Having fish is harder than it looks

Goldfish. My roommate and I decided to have pet fish this year -- a choice we didn't realize would be so difficult. Just put some fish in a tank of water and feed them, right? \nWrong. Apparently that is reserved only for fishbowls such as the ones we had as children. \nMy roommate and I went straight to the big leagues with your basic 10-gallon starter tank. We had no idea what it was going to take to get this thing started.\nMy head is still swimming with all these things we had to purchase -- water purifiers, a filter, an oxygen pump and something called stress coat. (Stress coat apparently calms the fish and repairs them when they get damaged.) On the list of needed materials, one thing threw me for a loop -- water purifiers. Purify the water for fish? The water can't be that bad if I'm drinking it, right?\nNow we had to decide on the fish. If you've ever picked out fish, you know if goes beyond finding which fish look cool. First, you have to decide if you want a fresh or salt water tank. Then, you have to decide if you want aggressive, semi-aggressive, non-aggressive or docile fish. Who would have known there were this many decisions? My roommate and I realized we were in over our heads, but we bought our fish.\nEverything was set. The fish were in the tank, and we were happy. My roommate and I came up with a feeding schedule. He would feed and I would watch. It wasn't until a few weeks later I realized the fish would get excited when he came to the tank, but did nothing when I did. How would I have known they would resent me for never feeding them? The thought bothered me, but I let it go.\nFor three weeks, our tank looked great. The fish were happy. We were happy. There was nothing more we could ask for. \nThen, a mutual friend wanted to purchase a fish to put in our tank. The fish was cool and everything seemed to go great for about a week. Then we noticed a problem with our new friend. It began to look sick, and in a few days, it died. That was when the chaos began. Two more fish died later that night. A few days later a fourth fish died and one of our healthier fish was beginning to look sick. Our tank, once full of life, now seemed to be a harbor of death. We were dumfounded. What were we to do? We had no clue what could have killed the fish. We thought there might be something in the water. \nWe decided to buy a fishbowl for our healthy fish until we figured out what was killing them. But our good intentions turned fatal. After filling the fish bowl with water, we let it sit out for about two and a half hours to get it to room temperature. One by one we moved the fish into the bowl. I noticed a few fish seemed motionless, and my roommate felt the temperature of the water in the bowl and realized there was a difference between it and the tank temperature. One by one we hurried to put them back into the tank. All but one survived. The death toll was now five.\nDespite all that has happened, my roommate and I aren't going to give up. We are not going to let the incident get the best of us. Eventually, we'll find out what is killing our fish and restock our tank. If anyone ever tells you having fish is easy, remember it isn't as easy as you might think.