Pea Puffer (Carinotetraodon travancoricus)

Pea Puffer (Carinotetraodon travancoricus) is the smallest freshwater pufferfish species in the world- at a tiny, but fierce 1-1.5” in size fully grown. This fish is adorable with tons of personality, unique markings and a joy to keep and watch. 

They are a highly intelligent fish, very personable and will come out immediately when they see you enter the room. The more heavily planted your aquarium is the safer they will feel and less stress when entering a new aquarium.

The pea puffer is not a fish for the novice fish keeper, that does not want to put in the extra effort- they can be highly aggressive and are NOT recommended for community tanks, and when kept with eachother they should be in a group - the more the merrier (with appropriate sized tank). While these fish are very aggressive, the more you keep together the calmer they will behave as their aggression is spread out among the group, smaller groups lead to targeted aggression. 

Well/densely planted tanks are important as well because they will harbour lots of microfauna for the peas to hunt, and chase each other around between hunting for food. 

Cultures that I feed them and have for sale are:

• Grindal worms
• White worms
• Daphnia
• Blackworms

NOT shrimp safe, although large amano shrimp are typically safe because they are much larger than the peas. 

Care Info:

• Ideal Temperature - 72° - 82° F (22° - 28° C) 
• pH - 6.5 - 8.0
• KH - 4 - 20 dGH 
• Tank Size - minimum 30 gallons for a group of 6; larger is always best. Being heavily planted and well established is highly suggested.
• Carnivore/Micropredator that thrives when fed live foods. I feed them, Grindal worms, White worms, Seed Shrimp, Daphnia, Blackworms and other microfauna.
• Difficulty - moderate 

Average Adult Size: 1-1.5 inches (2.5-3.8 cm)

Average Purchase Size: Selection required 

Origin/Location: India

Also know as: Dwarf pufferfish, Malabar Pufferfish and pygmy pufferfish