Dwarf Puffer Stats
Minimum Tank Size: 10 Gallons
Care Level: Moderately Difficult
Water Conditions: PH 6.8-7.5 and Soft to Fairly Hard
Temperature: 72-79 F (22-26C)
Maximum Size: 1 inch (2.5cm)
The dwarf puffer, also known as the pea puffer (Carinotetraodon travancoricus), is the smallest of the pufferfish available in the aquarium trade and is native to the rivers of southwest India. Unlike the larger puffers commonly available in the hobby, the dwarf puffer is a freshwater fish and should never be placed in brackish water.
The dwarf puffer stays quite small, and is usually sold at close to its maximum size. The adults usually grow to a maximum length of 1 inch (2.5cm), with some staying significantly smaller. Upon reaching maturity, the males become more brightly colored than the females and have banded stripes behind the eyes. They will also sometimes develop a dark stripe in the center of their belly.
This fish is relatively new to the aquarium hobby and depending on where you live, can be difficult to find. But with its striking colors and fascinating behavior, it’s a fantastic little fish to own and you should definitely make the attempt to pick up some of these fish.
In fact, the dwarf puffer is one of the few fish that keenly watch the world outside their tank, and they quickly come to recognize their owner. They are incredibly interactive, and will often remind people of more intelligent cichlid behavior. As soon as you walk in the room, they will begin to frantically move up and down the glass at the front of the aquarium, trying to get your attention. This may be just begging for food, but it’s still nice to get some interaction and attention from your fish.
Housing
It’s important to realize that because the dwarf puffers are such a new fish, much of the information about them on the internet is inaccurate at best. No matter what you may read, dwarf puffers only thrive in freshwater, and under no circumstances should they be kept in brackish or salt water tank. Any attempt to keep a dwarf puffer in a brackish aquarium, will result in a severely shortened lifespan.
They should also be kept in a species only tank, and if you make the mistake of keeping them in a community fish tank, their tankmates will “mysteriously” start losing miniature bite shaped pieces out of their tails and fins. Even in a species only tank, dwarf puffers should be lightly stocked, and a good rule of thumb is to provide each fish with 3 gallons of water.
If you find that you are having a problem with aggression in a dwarf puffer tank, you can add more live plants to the tank (fake plants will also work). When an aquarium is heavily planted, fish can’t maintain a line of sight on other fish, and they tend to chase them less. But don’t overdo the plants in an aquarium – too many plants will crowd the fish together and actually cause more aggression.
When choosing a filter for dwarf puffers, it is important to over filter if at all possible. Dwarf puffers are notoriously messy eaters, and water quality can quickly suffer if you don’t have sufficient filtration. When choosing the type of filter, a hang on back (HOB) filter or a sponge filter are good choices, but a canister filter is the best choice if you can afford the hefty price tag that comes with it.
If choosing an HOB filter, I would strongly recommend choosing an Aquaclear Power Filter
Feeding
The proper feeding of a dwarf puffer is the most difficult aspect of owning them. No matter what someone tells you in a fish store, they will not readily accept flake food or pellets. In the wild, they primarily feed on molluscs (snails), small invertebrate and insects. In the aquarium, this diet needs to be reproduced, or the dwarf puffer will slowly starve to death.
The best way to reproduce this diet in the home aquarium is to feed both small snails and frozen food to the dwarf puffer. When choosing frozen food, without question their favorite food is bloodworms, though some pufferfish will also accept daphnia and brine shrimp.
If you are having trouble getting a puffer to eat, then you can start with live foods mixed in with frozen foods. Nothing triggers the hunting response quicker than fast moving or wriggling live food. In the summer, mosquito larvae or daphnia can easily be provided, and in the cooler months, you can purchase live blackworms.
As for snails, these can be cultured separately in a small aquarium, or they can be removed from any existing aquarium to feed to the dwarf puffer. They tend to ignore the larger snails, but will aggressively hunt any smaller snails in their tank. Even the heavily armored Malaysian trumpet snails aren’t safe from dwarf puffer, and they will be relentlessly hunted until the fish finally figures out how to pull them out of their shell.
