I did read Hanna's message and the thread.

I have two mature common but special goldfish. Picture is attached Oh shoot, I mispelled her name again.... It's Spenser.

That's not important and I think the fish are all right, but I don't know and Spenser in particular is stressed. Both are beat up. I am not an expert but I just think big fish in a tank is different than little ones. I should also note that Spenser has about a small cm triangle on top of her head that is scraped. It was dangling yesterday. It's gone today. Hawk probably did what he does best.

My details:

       2/9/2011
PH           8.4
Am           0.0
nitrite   0.0
nitrate   5.0

I using the API freshwater kit.

55 gallons, emperor 400, no extra aeration, temperature ranges from 65 to 70 degrees in tank. I have added 25 ml of melafix after shaking well (what's up with that?)

On 2/6 I did a 35% water change. A month ago I had done a 50%. My numbers changed, but that was due to maintenance. I keep going back to Hanna's list. On my 2/6 water change I added 20ml of Start Right Allantoin. It's a water conditioner.

For sure a  month ago, pretty sure 2 weeks ago my aquarium was goldfish heaven. Now there is one thing that I may have done wrong. When I changed the water on 2/6 I was kind of rough. (I plead mercy. A cold.) I actually thought they would like the 3 day waited water at 62 degrees pitched in by the bucket. It wasn't that vicious. I just could have done it better and slower.

So, please, any ideas would be much appreciated. I have no plans to do anything right now. OK. That's it. Thanks. Tim aka trft

what do you mean by you were kind of rough when you changed the water?

I'd do a water change, and add water conditioner. It's a waste of time to have your buckets stand around!!
Just add water conditioner to the new water and pour it into the tank.
If you want to, it could be a good idea to treat the tank with some salt. That helps most things quite easy
Buy medical aquarium salt and mix it in a bucket of tank water according to the instructions on the package.

Thanks to everyone for their posts. I will have to look into the fill the big bucket and add appropriate chemicals. Make life a little easier. At to the question "how rough" was the water change, thank you in particular. But I don't know the answer. Usually I siphon and vacuum. My two gold fish always appear visibly scared while doing this. After the water is out I have my ready water and fill up a small bucket that I can manage by hand and pour it in. This time I dumped it in. And the difference between pouring and dumping is what I'm calling rough.

Anyway, my Hawk and Spenser look good. No stress. Eating well. And the tank looks like the fish are happy with what they have. Therefore I am happy.

Thanks, Tim