My valentini puffer looks unhealthy, what's wrong?

[Vitalix9]

hello everyone, thanks in advance for your help.

we've got a valentini puffer who's been in the tank for just over a week now. initially, he was swimming and eating just fine, no issues whatsoever. but this morning, i found him wedged between two rocks. thought maybe he was stuck, so i moved the rock to see if that helped. instead, he tried to squeeze himself between the rock and the tank bottom. and when i fed the fish, he just wasn't interested at all. what's going on here?

checked all the water params - amm, ph, nit - all good, except the ammonia's at 0.5.

[flynix]

I'd say it's probably the ammonia thats causing the issue, 0.5's not great for a puffer, they can be pretty sensitive.

[zenoxa]

It's possible the ammonia is a contributing factor, but I'm not entirely convinced it's the primary cause of this behavior. Ammonia poisoning typically manifests in more distinct ways, such as rapid breathing, unusual coloration, and eventually, surface gasping. These symptoms are usually quite apparent and affect all fish in the tank, not just one.

I'm inclined to think that your puffer's behavior might be attributed to something else. As intelligent creatures, puffers can be quite sensitive to their surroundings, and it's possible that some interaction with the other fish is causing it distress. I'm not going to pretend to have all the answers, but I'd suggest observing your tank for a few more days to see if the situation improves.

[Lumin88]

It's possible the tankmates could be the issue, especially if you have some aggressive feeders in there, or even if your other fish are on the larger side, that could be causing some problems for your puffer.