Freshwater Puffer Fish belongs to the family Tetradontidae and they have four teeth.  Due to their defensive mechanism ability to inflate themselves with air or water when they feel threatened, they are called Puffer Fish, making them difficult to the predators to swallow them.  They have black eyes that turn blue when they are in the light and their eyes move interestingly independent of each other.  They can be found in freshwater, brackish water and sea water.  Due to the different kinds of water they lived in, they can be of different colours and sizes.

Puffers are interesting, intelligent and active fish, but they can be predators with nasty temperament.  In an aquarium, they can be fin nippers and become more aggressive as they grow older or if they are not well fed. In a freshwater community tank, Puffer Fish will thrive well with the fast swimming fish such as Danios, Rainbow Fish, or Barbs. Pufferes love snails, crabs and shrimps.

Puffers can live for several years if maintained in good condition. For the freshwater species, they thrive well with a little salt in the water, with temperature maintained at 24 – 26°C, but they are sensitive to low dKH and pH below 7.0. 

Puffers can be stubborn feeders, and most will need time to accept a variety of food given to them. Frozen food such as blood worms, dried shrimps, krill, brine shrimp are good recommendations for the Puffers. Their powerful teeth are used to crack open snail shells, so be sure to regularly add small aquatic snails in their diet to wear down their teeth. Adding snails will help the Puffers practice their hunting skills.

Sexing the Puffers can be difficult when they in juvenile stage. One way to determine the sex is to  to look at its body shape, with the female’s body much rounder than the male’s.  The males usually have a dark line that runs down their belly which are more yellow in colour. 

If you are attracted to this fish, you may consider keeping the dwarf puffers which reaches an adult size of about 2.5cm (1 inch).