help please my fish are sick

Question
I recently bought two fish a chinese gold fish and a angle fish. I put them in a 10 gallon aqarium and three weeks later(Feb. 21 2008) the gravel and plastic plants have an odd orange and brown "burnt" look. It's only in spots but now my fish are very inactive, dont eat as much, and the angel fish has started swimming sideways. I've tried changing the water, and removed the discolored gravel and cleaned the (plastic)plants but the discoloraton is coming back and my fish dont seem at all better.  I do have a well and thought that might be it but I use the tetra-fish water treatment before i switch and I'm very careful about doing this correctly. Please help.

Answer
Hello Ben,

First let me address something.  Goldfish and tropical fish should never be put in the same tank.  The angelfish, when it is healthy can and will nip the fins of the goldfish.  Also, the water parameters for both are completely different.  Angelfish like warmer waters, goldfish do not.  Angelfish like a bit of salt in the water, goldfish do not.  So that, in and of itself poses a problem.

I think that there may be something in the well water that may be causing another problem.  As I do not know the contents of the water, I would strongly suggest on not using it.  Use tap water with clorAm-x to treat it.  It only takes a half teaspoon to treat 5 gallons of water, and it removes ammonia, clorine, and chloramine.  All three are very toxic to fish.  

I would pull the fish out, place them in a bucket, using the above mentioned method, and thoroughly wash the gravel and plants with tap water.  Then, set-up your tank again.  Unfortunately, you will have to wait for your tank to "cycle" again, and that will take time.  You may need to do daily water changes for awhile, but only 20%.  Too much can cause too much stress on the fish, and they may not be able to handle it.

I hope this helps.  Good luck, if you need further assistance, feel free to write.

Sincerely,

Adrian