I got rid of the smelly problem but now the water in the aquarium begins to turn murky 2 days after I make my weekly clean. I have no gravel, just flat rounded glass on the bottom, two synthetic plants and a synthetic coral. I pick up whatever left over food (very little since I have goldfish) from the bottom as well as poop, more than twice a day. In fact I am pretty vigilant with the debris removal. I've tested the water pH, nitrate, nitrite, ammonia and everything registers fine. I had a soap stone in there and thought it might be the talc in the soap stone seeping out so I removed it when I did my last water change. I have an Aqua Clear filter for a 30 gallon tank. I can't believe my 10 gallon tank is too small for the 4 pearlscales as they are not even 3" long. Suggestions anyone?

The soap stone could have contributed to the cloudy water. It may take a while to remove its effect. Cloudy white water is normally due to either just dirty water (not in your case) or a bacterial bloom (maybe in your case). Four 3" goldfish in a 10 gallon tank is getting close to being too much load for the tank. You might want to add new gravel back to the tank. If it's a bacterial bloom, those bacteria could grow on the gravel instead of free in the water. Even without an undergravel filter, the gravel helps with biological filtration as long as you gravel vacuum it weekly. Does the tank get any direct sunlight? If so, that can help not only suspended algae grow but also certain kinds of bacteria. The good bacteria though prefer the dark so adding light could kill some of them. At the same time, if they are causing the murky water, you don't want to kill them but find a place for them to grow like in the filter or gravel. I'm not sure what kind of biological component your filter has but you can add some more things to it to improve that.

Thanks Robyn, your imput is valuable to a newbie like me.

I know I'll need to get a larger tank. It seems as though the murkiness has not gotten worst since I took the soap stone out. Wow, keeping goldfish happy almost requires a chemistry degree! I have to say my goldies seem very happy.

I have a Masters degree in chemistry, and trust me, it's doesn't provide me with enough information to help my fish half of the time.