Dwarf Pufferfish, Pea Puffer (Carinotetraodon travancoricus) care guide

Group
Freshwater fish
Other names
Dwarf puffer, Malabar puffer, Pygmy puffer, Indian dwarf puffer
Family
Tetraodontidae (puffers)
Origin
Endemic to south-west India – rivers, lakes and streams of Kerala and southern Karnataka in the Western Ghats region, usually in heavily vegetated water.
Water
freshwater
Maximum size
2.5 cm
Temperature
22–28°C
pH
6.8–8
Hardness
Medium to hard, 5–25 dGH
Minimum tank
12 litres
Care level
intermediate
Temperament
semi_aggressive
Lifespan
About 5 years

Care

The pea puffer is probably the smallest puffer in the world, adult at around 2.5 cm. A single fish can live in a tank as small as 30 × 20 × 20 cm (about 12 litres); for a group, allow roughly 8–12 litres per puffer and give a bigger tank so weaker fish can get away from bullies. Unlike most puffers it naturally lives in shoals, but in a tank males can squabble, so more females than males is the safer mix. A densely planted tank with plenty of broken sight lines suits them well – stem plants, moss, wood and floating plants all help cut down on chasing. They are curious, intelligent fish that watch everything going on around them. The biggest special need is food. They are fussy carnivores that rarely take dried food, so you need a steady supply of live or frozen foods and small snails. Breeding your own snails (ramshorn or bladder snails) in a separate tub is the easiest way to keep up. Without hard-shelled food their beaks can overgrow. Keep them in clean, well-filtered water at 22–28 °C, around neutral to slightly alkaline (pH roughly 6.8–8) and moderately hard. Despite sometimes being sold as brackish fish, they are a true freshwater species and should not be kept in salt. Males develop a dark stripe along the middle of the belly and often show more colour; females are rounder and plainer. Like other puffers they can inflate with water when stressed and contain tetrodotoxin, so they must never be eaten. Most pea puffers in the trade are still wild-caught in Kerala. The species is listed as Vulnerable by the IUCN, with heavy collecting for the aquarium hobby given as one of the main causes of decline, so captive-bred fish are worth choosing where you can find them. Sources: Seriously Fish (seriouslyfish.com/species/carinotetraodon-travancoricus/); FishBase (fishbase.se/summary/Carinotetraodon-travancoricus.html); Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malabarpufferfish). Checked October 2026.

Diet

A carnivore that hunts insect larvae, water fleas, copepods and other tiny invertebrates. Dried food is usually refused, so feed live and frozen foods such as bloodworm, mosquito larvae and Daphnia, plus a regular supply of small shelled snails, which also help wear down the constantly growing teeth.

Breeding

Has been bred in aquaria. In the wild the main spawning season is May to August. Females scatter a few eggs (about 1–5) every few days among fine plants or moss, and the eggs hatch after about five days at 27 °C. Condition a pair or a male with several females on plenty of live food in a well-planted tank, and move eggs or fry to a separate tank as the adults may eat them. Fry need the tiniest live foods such as infusoria at first, then newly hatched brine shrimp and microworm.

Compatibility and tank mates

Best kept in a species tank. Pea puffers nip the fins of slow-moving or long-finned fish and will eat shrimp and snails. Small, fast fish or small armoured catfish sometimes work in a large, well-planted tank, but watch closely and be ready to separate them.

Last updated 5 October 2026. Community-edited care guide on Aquatic-Auctions.

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