...at the bank holiday 'fun day'...fish was merrily darting around in a plastic bag...no seriously...when I git it home we put it in the bowl in its bag as we were told...stop it, this is serious...and after twenty minutes we set it free into the bowl.

But now it's just sitting there. No darting, or much of anything else. Number 1 son is looking mournfully at it from across the table...so is it just knackered? Resting? Pining for the fjords? What?

It's dead. Don't get attached to it. Been through this about 5 times.

Bugger.

....it's moving if I shake the tank

That is so sad, Evans...have you tried giving it a hug? This is International Hug A Goldfish year after all.

It's looking at me moving its eyes, but not moving otherwise...Gwyn just came over and said 'Daddy, do you know who's going to look after the fishies? ME! I always look after fishies...'

I feel an early morning trip to the pet shop coming on...

The classic goldfish scam. They're bred to live just long enough for you to purchase the bowl and fish food.

Now I'm reading that a goldfish needs at least 10 gallons of water for itself...that can't be right, surely...

This is the post on a board called Answerbag:

Goldfish don't live very long in a Bowl.
1. Not enough air surface in a bowl.
2. No filtration in a bowl.
3. They grow very fast and goldfish need at least 10 gals of water per fish.(goldfish grow to 6")!
4. Goldfish also need light.


Tank
1. You need a good filter.
2. You to have at least 10 to 20 gals of water per fish you plan on keeping.
3. You need to have a big surface area for gas exchange.
4. You need to have a tank with a light. (on for at least 8 hours a day)
5. Make sure that the rocks are either big enough that the goldfish cant pick up or small enough that they cant get them stuck in there throat.
A comment on the size of the tank for Goldfish, Goldfish are very dirty fish. Goldfish dont have a stomach and so they cant digest food like you or I it takes about 5 mins for there food to come out the other end. So when you think of this the waste is right there. So unless you plan on changing the water 10% of it every day. I suggest that you have a 10 gal tank for one goldfish Hope this helps.

F...I mean blinking heck... that sounds like a lot of b...othering about for one fish...

Another bank holiday?!?! Just how many bank holidays do you British types have every year?

Dip in milk and egg, roll gently in corn meal, drop in deep fryer until golden brown.

It does get ridiculous this time of year

Fish is alive and (as far as I can tell ) thriving this morning...Gwyn's not bothered - after feeding him (it?) this morning, he has forgotten all about his 'fishie'...

...I can sense that you don't really care do you...?

We don't want to get attached. That fish is a dead fish swimming.

Get him a proper tank and some friends!

When he goes, replace him with a Siamese Fighting Fish! They're just all around cooler than a goldfish. We got one a couple of months ago and named him Imperius Rex. The kids love him. He'll go into fighting mode if you put a mirror up to the tank. You just can't put another fish in there, because he'll eat it.

Fish are a pain in the ass. I had a tank for years and finally got tired of the hassle. Every time I think about setting the tank back up, I catch myself and remember all of the water changes and money spent on filters/food/pumps/lights/water treatment/heaters/etc. for half a dozen fish. FISH for crying out loud! I say feed the goldfish to your cat and be done with it.

Water temperature will make them sluggish.

Do they like it warm or cold?

....what am I doing?

Don't know. I just know that fish respond to water temperature. I had two red eared slider turtles for a long time and when I first put them into a new tank, they just sat there and didn't do anything. It was winter, so the water temperature was pretty low. After some frantic reading on the InterNet I found out I needed a tank heater. When the water came up to temperature they were fine.

Tap water is pretty cold, but heating it too much will cook them.

I hope you didn't get stuck with a Jerry O'Connell