Breeding
Breeding dwarf puffers isn’t difficult, and if they are well feed and kept at their ideal temperature for an extended period, they will breed on their own. This usually involves the male chasing the female until she finally accepts his advances, and then moving towards a spot under the cover of plants with him.
In my experience, they tend to choose an area of dense plant cover, such as java moss or particularly overgrown cabomba or hygrophilia. Once under this cover, the two fish will move together for up to a minute, while the eggs and sperm are released.
The eggs are scattered over the plant, and the parents and any other fish should be removed at this point. The eggs will hatch in 24-48 hours, and can be feed a combination of infusoria and baby brine shrimp until they become large enough to accept frozen foods, or hunt the smaller snails.
Can you put fake plants in with them
Fake plants are fine, but I would stay away from the cheap ones with ragged edges. I generally recommend live plants for dwarf puffer fish though, since they can be somewhat sensitive, and real plants really help to improve water conditions.
I have a 40 gallon breeder tank. Half is all live plants and drift wood, other half is a hollow log. I have a pleco that lives in the log, 3 pea puffers, and five flagship killie fish. Lots of snails. I feed my puffers live black worms mostly. Bloodworms here and there. I absolutely adore my pea puffers. Very entertaining.
I all most bought one of these and put it in a community tank a few years ago, the only reason I didn’t was because I was afrade it mite blote. Now that I read this i’m glad I didn’t.
I was able to do community tank w my puffers but I do daily checks and have live shrimp plants an pretty much a natural tank. On another note blood worms they love working on small snail tank to assist feeding. But all in all they appear good in the community tank. Just lucky maybe
What sort of fish are you keeping them with? That’s great you’ve been able to get it to work though. Most of these these cute little guys are actually mean buggers, and I haven’t had any luck keeping them with any other fish.
I really don’t see these dwarf puffers as mean. The ones I have had do Not disturb my other fish. I have cherry barbs, glo fish and a bala shark. All seem to be doing great. Sometimes, I think people are getting the figure 8 puffer mixed up with these little ones?
A lot depends on the setup and individual fish I think. I’ve personally seen them rip off every tail in the tank, but I’ve also know people who have kept them with virtually no problem in a community tank. I still think it’s best to view as them as mean, and have a backup plan in place in case they start attacking their tankmates.
I keep my puffers with guppies I have 30 puffers in a 100 gallon with 3 guppies
I keep offers with a Dwarf Mecosta crayfish, pygmy Cory’s and a bristle nose Pleco
I also have a community tank with the pea puffers, I have black mollies, peppered corys and a female betta, they all live in harmony
I have my puffer in a large tank with lots of live plants and hiding space. I have 2 peppered Cory in there and a bunch of ghost shrimp. I littered the tank with small nerite snails and so far this is the only thing they have eaten or show aggression towards besides a puffer running another puffer out of his area. They seem to care less about their tank mates and more interested in just looking for things that are small moving and easy to line up a good shot at. If you have a tank full of hungry puffers tho I would imagine your other fish will start losing little bits and pieces. I think them being well fed is the key to having other stuff in there with them.
The species of fish it’s kept with plays a big part in aggression as well. When kept with reclusive bottom dwellers like corydora catfish, it doesn’t both them very often. But any active mid- or top-dwell fish will quickly start to lose parts of their fins. But I also suspect you’re right that well fed puffers aren’t as aggressive either, but I can’t say so for sure.
I guess I’m lucky too I have two of these little guys in a heavily planted 40 gallon tank. I have 2 blue rams, a large angel, 2 opal gouramies and a few lemmon tetras. I feeld live snails and brine shrimp.
It does occasionally work out in larger tanks – especially if they’re planted. Do you find they’re aggressive? Or do they spend most of their time in hiding? In my experience, it tends to be an either or in that situation.
My dozen peapuffers share their 55 gallon tank with several female bettas, some Corydoras, a small plecostamus, 4 bumblebee gobies,& 6 cherry barbs. 3 days ago I noticed a grouping of white dots. I gathered these (by picking leaves & scraping glass & saving them to a large glass vase.) To maintain warmth I balanced the vase on a large jar inside the tank & hung an airstone in there barely bubbling. The ones on leaves had a better hatch rate. Many nothers developed fungus. In all I think my net is 15-ish. (They’re only 3 days old)
I have ramshorn snails but do not know where to get brine shrimp? I live in AZ.
