i got 4 goldfish at wall-mart a couple days ago. i changed their water some hours ago and now when i came to check on them they were all at the bottom of the bowl on their sides. i nudged them a little to see if they would move, but they didnt ): how could they have gotten sick so soon?

first of all walmart isn't the best choice of getting pets. and it could be the water you used or where you put them while you were changing the water.

Goldfish kept in bowls cannot be expected to do well by any means. This is because contrary to common belief, bowls are highly inappropriate as a means of housing any fish.

Goldfish kept in bowls will suffer from ammonia burns and poisoning, suffocation, overall stress, stunted growth, and a severely reduced lifespan. pets question and answers,www.5d2d.com
This is because goldfish produce a lot of waste and in a small volume the water quickly becomes stagnant, oxygen depleted, and filled with their toxic waste.

Please return the goldfish. Goldfish require very spacious aquariums with heavy filtration to thrive.

I'm sorry to say, its from being in the bowl.

Goldfish need rather larger aquariums, Atleast 10gallons PER fish. With a proper filter.

When goldfish are kept in a bowl, the ammonia builds up far too quickly. Also, with such a small amount of water the tempature can change rather quickly, and that can kill them as well.

Im sorry about your goldfish I recommend returning them if possible. along with the bowl. If you want a fish in a small tank, I would suggest a Betta, in a small 3-5gallon tank, complete with filter and heater. If its goldfish you want, i suggest in the very least getting a 30gallon tank, and putting 2 goldfish in it.

Please do some reading before getting anymore fish or any pets. Research the nitrogen cycle and fishless cycling.

Because they're in a bowl and suffering from ammonia poisoning. They're so sick so soon because four fish in barely 1 gallon bowl will accumulate waste at an alarming pace. Also... if you changed 100% of the water this is a no no but necessary when you have that many fish that can reach over a foot long in a bowl! Changing 100% of the water is like changing your surrounding every day completely and living your entire life in a bathtub where you have to eat sleep and use the restroom.

Hi,

I have Orandas, and have had this problem before. However, it didn't affect all of my fish at once. It's very important to make sure the water is of an acceptable temperature before putting the fish in. The first fish I had with this problem recovered very well after a few days on his own in a separate tank. The second one however, died. I definitely wouldn't reccommend getting fish from Wal-Mart again, you must get them from a recognised pet shop where they will be able to give you proffessional help when required.

As others have said, gold fish need to be in very large aquariums. No fish should live in a bowl. but especially not gold fish since they get the water dirty very quickly. You should get a large aquarium with an appropriate filter or the fish will die. Even if you can keep them alive for a year or so, they will die eventually because living in such a small container will stunt their growth and kill them, plus too much ammonia is building up.

mayb u shuld get a better tank with a filter