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SnailsPea Puffer (Carinotetraodon travancoricus) | Care & Info
Looking for a fun addition to your nano tank? One of our all-time favorite freshwater fish is Carinotetraodon travancoricus, better known as the pea puffer. This teeny tiny pufferfish proves that good things do indeed come in small packages! It's fascinating, engaging, and surprisingly intelligent.
Keep reading for everything you need to know about the pea puffer, where it's from, and how to care for it in your aquarium.
| Scientific name | Carinotetraodon travancoricus |
| Common names | Pea puffer, dwarf puffer, pygmy puffer, Malabar puffer, Indian dwarf puffer |
| Difficulty level | Intermediate |
| Origin | South India |
Table of Contents
Pea puffer appearance & natural habitat
Appearance
Despite what its name suggests, the pea puffer is bigger than a pea—although not by much. At a maximum size of only around 1", this is the smallest pufferfish in existence. It's still quite the eyecatcher, though, with a striking blotchy pattern of iridescent dark brown patches on a yellowish-green body.
The most striking thing about these puffers is that, like other pufferfish, they have large "puppy" eyes that move independently. It's fascinating to see them zoom around the tank with their strange, hovering swimming style and observe their surroundings.
Members of the genus Carinotetraodon are sexually dimorphic, which means it's possible to visually tell the difference between a male and a female. The most notable hint is that the males sport dark wrinkles behind their eyes, which the females lack. They're also more brightly colored and less rounded.
Did you know? The genus Carinotetraodon has 6 species, one of which is very similar in looks to today's subject. Now known as the dwarf Malabar puffer, it was first found in batches of pea puffers for the aquarium trade and formally recognized as a different species in 1999. It was given the scientific name C. imitator. Their care requirements in the aquarium are identical.
Natural habitat
The pea puffer's scientific name, "travancoricus", refers to where it was first discovered: the Pamba River in what was then the kingdom of Travancore in South India. Nowadays, it's known that its range includes a range of waters in the Indian states of Kerala and Karnataka.
In its natural habitat, the pea puffer is primarily found in rivers, often with dense overhanging vegetation, plenty of aquatic plants, and a gravelly to silty bottom that's usually covered in leaf litter. It also pops up in lakes, and occasionally in man-made ditches and ponds.
The species occurs in large schools, which is pretty unusual for pufferfish, and mainly hangs around near the water bottom.
Unfortunately, this species has been classified as Vulnerable by the IUCN Red List. Threats to the population are noted to include habitat destruction (damming, deforestation) and the aquarium trade. They're noted to be particularly easy to catch, which obviously doesn't help their chances.
Setting up a pea puffer aquarium
Requirements
If you'd like to keep a pea puffer, you don't need a large aquarium. They make a great choice for a small planted tank or aquascape. 10 gallons or up should work fine for a trio; if you want to keep more, which is generally recommended nowadays, then you should add 2.5 gallons for every additional fish.
In order to imitate the puffer's natural habitat and prevent stress, the tank should be heavily planted and decorated. One study notes that pea puffers were often found in areas rich in Cabomba (a common stem plant), so that's one thing you can consider.
Be sure to also add lots of driftwood, rocks, and leaf litter.
Water quality
One cool thing about this pufferfish is that thanks to scientists studying it in the wild, we've got a lot of information about the waters it naturally inhabits. For example, a study performed in 2012 in a stream called the Kallar found temperatures between 77-82.5 °F and a pH of 7.3 to 8.
It's important to keep in mind that pufferfish are sensitive to low water quality. You should only introduce them in a fully cycled and matured aquarium, and it's important to keep the water quality high by means of regular water changes.
Because all puffers are messy eaters, it's usually recommended to use an oversized filter. This makes it easier to keep the water parameters stable and prevent dangerous swings.
pH: 7.5-8.3
Temperature: 72-82.5 °F
Total Dissolved Solids: 100-250
Tankmates
Most pufferfish are completely unsuitable for keeping with other fish species, as they're carnivorous and highly aggressive. The pea puffer is also a carnivore, but due to its tiny size, it can be kept in some community aquariums. This being said, many aquarists do prefer a single-species set-up for them!
