Pea Puffer Inquiries

[pbartholme]

So I am looking to get a pea puffer. I have been trying to research them online and there is a lot of mixed info and opinions.
1.First question, is it unreasonable to put a single pea puffer in a 5 gal tank (granted it would be fully planted and decorated to mimic its natural habitat)?
2. Are they really aggressive, I have seen that they are aggressive and friendly? I am worried they would eat other tank mates like snails and shrimp.
3. Should they be fed more than 2x a day? I see that they are carnivorous and like to eat, however they are quite small and I don't want to overfeed.
4. Is there any other information I should know about them specifically? I have already looked at water level requirements and all that. I mean more about behavioral changes, disease prone, tank mate compatibility, etc.

Any advice about pea puffers is welcome! I want to make sure I am properly educated about them before purchasing.

 

[Anonymous Fox]

So I am looking to get a pea puffer. I have been trying to research them online and there is a lot of mixed info and opinions.
1.First question, is it unreasonable to put a single pea puffer in a 5 gal tank (granted it would be fully planted and decorated to mimic its natural habitat)?

yes, but keep in mind that is the minimum, bigger is always better

2. Are they really aggressive, I have seen that they are aggressive and friendly? I am worried they would eat other tank mates like snails and shrimp.

it really depends on the fish IMO. and there's a 99% chance they will eat the shrimp and snails.

3. Should they be fed more than 2x a day? I see that they are carnivorous and like to eat, however they are quite small and I don't want to overfeed.

same as most other fish 2-3 times a day

4. Is there any other information I should know about them specifically? I have already looked at water level requirements and all that. I mean more about behavioral changes, disease prone, tank mate compatibility, etc.

there is no disease species-specific, but ich is their most common. the best tank mate IMO is kuhli loaches.

Any advice about pea puffers is welcome! I want to make sure I am properly educated about them before purchasing.

your tank should look something like this:

pretty simple, not my setup, I'm pretty bad at aquascaping, but I could do it.

 

[OliveFish05]

1.First question, is it unreasonable to put a single pea puffer in a 5 gal tank (granted it would be fully planted and decorated to mimic its natural habitat)?

1 puffer is just fine in 5 gallons! Sounds like a perfect setup! I have heard you want lots of plants, like half the tank should be densely planted (I love giving plant suggestions if you need any)

2. Are they really aggressive, I have seen that they are aggressive and friendly? I am worried they would eat other tank mates like snails and shrimp.

They are very definitely nippy. It is veryyyyy risky putting tank mates in with them. Snails are actually a massive part of their diet, I’ve heard they are known to even peck large mystery snails to death, so I wouldn’t put any snails in that you don’t want to become food! Shrimp can be risky too, I’ve heard sometimes it works sometimes it doesn’t. I would get some cheap ghost shrimp and see how they do first, before spending money on colorful ones!

3. Should they be fed more than 2x a day? I see that they are carnivorous and like to eat, however they are quite small and I don't want to overfeed.

Not sure how often they need to be fed, but I’ve read they have huge appetites and love to eat snails. I’ve heard many refuse other types of food. I would get a separate tank (can be small, even like 1 gallon) and let a bunch of rams horn or bladder snails (or both) start reproducing in there. Endless food source for the puffer!

 

[OliveFish05]

the best tank mate IMO is kuhli loaches

I’ve heard Otos can do well too. Tank mates are very limited though and I definitely wouldn’t do any more fish than just the single puffer in the 5 gallon

 

[OliveFish05]

your tank should look something like this:

pretty simple, not my setup, I'm pretty bad at aquascaping, but I could do it.

I would honestly go even more densely planted! More plants the better!

 

[Avel1896]

Hey
To be precise : are we talking about Carinotetraodon travancoricus aka Malabar puffer, Dwarf puffer ?
Here is the best caresheet that I've read :

Pea Puffer Care Sheet

The pea puffer is by far the most commonly kept species of pufferfish, owing to their full grown size of just 2.5cm (0.98 inches).

www.pufferfishenthusiastsworldwide.com

 

[FF_Member146894]

a fish that naturally occurs in groups in the wild will not take a human as a substitute for others of its species. so, don't keep a shoaling fish singly - you'll only stress the fish. this is not just my opinion, it is a proven fact.
get a larger tank with a small group, it's easier for you to maintain and far better for the puffers.

 

[Avel1896]

Keeping a schooling/shoaling fish singly will make it miserable and stressed-out, very sensible to diseases.

 

[Boundava]

Having owned six puffers; three of them the pea variety (still have the one), I can say that 5 gallons is a bit on the small size. I would go 10g (plus a 10 gallon is cheaper than a 5.5 gallon). They will attack anything that moves including khulis. When they are young you can feed them 2 times a day, ours eats pond-bladder/ramshorn snails and live blackworms or small earthworms. Ours also enjoys eating small pieces of cocktail shrimp. The only other inhabitant is a large nerite (he ate a small one) and some large amano shrimp work with our puffers, you would want those also on the large size. Although when the puffer is young everything is larger, lol.

Also recommend a good filter as they are carnivores and make a mess of the water.