The easiest thing to do is to buy them frozen, and most stores carry them. Specialty stores also often sell them live in the marine section, and they’re pretty cheap. Or if you’re feeling adventurous, you could even try breeding them in a salt water tank. They take a bit of work, but they’re fun to raise on their own.
I have a male and female DP in a tank with shrimp and neon tetras for 6 months now without a single problem.. they swim along side the tetras with not even a second look and they don’t seem to care about the shrimp. the tetras don’t seem to be bothered by the DPs either.. i guess it depends on the personality of the fish and if the DP was housed with other fish when they were young.. i have lots of plants and driftwood for them to find cover. my little guys seem to be very peaceful and more interested with me when I come towards the tank.. i love their playful personalities!!
Like you said, a lot depends on the temperament of the fish, the setup of the tank, and the space they are given. Sometimes fish work in combinations that most people would swear should be impossible.
In your case, it sounds like you have a great setup for them which would really help. Introducing them as young fish was also a good idea. But keep on eye on them – they can sometimes seemingly snap over night, and you’ll be left with a bunch of fish with no tail. With that being said, I really hope it continues to work for you though.
And they are an awesome fish to watch with their great personalities.
from my experience there fine just test them with other fish and once 3 days with little aggression have passed the other fish are considered buddys
I know this thread is kinda old but I have two puffers in a 20 gallon tank, with some neons, cory cats and shrimp. They get along fantastically with the other fish but my female is picking on the male terribly. If she sees him she literally body slams him until he swims away frantically, she has bit him twice that I’ve seen, and shook him like a dog would a toy. He has now developed a large bubble on his head that was filled with a clear fluid but has since turned brown. He eats fine and greets me at the front of the tank until she chases him off. I’m new at this fish stuff but LOVE my puffers and other fish, but I don’t know what to do. Suggestions? Also my tank is heavily planted with both real and fake plants and lots of caves to hide in, and my water is great and crystal clear. Please help!
That’s tough when a puffer turns aggressive like that. The only thing I could recommend is either separating them (which usually isn’t an option), or to rearrange the tank. I find that creating breaks in the line of sight using tall ornaments or rocks is good for situations like this. With fish, it’s often out of sight, out of mind. Even if they chase each other, once they lose sight, they will often wander off.
Rearranging ornaments also helps to create new territories for the fish. These fights are often territorial, and by creating new territories for them, it often helps to disperse the aggression.
I hope this helps.
I’ll try to rearrange my tank ornaments to see if that helps. I already have have lots of plants in the tank for the little guy to hide behind. I hope it will work, thanks for your advice!
I have 6 in a brackish tank. Never measure the salt and they are doing great. They eat flakes but I also use dried blood worms and tubifex worms. I just added minnows and grass shrimp to the tank for a varity. They did eat my wild periwinkle snails so i just added more. They are in a 55 gal tank and are doing so well 2 are pregnant. They are very freely they will eat right out of my hands. I’m using a canister filter built for a larger my tank. I bought them at Walmart where they were in tap water and they adjusted great to the brackish water.
Are you sure they’re dwarf puffer fish? Dwarf puffer fish are a freshwater species, and will die if kept in brackish water. Could you possible have one of the other species like a figure 8 puffer?
Do tanks with these guys necessarily have to be heavily planted even if there’s only one?
They definitely prefer planted tanks, and it helps to keep their stress levels down. While the tank doesn’t have to be heavily planted, it does help.
thanks for your info. It’s help a lot.
abit late into the rearing hype… I managed to make a 15cm round glass bowl the home of 10 yellow shrimps and 2 zebra snails…. with the help of a water plant, moss ball, and chollo wood they are living well…. was thinking if putting 2 do be good
Do you mean two dwarf puffers?
Could you advise on how to tell the gender of a puffer?
It’s usually pretty easy to sex dwarf puffer fish. The males will have lines around their eyes while they females won’t and the males bellies will be a yellowish colour. Also, the females will have rounder bellies and the spots will be more random while they males will go the length of their body.
