Oops, looking at your last response I realized there are a few more things I should address...
DO NOT let your new tank go three weeks before you do a gravel cleaning and a water change...you'll have so much waste and ammonia built up in the tank, you'll probably be signing your fish's death certificate. You'll need to do it more often than that--ESPECIALLY in a new, uncycled tank.
When cleaning your tank decorations, the glass, etc...do NOT use harsh chemicals...no dish soap, no windex, etc...A rinse in warm water is usually sufficient. Again, there isn't much reason to go all out and clean everything--especially all at once.
If you have to take your fish out of the tank (for whatever reason)...fill a bowl, bucket, etc with water FROM YOUR TANK--then you can put your fish in that container. DO NOT put him in tap water, or directly into fresh/treated water. It'll shock him, and it's NOT healthy. Only use water he's used to, from the tank he lives in.
DO NOT put him in the sink, either. The kitchen sink is usually the dirtyest surface in your home--usually even worse than the toilet! Putting a fish in your sink could cause him to contract so creepy disease or infection.
As for foods...he'll be fine using goldfish pellets and the OCCASIONAL piece of lettuce (once a week, or less often).
I have goldfish pellets, goldfish flakes, freeze-dried bloodworms, algae wafers, and occasionally a veggie treat for my goldfish.
They get the floating pellets the most, almost every day. Once or twice a week I'll substitue the pellets with flakes--they love flakes! Everything else I use as a treat.
I give each tank 1 agae wafer a week. It seems like only a few of them like the agae wafers...some of them won't have anything to do with them, others love the wafers. They get bloodworms once or twice a month--they eat them, but aren't crazy for them. They get a fresh veggie treat maybe twice a month.
I feed my goldies twice a day...but not much at each feeding. They are pretty big (5-7" in length) so they can eat a lot. In your case, feeding once a day is plenty--again, probably just one pellet...you don't want uneaten food rotting in your tank.
Did the store teach you how to acclimate fish?
You don't just take your new fish and toss him in the tank, you have to get him used to your water. There are a lot of ways to do this, but basically...
Your new fish comes in a back full of fish store water...most likely of a different temperature, PH, etc.
The first step is to even out the temperatures.
Let the bag (with the fish in it) float in your tank for 15 minutes so the temperatures can even out -- better yet, would be to use a different/clean container...that bag could be dirty and you don't want anything icky getting into your tank.
Once the temps are evened out, open up the bag with the fish in it and add a little water from your tank into the bag. Continue to let it float in the tank. After 10-20 minutes, do this again....and again...until the water in your bag is like 80% tank water, 20% water from the store...By then he's used to your water, and you can net the fish and add him to your tank. The process should take a minimum of an hour to do...you don't want to SHOCK the fish by putting him into strange water.
Also, don't dump the fish store water into your tank, it could contain some nasty parasites or something that are best left OUT of your tank!
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