Also regarding the shoaling behaviors and tank mates... I had one pea puffer that wanted to nothing but kill the other-even when they were separated by tanks. Had to put a visible barrier between the two tanks to have them stop stressing out over the other. Another pea puffer was in a tank with some basis and killed them as well as a small school of rasboras. Moved him into my 120 with some large tetra and chiclids and cory/plecos and my corys started dying with chunks taken out of them-puffer sized chunks. Other fish were being bruised and had bites taken out of fins. I caught the little snot and took him to a lfs.

I do not agree that 6 can be housed in a 15 gallon, my sister's pea puffer grew to be the size of a half dollar-she was a female. My sister's other puffer is larger than a quarter though not quite as large as Diva was, but he is a male and has his own 15 gallon tank. Possibly as juvis the puffers can coexist, but as adults I feel they are too territorial and will fight/kill anything in their territory they don't want in their territory.

 

[Avel1896]

Also give it small snails/young mollusk for their teeth.

 

[pbartholme]

Having owned six puffers; three of them the pea variety (still have the one), I can say that 5 gallons is a bit on the small size. I would go 10g (plus a 10 gallon is cheaper than a 5.5 gallon). They will attack anything that moves including khulis. When they are young you can feed them 2 times a day, ours eats pond-bladder/ramshorn snails and live blackworms or small earthworms. Ours also enjoys eating small pieces of cocktail shrimp. The only other inhabitant is a large nerite (he ate a small one) and some large amano shrimp work with our puffers, you would want those also on the large size. Although when the puffer is young everything is larger, lol.

Also recommend a good filter as they are carnivores and make a mess of the water.

Also regarding the shoaling behaviors and tank mates... I had one pea puffer that wanted to nothing but kill the other-even when they were separated by tanks. Had to put a visible barrier between the two tanks to have them stop stressing out over the other. Another pea puffer was in a tank with some basis and killed them as well as a small school of rasboras. Moved him into my 120 with some large tetra and chiclids and cory/plecos and my corys started dying with chunks taken out of them-puffer sized chunks. Other fish were being bruised and had bites taken out of fins. I caught the little snot and took him to a lfs.

I do not agree that 6 can be housed in a 15 gallon, my sister's pea puffer grew to be the size of a half dollar-she was a female. My sister's other puffer is larger than a quarter though not quite as large as Diva was, but he is a male and has his own 15 gallon tank. Possibly as juvis the puffers can coexist, but as adults I feel they are too territorial and will fight/kill anything in their territory they don't want in their territory.

I would love to put it in a larger tank unfortunately the apartment I am moving into only allows 5 gallons or LESS. However, I am not sure the pea puffer is right for me. I really want to be able to have snails and shrimp in the tank because I am only going to have the one five gallon. Are there any other nano tank fish you would recommend?

 

[pbartholme]

1 puffer is just fine in 5 gallons! Sounds like a perfect setup! I have heard you want lots of plants, like half the tank should be densely planted (I love giving plant suggestions if you need any)



They are very definitely nippy. It is veryyyyy risky putting tank mates in with them. Snails are actually a massive part of their diet, I’ve heard they are known to even peck large mystery snails to death, so I wouldn’t put any snails in that you don’t want to become food! Shrimp can be risky too, I’ve heard sometimes it works sometimes it doesn’t. I would get some cheap ghost shrimp and see how they do first, before spending money on colorful ones!



Not sure how often they need to be fed, but I’ve read they have huge appetites and love to eat snails. I’ve heard many refuse other types of food. I would get a separate tank (can be small, even like 1 gallon) and let a bunch of rams horn or bladder snails (or both) start reproducing in there. Endless food source for the puffer!

I didn't realize how nippy these little fish are! I really wanted to be able to have some snails and shrimp to bring more life into my aquarium. I currently have one Betta and a nerite snail in the five gal. However, I kind of wanted a more community behaved fish. Although my options are extremely limited because of the tank size. Not sure if the pea puffer is right for me

 

[Boundava]

Dwarf rasboras are nice and would work in a 5 gallon. You could also add some cherry shrimp in with them-or other neocaridina variety.
I had some chilli rasbora with Sunkist orange shrimp and they both did well.

Exclamation point rasboras are nice as well.
Ember tetras are small but bigger than the rasboras and may be too big for a 5 gallon with a Betta. Can you have two 5.5 gallon tanks?

Didn't know you had a Betta in the tank already. He is ok with the shrimp? Depending on his temperament he may or may not like tank mates.

 

[OliveFish05]

I didn't realize how nippy these little fish are! I really wanted to be able to have some snails and shrimp to bring more life into my aquarium. I currently have one Betta and a nerite snail in the five gal. However, I kind of wanted a more community behaved fish. Although my options are extremely limited because of the tank size. Not sure if the pea puffer is right for me

You could add some shrimp to your bettas tank? I’ve never had shrimp, but I’ve seen them swimming and bouncing around the planted tank at my LFS, they look like tons of fun and many people have great success keeping bettas with cherry shrimp

 

[Avel1896]

I advice 1 male + 2 females in 30 litres.