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Yeah, your totally right. The goldfish died last night and now the Molly has completely taken over the tank. Its been chasing the Platy around if it even gets a glimpse of the Platy. We're thinking that we probably won't keep the Molly, at least my son won't, because he found it trying to eat/suck on the dead goldfish. We'll probably go back to Petco and buy a 50 gallon tank, and some more assorted Platies. Do you think I might be able to put some Clownfish, Angelfish, or Female Siamese Fighting Fish(Yes, I'm trying to sound like a fish expert) in there with 'em. Thanks a ton.
Sincerely,
Alex
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The text above is a follow-up to ...

-----Question-----
Okay,
Two days ago my son rescued a Goldfish which had been out of water for a minute or so. It was still alive and he left it in the hands of a teacher. The teacher gave him the fish the day after(yesterday) and my son brought it home alive in a bottle of water. It was in the bottle for close to 7 hours. We went to Petco and purchased a 2-gallon tank with a filter, some rocks, goldfish food, and a couple plants/underwater hideouts. We rinsed everything down and installed everything correctly. We went to sleep without having the fish eat any food yesterday and when my son woke up he said that he could tell that fish hadn't eaten. The fish hadn't left the bottom of the tank either. This morning the fish was still droopy and almost acting depressed. This afternoon we thought the fish might be lonely so we went out and bought two fish, a Dalmatian Molly, and a Black-tailed Platy. The Platy has been nothing but friendly towards the goldfish while the Molly seemed nice at first but then quickly became territorial and started its habit of nipping at the other fish. The goldfish has still not eaten anything; The Platy has taken advantage of this and eaten quite a bit at the top and what the Platy has not eaten the Molly has. The goldfish has been swimming at the top now but has just swam right past the food.
What can I do about the goldfish?
Is the tank overcrowded?
What should I do about the Dalmatian Molly?
Can I take out the Molly and leave it in a bowl overnight?
Is the tank big enough for the goldfish and the Platy?

Please say anything that you think about this.

Thanks Alex
-----Answer-----
Hi Alex
That was good of your son to rescue the fish!!
The goldfish may have been injured when he was out of water.  Being kept in the bottle for 7 hours wasn't good for him either.  He could just be all around stressed out from all the moving and such.  

Now the bad part....goldfish really should have at least 15-20 gallons per goldfish.  They do grow quite large, 8+ inches.  So, yes your tank is overstocked.  And really, once you factor in the substrate/gravel, hide outs, and rocks, your 2 gallon tank is probably more like 1-1 1/2 gallons.  The problem with those small tanks, there's really not much you can put in there.  A betta, with a few ghost shrimp would be great!  

It's also recommended to not mix community/tropical fish with goldfish.  Goldfish generally put out a lot more ammonia naturally through their respiration and their waste.  And, they're a cool water fish, though some tropicals can handle temps around 75 F, they do best at a higher temp, and goldies do best at around 70 F.  

Now, you're going to have another problem here soon as well.  You're tank hasn't gone through the cycle process.  And due to the small size, I don't think the fish will survive it.  I'm going to post a link here for information on cycling a fish tank, has some other article about ammonia and nitrite poisoning as well.  Read through all of them.

http://freshaquarium.about.com/od/startupcycle/Step_5_The_Cycle.htm

My advice would be to take back the platy and molly for now.  See if you can take back the 2 gallon tank as well(if Petco helped you out in any way to purchase this, and KNEW you were putting a goldfish in there, I'd fight for them to take the smaller tank back.  They know better then to put a goldie in that small of a tank).  Buy at least a 10 gallon, 20 would be much better though, but 10 minimum.  Put the goldfish in the new tank.  Then you'll have to go through the cycle process as explained in the link.  Goldfish are generally good fish to use for cycling, but yours may be too stressed out and may not make it.  A larger tank is much easier to care for then those smaller ones.  There's more water to dilute the toxins(ammonia, nitrite, and nitrates).  If you do go this route, also pick up some aquarium salt(not marine salt).  Dose at 1 tablespoon per 5 US gallons.  This will aid the fish in his respirations, especially while the tank is cycling.  It's also supposed to help add electrolytes(sp), and help with some disease cures.  

