I tested for ammonia with a tetra test kit
that's about 5 years old. No ammonia. However, there was a slight reaction
to nitrite, nothing much.

I would expect the tank to cycle very quickly, since it was holding fish for
awhile, even if not many. If there's nitrite now, there probably was an
ammonia spike earlier. So it might well have been water quality problems that
made the fish sick. You've removed one-third of the bio-load (with the death
of one fish), and the tank's biological filter has had a week to adjust. So
the water quality is likely much better now than it was when the first fish
died.

I looked at them with a
magnifying lens and they seem to have a few small white spots so maybe it's
ich. The shop I got them at is not a very good place to buy fish but it is
the only one in my neighborhood. So maybe they came sick although they
looked fine at first.

That could be. Or could be that poor water quality made the fish vulnerable to
ich. Ich is extremely common in cycling tanks. *Any* measurable nitrite is
stressful to fish.

Just FYI...male goldfish sometimes display white spots on their heads and gill
covers. These "breeding stars" mean the fish is ready to mate. Ich, OTOH, is
generally seen on the fins or tail first. I don't think your goldfish would be
displaying breeding stars yet, since they are still very young. But it's a
possibility goldfish keepers should be aware of.


Leigh

http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/halloween/881/