I had a fantailed goldfish that lived for 8 years. It's funny how attached you can get to a little fish, especially the longer they live. She only got sick once in all that time - some condition that affected her air bladders and made her too bouyant. When she would try to swim to the bottom the air bladders would pull her right back to the top. She was fine after a few days. I actually shed some tears when she finally died. Good luck with yours.
If you want to get a bigger setup have a look at the Freecycle in your area, people get rid of fish equipment fairly regularly on there.
Aww, sorry. I've got a few goldfish myself (they just hit 3 years old recently!) plus two adorable weather loaches. They're really hardy fish, but sometimes those carnival ones just don't last very long. The last carnival goldfish I had lasted me about a year - I had a friend who kept one for about 6 years, and it got huge.
$250 on one??? How did you know it wasn't a lionhead? I always had trouble doing comparison. Have you tried that trick? The one with the frozen unsalted peas? They say it'll fix the bouyant problem. Reasons why I stay away from fancy types...although so beautiful...
I heard of Freecycle for along time ago and I never went to the site and I thank you for pointing out to me. Thanks for the kind words.
Just wish my wife didn't accept those infected guppies she got from an neighbor and I put them in the same tank. If I did that the Edy would still be alive today. Evy is her fish and Edy was mine and I am getting upset while I am typing this.