in place in the intervening months (eg via a Really Useful Box or larger tank as previously described).

Hope that helps.

As you've correctly gathered, your (daughter's) goldfish is definitely in need of a bigger tank.

These articles probably explain the situation best:
https://www.fishkeeping.co.uk/articles ... -size-life-expectancy.htm
http://injaf.org/aquarium-fish/the-go ... t-size-tank-for-goldfish/
Bigger and more frequent water changes will help improve water quality but certainly won't address all the issues.

The following caresheet might also be helpful for the minimum sized tank a goldfish requires:
https://www.fishkeeping.co.uk/modules/ ... esheet.php?caresheetID=83

Take a look at https://www.completeaquatics.co.uk/aqu ... uarium-tanks-and-cabinets and, on the LHS, you can choose aquariums by size - start with the 151-250L but also take a look at the larger ones, and you might see a brand and size that "fits the bill". An interim measure is the 145L Really Useful Box which would certainly be a better sized option than what you have currently.

Hope that helps. :)

I think I'm best to defer your stocking queries to someone else who may have more experience in those particular fish. However, you may find the various profiles in the following helpful about each species' requirements and compatability:
https://www.fishkeeping.co.uk/modules/ ... aresheets.php?cat=Cichlid https://www.seriouslyfish.com/group/cichlids
https://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/

In terms of cycling, you may find this article helpful https://www.fishkeeping.co.uk/articles ... hless-cycling-article.htm - a fishless cycle is much more ethical, less cruel, and means you can fully stock the tank immediately once it's complete. By the time the tank has cycled, hopefully we'll be in a better position to know how the land lies in terms of whether you can go out to purchase fish at that stage - use this time to refine your stocking suggestions.

You might also want to have a play around with some aquarium stocking calculators - you can find these via an internet search.