As mentioned, this species is the only known puffer that naturally occurs in groups. You can and probably should keep multiple in your aquarium, though be sure to offer enough space. A trio (especially if it's one male and two females) will do well in a 10-gallon tank, and you can add even more in larger set-ups.
If you do decide to keep your pea puffer(s) in a community tank, avoid slow-moving and long-finned fish like guppies or Bettas. Those will be a magnet for the puffer's sharp little teeth. Large, boisterous fish aren't a good idea either, because although they're feisty, these puffers are still snack-sized.
Instead, pick fish that are inoffensive, not prone to getting picked on, and which like similar water conditions.
You can try:
- Kuhli loaches
- Otocinclus catfish
- Panda Corydoras
- Bristlenose Pleco
Opinions are divided on whether small schooling fish like Boraras can do well with dwarf puffers. In a larger aquarium (at least 15 gallons long), we'd say probably yes. In nano set-ups, it's best to just keep your puffers with their own kind.
As for shrimp—this is The Shrimp Farm, after all—you're pretty much out of luck. Shrimp are exactly what a pea puffer likes to eat! If you breed Neocaridinas, such as cherry shrimp, those will actually be greatly appreciated as a snack. Larger shrimp like Amanos are sometimes mentioned as an option, but we wouldn't personally risk it.
If you do want to keep your pea puffer with invertebrates, your best bet would be to go for dwarf crayfish. They're too small to hurt the puffer (and not known for being aggressive anyway), but too large to be eaten by it.
Pea puffer diet
Pea puffers, like other pufferfish, are carnivores (one scientific study found that 55% of the foods they consumed in the wild were animal in origin). They're not picky, preferring insect larvae but feeding on a wide variety of water fleas, copepods, rotifers, fallen terrestrial insects, and more.
In the aquarium, this means you should feed your pea puffer a varied diet. They're known in particular for their taste for small snails. Although you shouldn't add a puffer to your tank just to combat a snail infestation, they'll quickly take care of any that are already present.
Your pea puffer's daily meals should consist of:
- Frozen foods (bloodworms, mosquito larvae, brine shrimp
- Live foods (brine shrimp, daphnia, bladder snails, small ramshorn snails, baby cherry shrimp)
Breeding pea puffers
As mentioned in the section on habitat, pea puffers are currently considered to be a Vulnerable species. Part of this is due to overfishing for the aquarium trade. Luckily, they do breed in our tanks, so we can do our part to help protect this species and produce more captive-bred puffers.
A healthy group of pea puffers kept in an appropriate aquarium will usually breed without any interference from our side. Here's how it works:
- Females become swollen with eggs, which prompts chasing behavior from the males.
- The female looks for a suitable spawning location, like a tuft of Java moss.
- The parents will guard the eggs, but it's best to move them to a separate rearing tank to prevent the fry from being eaten once they hatch.
- Baby puffers will hatch after about five days. They live off their yolk sacs for the first 2-4 days, after which you can begin feeding them small foods like baby brine shrimp.
Buying a pea puffer
Over the years, pea puffers have become incredibly popular in the aquarium trade. You can now find them at any aquarium store! Just be sure to try and find captive-bred fish in order to avoid further damaging the wild population.
You can also buy your pea puffer(s) online.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. Like other puffers, this one can ingest water and puff itself up to deter predators. That's why you should never take yours out of the water: if they gulp air, it can get stuck in their stomachs, which can prove fatal.
Many pufferfish species carry a potent neurotoxin that can cause major issues and even death when they're eaten. The toxin is present in their diet and accumulates in their tissues over time. There are currently no scientific studies stating this is also the case for pea puffers, and in any case, your aquarium puffer wouldn't be poisonous because it doesn't eat toxic foods. So no worries!
Absolutely, unequivocally: NO. Pea puffers don't make a good tankmate choice for Betta fish at all.
No, luckily not. Their teeth don't grow as quickly as those of other puffer species. They don't need an extra-crunchy diet or tooth trimming.
Hora, S. L., & Nair, K. K. (1941). Notes on fishes in the Indian Museum. XLI. New records of freshwater fish from Travancore. Records of the Zoological Survey of India, 43(3), 387-393.