I hope you don't mind helping a complete fish newbie. My son has been wanting a pet for awhile and we were considering goldfish. Yesterday I won a goldfish as a prize in a contest (don't really think that's fair to the fish, BTW!) and now I am scrambling to help him.

He came in a very small bowl---maybe 4 inches in diameter? I figured he'd need something larger quickly or he'd suffocate. I decided to move him to a larger container overnight, and was planning to get a suitable tank and filter within the next few days. He's in a plastic bowl, maybe 9 inches across. It's been used for food before. I rinsed it very well to try to get any soap residue out. I also used some water conditioner (Chlor Out by Wardley) to get rid of the chlorine. There were some rocks in the bottom of the bowl, which I transferred along witht the water in his bowl. I had to add a good bit of new water, though, since the new bowl was much larger. Also we fed him some flakes (Wardley Premium Goldfish Flakes) last night.

Yesterday he was swimming around, but today he's hovering in the tank. He's moving his gills regulary and flapping his fins occasionally, but otherwise not much. He ate the fish flakes last night, but has shown no interest in the food I put in this morning. I also noticed his body looks a bit swollen near the base of his tail, and looks a bit like the pictures I've seen on here of a fish with constipation. I don't remember seeing him poop since I got him.

I haven't done anything to test the water and don't know anything about the water that comes out of our tap.

I'll keep browsing the forum, but does anyone have any tips on how I can help this little guy quickly? I'm pretty ignorant about fish and don't have a lot of money to spend, but I want to do the best I can for him. I also have a 7 year old who will be very disappointed if the fish doesn't make it.

Thanks!

Hello and welcome, dont' feel bad about not knowing. That is how most of us end up here.

The first thing you need to do is get him a tank, filter, airstone and pump. Tests for ammonia, nitrites, nitrates and PH. Also GH and KH are beneficial.
You already have a water conditioner so that is very good.

Comet or common gf, which you have, need 20 gals of water each to live in and be healthy. This is a lot of water I know, but necessary.
Gf produce a very heavy waste load that makes the water toxic to them. This can make them sick and even kill them in a very short time if left too.
We can go more into that at a later time.

Hopefully you will be able to provide this for him.
(other gf, fancy varieties need 10 gals each, they are smaller).

In the meantime I wouldn't feed him anything for a day. Fasting for gf is a good thing, it helps to keep them from getting constipated.
GF will eat until they burst.......such little pigs.

Until you are able to get the tank, you must change the water twice a day. This is a lot and usually not recommended but if he is in less than a gal of water the toxins can kill him within a day or so.
Whenever you change water, temp match so there isn't a difference in the bowl water and the water you are changing. Also using your water conditioner.
Now this is very stressful for the fish but necessary at this point, so he can get sick from stress. The sooner you can get the tank the better.

After the fasting day only give him a couple flakes of food a day. Make sure you soak them in his bowl or tank water for a minute or so first. This helps with digestion.

Well that is alot of info for now, I will go into more later. Don't want to overwhelm you too much...................welcome again.

Thanks for your reply.

Sad to say, I just checked on the little guy and it appears he's no longer with us.

I don't know if it's something I did or if he was doomed when we got him. He was swimming around yesterday, although he did seem to be crashing into the side of the bowl a lot--not sure if that means anything. Maybe I did something wrong when I moved him, but I'm not sure he would have lasted overnight in that tiny bowl. I may have mistakenly added too much water conditioner. He never did poop that I saw.

I feel bad. I certainly wouldn't have gotten a fish (or any other pet) on purpose while feeling so unprepared....I wonder if any of the other fish they gave out in this office contest will be around come Monday morning. If we get another fish, I will be sure to have a good tank set up in advance!

Aww, what a bad start to fishkeeping you had.
Don't let it put you off though. Keep reading here and you'll be fully prepared if you do decide to keep fish again.

I am sorry to hear he didn't make it.
Chances are you didn't do anything. The conditions that "carvinal" fish live in before you ever get them home is enough to kill them quickly.

I hope that you consider another gf, kept in right conditions of course. They can be very cool to have around. We all who love our gf call them the "puppies of the ponds". They have distinct personalities than other fish.

Thanks for the encouragement. I would like to try again to keep goldfish when I get a chance to prepare for it.

When we were kids, we used to keep them in fishbowls, and of course they didn't do too well. My brother finally got a tank set up with the right equipment and had fish that lived for years.

Thanks again! I'll be back!