Stars & Stripe Puffer

[reefnut]

Hello, is there anything a Stars and stripe puffer might put out that will raise the ammonia, other than regular waste?? He is 8 inches and in a 120 with a remora skimmer and a wet dry filter. The ammonia stays at about .50, no matter what I do, including water changes. I have done water changes with filtered water and tap water. I checked both waters and there is no ammonia before I add it. I do not over feed. He is the only fish in there and the rock has been in there over a year. Thanks!!

[Jager]

well it sounds like either your tank does not have the biological filtration load to handle that puffer yet, or the ammonia test your using is no longer accurate. thats all I can think of. can you be more specific on how your tank is set up? and have a lfs test your water maybe to rule out your test kit being bad?

[Arothron Junkie]

How old is your chemical test kit? I'd suspect something is fouling the test results.... Get your water tested independently as a start. I know this really basic so please don't take offense (we've probably all forgot it once or twice) but when you are doing water changes are you using a dechlorinator additive? Also, when you feed does the puffer gobble up everything right off the bat or does he pick at it on the bottom for a couple hours? Do you vacuum out uneaten food? What do you have going on for substrate? Just checking....