Dwarf Pufferfish

Carinotetraodon travancoricus

A one-inch freshwater puffer with huge curious eyes — tiny, smart, and mean as a bouncer at a snail bar.

1 in4 years

Habitat

Enclosure

10 gal · 1–3 puffers

Temperature

72–82°F

Humidity / Water

Fully aquatic · pH 7.0–8.0

Heating & lighting

Heavily planted 10-gal tank, 72-82°F, gentle current. Their teeth never stop growing — hard-shelled snails in the diet are mandatory, not optional.

Diet

Feed these

Small pond snails — shell keeps teeth trimmed
Frozen bloodworms
Blackworms
Brine shrimp

Never feed

Slow long-finned fish — fins get trimmed
Shrimp and snails you like — they are puffer food
Flake-only diets — they refuse flakes

Feed daily — snails and worms, teeth stay trimmed. One inch of pure personality: they beg, they spy on you through the glass, and they remember the pipette.

Cohabitation

Can live with

Dwarf Pufferfish — own species Otocinclus catfish Fast-racing danios

Never house with

Betta Guppy Cherry Shrimp Amano Shrimp

Species-only tank or with very fast, short-finned companions — everything else gets nipped.