This is probably too late for you, but you can remove the molly if it's that bad.  But, I'd be sure to return him within the day or so.  The bowl won't be ideal for him.  He may be picking on the goldfish because he knows it isn't well.  As for the goldfish and platy combo, as I mentioned above, really not a good choice.

Hope this helps, and let me know what you end up doing.  I can help a little more if you go with the larger tank, and give some advice on cleanings and such.  

Good luck to you and your son on this!!(and the goldie)

Christy

Answer
Hey Alex
Sorry about the goldfish, but at least you tried.  I'm sure you'll be a fish expert pretty quick if you're going to upgrade lol!!!  A 50 or 55 gal is great!  The bigger you can go on a tank, the better it is.  You still have to do regular maintenance on it, but it's just easier.   Be sure  to read that link I posted about cycling a fish tank!  There's 2 ways you can do it, one with fish and one without.  Figure which will work best for you.

Probably a good idea to take the molly back.  They're usually not aggressive, I'm wondering if you got a male molly and female platy, and that's why he's being a big pain.  As far as the molly eating the dead goldfish, that's actually normal for fish.  It's not good for them, especially if the dead fish died from a parasite or disease.  

To keep the remaining platy in the 2 gallon till the bigger tank is ready, you'll to watch the water parameters (as mentioned in that link about the cycling).  It's a smaller tank, so the levels can get toxic a lot quicker.  I'd do small water changes on it every few days.  Also be sure to use a dechlorinator if you use tap water.

When the bigger tank is up and fully cycled, and has fish in it, get into a good habit of doing regular weekly water changes of about 20-25%.  Pick up one of those syphons, and vaccuum the gravel while doing that.  There's also a product called a Python, hooks up to a sink and uses the suction to suck the water out, flip the switch, fills it back up-so no buckets.  Those weekly water changes will be a good for keeping the water quality pristine, and help prevent a lot of diseases and problems.  

The fish you mentioned, clownfish are salt water.  One or two angelfish might be ok, but they can be nippy with other fish, and may become territorial if they end up being a breeding pair.  The female bettas are usually great additions.  I have 2 in my community tank.  I've heard stories that they're not good to mix with gouramis, but I also have a gourami in with mine.  So, it may just be a "personality" thing with the gouramis.  If you do mix them, just keep an eye on them.  Any of the community /tropical mix would be great.  I love big community tanks, they're usually very active.  A few other suggestions, get about 4-6 small cory cats to clean the bottom.  Try and get the same colored ones, they love to be in groups of at least 3, and prefer their own "kind"/color types.  I'd also recommend, after the tanks been established for awhile, and starts showing some algae growth, get a small pleco like a rubber lip or bristlenose pleco(algae eater).  They only grow about 4-6 inches unlike the common ones that grow 2 feet.  I don't necessarily agree with this rule, I think it can only be applied to smaller community fish, but 1 inch of the ADULT size fish per gallon.  Just follow those guidelines for stocking.  

One other suggestion, if you're buying a complete tank setup, filter, lights, etc.  Buy another filter for the tank.  I run 2 filters on all my tanks over 20 gallons.  My larger tanks (granted they're cichlids in them) I run a hob(hang on the back) filter and a cannister filter.  But if you're just going with a community tank, 2 hobs would be fine.  You'll basically want a minimum of 550 gallons per hour output on a filter.  But, it's better to go higher then the minimum.  I usually double the output.  You can't overfilter.  

I believe that link for the cycling also has info on starting a new tank as well as things needed.  But if you have any more questions along the way, please ask!  Glad to help out!!

Good luck!!
Christy