I have a 30 gallon tank and 7 puffers but wanted a few more would this be ok? Also thinking of adding kuli loaches since they can dig under the sand any suggestions
Sorry for the delay in getting back to you, but you’re pretty close to the limit for puffers without running into aggression issues. I find each need about 3 gallons of space to really thrive. But kuhli loaches are a great idea, as they won’t bother the puffers and know to stay out their way. I’ve had some success mixing those two species several years ago and they were one of the fish I found that didn’t run afoul of the mean little puffers.
This was really helpful, I have an extra tall tank ready for two puffers. I took your advice about the aquaclear filter, I’ve heard nothing but good things about it. I’m so excited to branch out into fish that are less easy than my betta and harlequin rasboras!
These fish are a great choice to try something different. They have such great personalities and are incredibly fun to watch. I hope it goes well for you.
I wish inexperienced people would leave puffers alone, especially dwarf/pygmy/pea puffers.
There are so many poor innocent puffers being kept in totally the wrong conditions not to mention the poor fish they are sometimes kept with!
Do your research before subjecting these intelligent interesting little fish to a sad life.
They do NOT need brackish water, they do NOT need snails to keep their ‘beak’/teeth trimmed but they do need snails in their diet.
People that are keeping them with other fish in a community are doing so by luck and WILL end up with issues.
They also should NOT be kept singly, they should be kept in a group in the RIGHT size aquarium with the right amount and type of filtration.
These puffers and puffers in general are a victim of their ‘cuteness’ and interesting ‘faces’ but really deserve to be looked after properly, not by inexperienced people who do no research.
I have just added two female puffers to my ten gallon planted aquarium, I had one male and one female to start with, as well as one peppered cory cat and a baby pleco- the pleco won’t stay once he gets much bigger. They have mopani wood, a good hiding rock, and I do weekly water changes. Will I be able to maintain them in this tank this way? I do test the water as well.
That should be no problem as they stay quite small and are a perfect fit for a ten gallon aquarium. Also, as the corydoras is a bottom dweller, most of the time they are left alone by dwarf puffer fish. But just keep an eye on the situation and if you start noticing chunks missing from the corydoras fins, you may need to relocate the fish.
I too keep my puffer in a community tank. I knew it was a risky move and actually had a ten gallon set up and cycled as back up (the one everyone is in is a 55 gallon). However, it’s been a good couple months since I got them and I’ve added more fish to the mix since then. I have her in the tank with guppies (fry included, maybe she’ll make a lunch out of them but haven’t seen it yet), rainbow fish, honey gourami’s, a bumblebee goby, balloon belly mollies, and three female bettas. (I am aware that betta’s and gourami’s don’t usually get along. but these guys do well. I have plenty of hiding and live plants.) Everyone has full fins and they seem to live together harmoniously.
I think it’s just like female betta’s. Some can live together just fine while others want to tear everything apart. She doesn’t have any interest in chasing my other fish and instead hunts the pest snails I have in the tank. If you ever want to add one to your tank make sure you have plenty of hiding places, probably something bigger than a ten gallon if you’re going to house it with other fish, plenty of food, and have a separate tank cycled and ready to go in case your puffer doesn’t get along with everyone. Also, it may be a good idea to start out your tank with the puffer and other fish rather than adding one to an existing tank. But, that’s just my opinion. That way no one has territory yet.
I am interested in getting a dwarf pufferfish. Can they not live in a bowl? I read somewhere else that they could and was wondering. Also, could I put a rock in the tank?
Unfortunately, they’re far too sensitive to bad water to live in a bowl. Even in an aquarium they can be difficult to keep.
And assuming the rocks are aquarium safe, there shouldn’t be any problem putting on in the tank. Are you collecting the rock from outside or are you buying them from a store?
A little late to the party, I know but I have a male and female dwarf puffer and they always chased each other then hid. I never saw them (planted 29g). Anyways I added 15 danios and the puffers are always out, and don’t chase each other anymore and don’t give a crap about the danios. I also have 4 corys and a dwarf pleco in there.