Lethargic Angelfish After 3 Days In Tank

It's usually lethargy that causes a fish to be sucked against a filter rather than the other way round.

A few questions, if you don't mind.
How did you cycle the tank - by filling the tank with live plants or by adding ammonia and doing a fishless cycle?
What are the readings for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate now?
Did the other fish in the shop tank look OK?
Are there any other symptoms besides lying on the tank floor? Marks on the body, discolouration?

So it's as I was expecting.  Ammonia and Nitrite are Zero.  Nitrate is 5ppm, which is what it is coming out of the tap. 

m.d.

Thanks, Sue.  My 5 year old is VERY upset about it, bless him.  I used to buy fish from an independent place in Cupar and never had any disease problems - Ultimate Aquatics - but it's been closed for years.  There is a Fishkeeper Scotland about 12 miles from me, and a place in Dundee and two in Edinburgh.  Usually I wouldn't buy from PatH, and probably won't do again.   Nobody gets into fishkeeping to watch the little beggars die, but I guess it's just one of those things.

The fish has been immobile on the floor of the tank for 90 minutes now, so I'm not super-hopeful that he's going to make it.  Would food have had anything to do with it?  I only fed him 4 times - twice with flake and twice with some frozen daphnia.

m.d.

I'd need the help of some Eskimos to dig a hole in my garden right now... I've just checked him again, and I think he's gone.  Sad...

m.d.

UPDATE:
Something strange going on here.  I tested for Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, Phosphate, and PH before introducing the fish.  Ammonia and Nitrite tested at Zero.  Fish died after 4 days.  Tested water the day the fish died, and Ammonia and Nitrite were again Zero. 

I took a sample of tank water to Pets at Home on Saturday and they tested it.  They told me Ammonia was at 3ppm and Nitrite was "about 5 ppm".  I tested again myself yesterday, now with no fish in the tank, and although Ammonia was still Zero the Nitrite was showing more than 2 but less than 5 PPM.

I don't understand this at all.  What would cause a spike in Nitrite in an empty tank?  I'm using an API test kit - albeit one I bought in 2006.  There's no 'use by' date on the test kit, and chemical reactions shouldn't be affected by the passage of time.  Pets at Home used an API multi-test strip, whereas I have separate testing kits.

Does anyone have any experience of problems with API test kits?  I have to say I never did before.  The thought that I put a fish into a tank that it couldn't actually survive in is also bothering me.

m.d.

Sorry to read about your angelfish. It might "just be one of those unfortunate things" or the stress of the move which happens with new fish. However, a few thoughts/observations to try to establish/eliminate other reasons:
* You mention PAH used a multi-test strip; ammonia isn't one of the tests on the multi-test strip - but there is a separate test strip for ammonia. Was it definitely ammonia and nitrite rather than nitrite and nitrate which they tested? This isn't likely to have a bearing on whatever happened, but, if they didn't actually test ammonia and your own test kit is out-of-date, then it's possible that there is/has actually been some ammonia but which you're not aware of.
* How heavily planted is your tank? Do you have photos of it? Generally, a cycle is either fish-in or fish-less, although very heavily planted tanks can enable a "silent cycle" similar to a fish-less one. It's possible that, if it weren't heavily planted, then a fish-in cycle was inadvertently occurring which might account for the presence of nitrite (following some presence of ammonia - cf point above), even although I wouldn't have thought 1 fish would have had much of an impact.

A photo of your tank to give us an idea of whether you need to plant more heavily to ensure a silent cycle has actually taken place, and a new/in-date test kit (liquid-based API should be fine and has a good reputation) should help us to gauge better whether/when the tank might be ready for new fish. 

Well, that's good news.  Then again, it's bad news.  I have to replace my testing kits - that's fine.  Possibly as a result of using old test kits, I've put in a fish which died - that's not fine.  Of course it might have died for any number of reasons, but it doesn't make me feel any better.

Onwards... new testing kits, more plants (which I was going to add after I get paid anyway), and more time.  I won't be making that mistake again.
m.d.

No problem, Matt.  It was actually a 2005 test kit when I checked the serial number as per Sue's instructions.  I've got new kits now.

m.d.