Why is my poor goldfish acting this way?

Those goldfish are what they call "feeders". They are shipped in and sold cheap to be fed to larger fish. They are full of disease and parasites. I hope you didn't put him in a tank with other fish......

i had this same issue with my goldfish. goldfish are mass ammonia producers. in other words, they pee A LOT. you need at least a 10 gallon tank for one gold fish, or else they can and will die. goldfish get huge, and can live up to 13+ years. these fish will get big and need space to grow. a goldfish in a small tank will grow on the inside but not on the outside, in other words, explode. also, they need a large tank to spread out the ammonia. next, he could be stressed. my fish had a small empty tank; nothing but pebbles and a rock in it. he would shove himself at a bottom corner and pace around over and over again. i then added in a few plants and he seemed much happier. fish feel unhappy and scared without plants to hide in. after that, i got a 10 gallon, open holed pirate ship, spongebob pineapple, and plentiful plants. (to get the tank i had to take the two huge goldfish and 3 catfish along with it) at the moment i have 3 goldfish, 3 catfish, and 1 sucker fish. they're all very happy with their decorations. i am looking to get rid of the two big gold fish, however. per goldfish, you need another 10 gallons. so i should really about 30 gallons. you can't go wrong with plants and toys!

Get another gold fish or two, he's probably just lonely.(:

Find him some company or a bigger tank the goldfish is lonely probably :)