I was just given a red capped oranda that seems verry ill

Question
I got Fat Louie a red capped oranda yesterday.  My friend who gave him to me said he swims head down all the time and has for the past few months.  When I brought him home I cleaned his tank and added a water treatment tablet to the water and put him back in.  This morning I found him laying on his side on the bottom of the tank and other than moving from one side of the tank to the other has not moved all day. What might be wrong with him ?  And is there anything I can do because the poor thing looks absolutely miserable?  I would greatly appreciate a response soon.  I'm afraid he's going to die and I'm already attached to him.

Answer
It may be shock from completely different water. Check the temperature: it should be between 68 and 75 F. Also buy water test kits and test nitrite, ammonia and pH. The Nitrite and ammonia should be 0.0, but as your tank has not cycled, I doubt it will be 0.0. Do plenty of 30 percent water changes to get it down. Also your pH should be between 6.6 and 7.4. If the tank is under 20 gallons he will not grow properly, as goldfish, especially the large, fancy varieties such as Orandas need a lot of space to thrive. They also need good filtration, as they are very messy fish.