New Fish first timer

Question
I recently bought two fish to put in my gallon tank, a small cat-fish looking one, and another fish that I have no idea what it is. Anyway, both about  3-5 inches long. When I first put them in the tank and left them over night, the next morning they were sitting at the bottom of the tank together and not moving. I think I added too much water condioner in the tank, because there was foam at the top of the water. So I changed the water and added less conditioner, about 10 drops. When I added the fish back to the tank, they swam around (normally?) for about 5 hours. Now they're once again sitting at the bottom of the tank together. Are they resting or what? I'm a newbie when it comes to fish care, and I'd really like to not lose these two, due to my limited college budget. Any pointers on what to do?

Answer
Hi Zach;

Oops. If your tank is only a one-gallon, they are suffering from lack of oxygen and waste toxins. A one gallon tank can only support a one-inch fish, and that's if it has a filter and the fish is at it's adult size so it will not grow bigger. Yours are already bigger than that unfortunately. Change all the water every day until you can get another tank for them. The fresh water may keep them alive long enough for you to do that. I would suggest a 10 gallon unless they are types of fish that outgrow it or are aggressive.

It is also very important to know what kind of fish you have. Some fish get to be very large and/or aggressive and the fish store people may not tell you that. Or worse, they may not know enough about them to tell you that. Yikes! Let me know what they are and I can tell you what they need. You might have to visit the store again and look at the labels on the tanks, or ask someone there if they seem knowledgable.

Here is a great site about beginning fishkeeping for you to check out;

http://www.firsttankguide.net/

Followups welcome.....

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins