I still feel horrible about the goldfish we had who died because nobody told us how to treat swim bladder syndrome.

We could have saved him. This was way pre internet.

That said, we did pretty well with our fish, we even had a fair prize fish who lived a decent length of time. They turned white very quickly, which always struck me as weird.

(Our other goldfish stayed their vibrant color, so it wasn't light deprivation or diet. I assume it was genetics, although I suppose it could have been stress from spending time in a bag. We changed their name to Silver and appreciated their whiteness).

Our fish got to spend the summer in the pond in the garden, then we brought them in to a suitably sized tank for the winter...which I know now probably wasn't actually needed. We filled the tank from the rain barrel, so they had no exposure to tank chlorine.

But I still feel bad about Goldie. (What? He was named by me when I was like five. We had Gold, Silver, Bronze, and Medal)