What can I do to help my goldfish?

Is your tank large enough? I had goldfish as a child and several of them died. We learned that the container was too small, leaving them with insufficient oxygen.

Goldfish are really nasty and they make the water poopy real quick so you might need to do a water change. That’s where I would start.

Take a sample of the water to a real pet store (not a place in the mall) to have it tested. It only takes a few minutes and most places will do it for free.

I’ll try this again. Try dropping some peas into the water. The fish may be plugged up and peas may help clean him out, if he can eat them.

Hows that?

Was the plant dead forr a while before you took it out? It may have started decomposing and put some nasty chemicals in the water in the process. Maybe changing the water a bit more frequently for a bit will help.

Changing the water too often won’t help because it’s a stress for the fish .
I don’t think the plant left chemicals behind or the fish would have acted different from before taking it away .
Consider the idea of getting a larger tank too .

[ or just be ready to buy other fish as a last resort ]

Thanks everyone!, The tank is 5 gallons and the fish is about 1 and a bit inches long. The plant was there for about 3 days because I wasn’t sure if it had died. So yes, the plant was kept in the tank while it somewhat decayed.

I think a 20 gal would be best. I always tend to over filter/ circulate my tanks. Like, in my 10 gal I have a filter suitable for a 20. In my 55 gal it has two filters capable of handling 60 each but oscars are living there (sort of dirty fish). It’s the extra margin of protection that can’t hurt.