Indian Dwarf Pea Puffer

Regular price: $8.49
Sale price: $8.49
Regular price: ~~$16.99~~
Unit price: per

Choose a Pack:

Quantity

Quantity must be 1 or more

It's that time of year again, folks!
Add one Heat Pack per order to ensure your new friend's comfort during shipping.

Heat packs aren't required but are highly recommended. Orders without them won't be covered by our Live Arrival Guarantee if your local weather is below 40°F.

Looking for an oddball centerpiece fish for a nano aquarium? Perhaps your tank has a snail overpopulation problem?

Check out these tiny pea puffer fish!

First: the warnings:

Indian Dwarf Pea Puffers (Carinotetraodon travancoricus) should not be kept with slow moving, long finned fish such as Bettas. They love to aggressively nip and pick at fins. I have had success keeping a single Puffer with a school of quick darting Tetras, but I would not recommend it as a matter of course.

If you do keep a Puffer with other fish in a community tank, do know that they are aggressively territorial. You will need to have plenty of space (a 20 gallon minimum), and lots of plants and decor to break up the line of sight for these guys,

Secondly, Pea puffers will not eat dry foods. They are exclusively live and frozen feeders. They enjoy chopped up frozen bloodworms, live snails, and hatched baby brine shrimp in my tanks. I have heard of other hobbyists having some success with dry foods when these Pea Puffers are in groups. Didn't work for me though!

If you are able to both:

keep pea puffers in a species only tank, and
feed them live foods, then they are remarkably undemanding!

Now the perks:

These Puffers are tiny!

I keep one comfortably in a planted 5 gallon kingdom. They keep my tanks snail free.

They are among the most intelligent fish I've ever kept. Distinct and endearing personalities make these a winner for me!

Native to India, these are some of the only fully freshwater species of puffers in the world.

Your puffers will grow to a maximum of 1". Purchase size is smaller, about 1/2", and are unsexed.

Care Parameters:

Carnivorous Puffers can be kept with quick moving community fish
Should not be kept with Snails (including nerites and mysteries) or shrimp
Males are territorial, so make space!
Growth to a maximum of 1"
3-5 year life span

Undemanding Water Parameters:

PH: 6.0 - 7.5
Temperature: 70- 80 Degrees
Hardness: 5- 15 dH

I ship insulated with medicated water, and Purigen, by tracked and insured USPS Priority only, and use cool packs when needed.

Do consider purchasing a heat pack if the temperatures in your area are below 40 degrees!

Please arrange to pull these little guys right indoors once they arrive to your mailbox. USPS also has a free mail hold service on their website. Please utilize this service if no one can be home.

While in quarantine before being sold, we treat all our live fish with the ‘Med Trio’; Maracyn for bacterial infections, Paracleanse for internal and external parasites, and Ich-X for fungal infections.

Customer Reviews

Based on 1 review Write a review

My favorites

I was having a little trouble with an older female dwarf puffer, who selected 1 of 2 new additions, and tried to kill the other. After I told her to knock it off, she kept control of the one, and the other had to stay on his side of the tank.
Introduced the new guy, and they are in the process of re-allocating their spaces in the 11g with 32" of width to make home. The new guy wasn't the least bit intimidated, and once again, it now appears to be a happy tank.
But mainly, these dwarf puffers have been amazingly resilient, suffered neglect that couldn't be helped, and are thriving today. I just wish I had room for more!

Hardy Critters!

I've had these little guys for a while now, and ashamedly admit they've taken some abuse. I moved, and during the move, my aquariums with all their fish, shrimp, and snails were neglected. Neglected to the point that not only did water not get changed, it got gross! Temps and water change were a low priority. I felt bad, but it was what it was.
Roll forward and two months later I was finally able to give them the attention they deserved. Of course, that was assuming any had survived. That included 5 Pea Puffers, 8 CPDs, a qty of Neocardina shrimp, and a couple of mystery snails.
Didn't lose a single fish and the shrimp have multiplied like crazy. I did lose the snails. I love my little Puffers. They still come to see what I'm doing. The CPDs are crazy and thriving.
These guys are survivors, but I have to think a lot of credit has to go to Glass Grown, Cass & the Gang. They are raising some hardy critters that have survived incredible abuse. Can't wait to order more!
Thanks, Cass, and all your staff! You continue to take great care of my aquarium needs. Let me know when you have more Puffers as I've started a larger tank. You know, MTS and more.

Shy But Exploring

Bought the 3 pack and love these little guys. They were extremely shy when I first put them in a temporary tank. As soon as my hand went over the tank to feed them they would disappear.

I moved them to another tank that had a few other relatively new residents and they seem to be less shy. They have finally started to come to the front of the tank and are investigating their new environment.

I would buy them again in a heart beat!

Shy But Exploring

Bought the 3 pack and love these little guys. They were extremely shy when I first put them in a temporary tank. As soon as my hand went over the tank to feed them they would disappear.

I would buy them again in a heart beat!