Dwarf, Marble Puffer (Carinotetraodon travancoricus)

yoink

I would not call these fish "peaceful". They can range from agreeable community fish (and that's generally an abberation) to miniature Jack the Rippers for your tank, not tolerating anything but their own species, if that. Most people have success keeping them with Otocinclus, if the risk is to be taken. Shrimp are common snacks, but some dwarf puffers do not see them as food (if only for a while, at least). Issues with aggression are common, both with conspecifics and other species. Puffers are intelligent fish and to keep down aggression and keep them interested in their environment, heavily planted and/or decorated spaces are required. Bored puffers will be commonly seen pacing the glass, up and down endlessly. Plants and decorations break up lines of sight and reduce aggressive encounters. They're quite variable in their personalities and what they will tolerate. Males will often fight with other males, so it is preferred to keep one male to every three females. They can be sexed at maturity by the males having a vertical stripe on their bellies, and irridescent wrinkles behind their eyes. Males generally top out at 1", although they can get larger, the larger exceptions being 1.5"-2". Puffers are messy fish, contributing significantly to bioload. 3 to a gallon, unless keeping them in <10 gallons, then limiting it to one per 5 gallons is preferable, due to aggression and instability of smaller tanks. They prefer harder water, pH 7.0 or harder is preferred. Temperature should be kept within 80F. Puffers are also very sensitive to ammonia, nitrites and nitrates, and should never be subjected to a cycling biofilter. Generally nitrates should be kept below 20ppm (mg/L). They will take most live foods from blackworms, whiteworms, grindal worms and smaller aquatic snails, and will also feed on some frozen foods, such as bloodworms and mysis shrimp. They can be picky eaters and prone to intestinal parasites that cause gradual wasting and eventual death if not treated. I have kept this species for a while and find them very interesting fish and worth the effort of keeping them in the environment that they require.

GekkoGeck0

Don't underestimate these little guys, I have a male and a female that are in a 55 heavily planted and they nip fins of larger fish. Before I put the puffers in there I had 3 large mystery snails avereging 2-2.5 inches, little bastards ate all three within days.

MkandSteve

I have had a single dwarf puffer in my 20 gallon tank for almost two years, and the little guy is the most peaceful fish I've ever owned. He has no interest whatsoever in other fish, instead whiling away the hours searching leaves for snails. He has single-handedly maintained the snail population in my tank (to point that I've had to add some). The fact that my tank is heavily planted may contribute to his peaceful nature. Also, it is usually suggested that you keep a small school of these guys. Unfortunately, his fellow puffers died soon after I got them (as I was completely inexperienced at the time and mismanaged the pH). He does not seem to be too unhappy or lonely without them though. I highly recommend them, as they're a delight to watch--he's one of my most interesting, intelligent and unique fish.

Brian

I don't see how these fish are considered aggressive at all... I have had four of them, all from Petsmart, and they all got along just fine. They even liked to follow each other in a train around the aquarium . They also got along well with my large mystery snails, (though they do eat little ones I put in there), my pleco, and my otos. My guess is that since Petsmart is now breeding them in captivity, their puffers have become more complacent than in previous generations. I highly recommend these fish, as they are very fun to own.

Silver

If you wish to keep these fish then be sure to follow all the normal guidelines for puffers: Snails to wear down their ever growing teeth, very good water conditions and avoid housing them with other fish unless they are much larger, as they are highly agressive and can cause major damage with their powerfull beaks. These fish are highly intelligent and an interesting environment such as a heavily planted tank will avoid boredom for the puffers and reduce aggression between them.

Tommo

I have had ten dwarf puffers in a 50g heavily planted tank along with some silver tip tetras and some tiger barbs also 2 plecos and 3 SAEs.The puffers don't bother any other fish in the tank and I often see them schooling together and unbelievably with some of the other fish.They are a delight to have in my tank as they keep the snail population down and are a really intelligent fish.I also got my dwarfs from petsmart and totally agree with what was mentioned that they may have bred the aggressiveness out of them. Everyone should try keeping this fish at least once.

schwa

eight11419

Would have to say that these are a very doclie fish, not bothering anything else in the aquarium, including my multitudes of cherry shrimp. I have two currently, one male and one female, and they spend countless hours exploring everything in the tank, with each other. I will say, that the male , seems to despise the roundtail beta i have in the tank, and will go after his fins when he is not looking (however vice versa is also the same, the beta holds a grudge). The female however does not harm anything, except for REAL little snails. I have seen the female watch some baby cherry shrimp, but didnt bother to snack, just watched them for couple minutes before wondering off... Originally i did have 6, but four seemed to get emaciated and die after about 3 months, and after reading other comments it may have been because of the lack of snails at the time (mainly because of them).

Paleboy

There seems to be some confusion between these guys, which are teensy tiny Amazonian species, and the figure 8 or green spotted puffers which are much bigger and brackish. They couldn't be more dissimilar in my opinion. These guys hardly get much bigger than a jelly bean and have only been guilty in my tanks of a little curiosity every now and again. I have a trio in a heavily planted 15" cube with a gold ram, some ottos, and several amano shrimp. No problems whatsoever. Been like that for over a year now. Extremely interesting behavior. Like most puffers, they seem to really pay attention to what's going on outside of the tank and move each eye independently (like a chameleon) as they watch you. Very neat fish. Oh, and PetSmart gets their fish from the same places as all other pet stores and I doubt very much that anyone is breeding this fish in any numbers to satisfy the trade. That the aggression has been "bred out of them" is silly. There was no aggression in these fish to start with.
Kurt

Flandry

A correction: travancoricus puffers are native to India, not the Amazon. The Amazon puffer is Colomesus asellus, and it is indeed a purely freshwater fish. However, it is quite a bit bigger than the Dwarf Puffer here.

cody♪

i have what the store called a "Micro Pea Puffer."
its about as long as a penny is wide. its adorable.

rich815

In my experience the hungrier they are the more aggresive and nippy they get. I kept my two well-fed on frozen Hikari bloodworms and they left every one else alone for almost a year, even a male Betta I had in the tank for a little while (and he had long red "wormy-like" fins). If I went 1-2 days without feeding them they began to nip on everyone.

cwinson85

Well I see a lot of people on the same side as me about these guys. My 4 couldn't be friendlier. ive been told time and time again that they need to be kept alone. Right now mine are with about 6 tetras, 2 apisto cichlids, 1bamboo shrimp, a few ghost shrimp, rubber lip pleco and a red whip plec and i havent seen any aggressiveness? maybe i just got lucky?