FIsh please help.

Question
I went to a birthday party and they gave out gold fish. my sister got one and she got one.my sisters fish kept falling a sleep at the bottom of the tank and breathing heavily.the next day it died. my fish has to dark spots(grayish) on each side near its gill and now it is laying at the bottom of the dank breathing deep.but nows its swimming. it looks like a bruise. i care about my fish very much and i want him to survive. Whats wrong? what should i do ? thanks :) :(

Answer
Hi Stefanie. I'm sorry but i'm sitting here scratching my head in disbelief that someone ACTUALLY gave out fish at a birthday party. I'm sorry Stefanie, but that is the most irresponsible thing I have ever heard of. They condemned most, if not all, of these fish to death. Unbelieveable the ignorance of some people.

A quick lesson is that goldfish need at least a 20 gallon tank PER FISH, with superior filtration because the fish create so much waste. And that waste creates ammonia and ammonia in a fish bowl with no form of filtration KILLS FISH. That is why your sister's died and that is why your is probably going to die. And I'm so sorry to say that, I really am. But that is the reality of it. Goldfish DO NOT belong in "bowls". They need BIG tanks and lots of filtration to live a happy life.  In order for you to save your fish, you are going to need to either get him in to a filtered tank of your own, or find a tank somewhere else to put him in. That is his ONLY chance of surviving. He will not survive in the bowl. No matter what you do, it cannot be done.

Here is an article about goldfish:  http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Goldfish_disease.html  

This webpage has a LOT of information on it so you can see that I'm not telling you lies or "over-reacting" to a situation.  

On top of the ammonia poisoning your fish is bound to be suffering from, it also sounds like he has something called columnaris from poor water conditions. Here is an article about it and how to treat it: http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Columnaris.html

I honestly do not think that your fish at this point is going to be able to pull through. If he is small, which I figure he is, you could probably get away with a 10 gallon tank for the time being, and save for a 20 gallon.

Whatever you do, please please research completely prior to doing it.  This includes any fish you may think of getting.  The ONLY fish that can survive in unfiltered water is a Beta fish, those litte fish that are in the cups at the pet store. Even they need at LEAST a 5 gallon tank.

I wish you luck, and I wish I was able to give you better news.
I hope this will help answer your questions.