Puffer fish dead missing scales on bottom

[Jdbrusseau]

My saddleback puffer was doing very well in the tank. He's eating regularly and not having any problems. Yesterday I lost a damsel and a starfish today he's dead. I think it's the wave maker.

Both the damsel and the puffer look to be missing scales or bruised on the bottom I think they get sucked into the wave maker at the top of the tank and can't get away. The puffer fish was basically purple on the bottom or belly. As for the starfish I'm not sure. Water quality is 7.8 to 8.3 pH ,1.023 gravity, no nitrite,no ammonia the nitrate is about 40 parts per million (I release that's pushing it I need to do a water change but I don't think that's the cause) all the other fish especially the sensitive ones are doing well

 

[Sharkbait19]

Pics? How old is the tank?
Puffers don’t have scales, so you wouldn’t see any scale damage on one.
A healthy fish shouldn’t get sucked into a wavemaker unless it is far too powerful, so it’s likely there was an underlying issue.

 

[Jdbrusseau]

The tank is a month and a half old. There are no aggressive fish in the tank. The Wave Maker is 1600 gallons per hour and 120 gallon tank which I think is too much.

 

[exnisstech]

My experience with anything sucked into a power head has been it usually stays there untill I remove it. Well except for a cleaner wrasse I watched swim right into the outlet.

 

[Sharkbait19]

A starfish in a month and a half old tank?
Are you sure it didn’t die first and nuke the tank? Puffers are quite sensitive.

 

[ZombieEngineer]

If you lost a damsel yesterday and the puffer today, it is either ammonia from the other things dying or disease/parasite.

Flow is not even close to high enough to put the damsel or starfish at risk.

 

[ZombieEngineer]

For reference on wavemakers, I run a varying amount between 3500 gph and 7000 gph in my 65g.

1600 in a 120 is low flow not high.