White spots and water issues

Question

Goldfish   I have 2 fish, 1 large fancy goldfish and one algae eater. They are in a 30 gallon tank. My goldfish has white spots only on his fins and some bumps on his dorsal fin. We have done the ick treatment as well as treating him for bacterial infection. They are still there, not spreading but not getting better either.

We also have been struggling with the water chemistry. It fluctuates every day. These problems have been going on for months. For the last several weeks the goldfish mostly sits on the bottom and the algae eater mostly hides in the plant.

We have a test kit and test it regularly. We were told to do water changes every day because the ammonia was 4.0. That threw off the nitrites and nitrates and the pH. So now we are doing water changes every couple of weeks, putting Prime in, putting in potassium bicarbonate to keep the pH in range. We also are using some bacteria to process the crap in the bottom under the gravel.

We have two other fish tanks, one in an aquaponic system, and a pond with a koi and a goldfish (and 3 new babies, I know, crazy!)

One day the chemistry in the 30 gallon tank is kinda ok, other days it is really off. I feel so bad for the fish. They are completely miserable. And I worry about the white spots on the goldfish.

Help!

Answer
Gail,
I am going to toss a few things out there and see if any will work for you.
Tank should not have a heater, GF do well in cool water. The white bumps are not ich as
if it were the whole fish would be covered with salt like spots. The reason your ammonia is high is because who ever told you to do everyday water changes was wrong. The tank will never complete the nitrogen cycle if you do that. Those water changes are like adding gas to a fire.
Cease the PH adjustment as unless you alter the water at a molecular level it will not stay where you put it. Buffers get used up. Goldfish will do fine anywhere from the 7.0-8.0 area. Ph is not, unless at the extreme of either direction a deal breaker here. Test your tap water and see what the ph is at the source.
Don;t overfeed, give your tank approx 7-10 days to cycle. It will spike in ammonia, drop, then spike again and drop and your there. 5gals is the max you should change in your tank unless you are in critical conditon. Your algae eater will go hungry unless you feed him pellets or the like after the lights go out. Goldfish being carp are veggie eaters. Give them some baby frozen peas now and then, helps with swim bladder issues as well.
If your tap is in the range of the ph leave it alone and as you water change the ph will balance out. If you have a softener, use the spigot ahead of the unit to get your water.
Also in a 36gal tank I would add around 5 tblsp of sea salt, not table salt to the water. Then, doing 5 gal water change I would add 1 tblsp to the 5 gals to replace what was removed. Salts are heavier than water and do not evaporate. GF, mollies, guppies, swordtails and many others like a bit of salt in the water, also acts as a preventitive.
Hope this helps and Good Luck with your Aquarium.