I got a new goldfish and it is acting funny? Please help ASAP?

how big is the tank? stop changing the water. frequent water changing is traumatic to fish. Lots of other factors.

the fish would probably be better off flushed down the toilet.

Thank you for caring for your fish! Um.. goldfish are not disease-prone, BTW-- I have 20 yrs of experience with them to back up mystatement. I am wondering if the ornaments are toxic. Why not take them out, put a few aquarium pebbles carefully on the bottom of the tank (after you have washed them in plain hot water to disinfect them). The pebbles are for orientation so the fish does not freak out in an empty tank (they need to know wher UP and DOWN are). Goldfish are Cold Water fish -- and too-warm water does nothing but help make parasites grow,. You say you Cycle the water - is it a filter? Outside filters are best for goldfish because they are notorious for getting their tanks dirty and this dirt hides behind the inside-the-tank filters and makes a huge mess. Goldfish also need lots of oxygen so you need a gentle airstone and the cycling also needs to be gentle. How big is the tank? If it is a bowl I hope it (or the tank) is covered on top with a mesh screen (stainless steel so nothing toxic leaches into the water). Even a bowl is OK for a goldfish as long as there is a filter and an airstone for it. And when you change the water (the tank should be cleaned at least once a week) only change 1/3 of the water-- no more-- or the shock can easily kill them. Hope this helps! PS-- look up Goldfish Diseases on line-- I had 7 tanks of goldfish at one time. Most of my fish lived to be 5, 6, even 7 yrs old. I had a number of orandas-- they are very cute. Hope your fish gets well.

Without any basic information on how you are taking care of your fish, I cannot give you an answer. ~Tank Size (I'm hoping you have at least 15 Gallons?) ~Filter? (You need a filter rated double the volume of your aquarium.) ~Heater? (You should not have a heater.) ~Water Changes? How much and how often?

As I suggested yesterday - return it Healthy goldfish with proper environments are curious and active - they do not hide or act the way yours is You updated your question about how it's doing but ignored supplying us with details about its tank size, filtration, and if you put the tank through a "proper" nitrogen cycle If you think You're stressed, try to imagine how that fish must be feeling sitting in a tank that's more than likely killing it and it has no control over the situation So I will say it again - return the fish before it dies If you return it now it may have a chance if the store can get it into an appropriate environment ~ Ok,I'm not trying to be rude here but I've been keeping these guys for over 10 years, and I'm telling you there is something very wrong going on with the environment in your tank if it's not curious, active and constantly hungry If you did Not put your tank through a proper nitrogen cycle - meaning as already stated, 4-6 weeks of a source of ammonia until your water parameters are reading perfect, you need to return that fish or it will die - it already is 20g bare minimum for a single oranda with double the filtration and a completely established tank prior to introducing it Be a responsible owner and return that fish so it might have a chance if they can get it into an established environment These guys will get massive and should Easily live over a decade if kept properly Nothing about the behaviour of your fish is normal and I'm guessing its environment is at fault

To be clear, cycling the tank means you ran it for 4-6 weeks while adding a steady source of ammonia, waiting for ammonia and nitrite levels to test at zero, and nitrates preferably under 20ppm. If you did not do this, then the fish could be suffering from ammonia poisoning. If that's the case, perform a partial water change of 25%-50%, and invest in an ammonia test kit, and test frequently and perform partials as needed. Goldfish are coldwater fish. A temperature between 68F-73F is ideal. What kind of goldfish? What size tank? How long has the tank been set up?

Did you cycle your tank? How long did you cycle it for? He could be choking in ammonia. Get a test kit and see what your levels are and see what you can do to stop from killing the fish. And if you do need to cycle your tank properly, please have someone, or the petstore mind your oranda because they're really cute (lol) and no fish should die.

do you have a filter? what are you feeding? you realize gold fish are non tropical fish and they are very dirty disease prone fish. Get a betta instead. Minimum tank size for one gold fish is a 10 gallon tank with a filter and light no heater. Do weekly water changes and feed the gold fish koi fish food. Don't listen to the other people when they say water changes are bad, its not true. I own cichlids and do a water change almost everyday. Remember to have a low temp> for your goldfish they do horrible in warm/hot waters. keep the temp> around 60-65.