Pomacea diffusa

Have you been struggling to find websites that talk about puffers? Well, then sit down and browse through some of the links that I’ve compiled! You’ll only find care sheets and web pages that provide solid information, nothing misleading – like pages that insist puffers can be kept in community tanks.  I’ve also included some links to the Puffer Genome Project, too, if you’re interested in a more scientific discussion, as well as other information about Tetrodotoxin, puffer adaptations, and classification.

I’ve tried to keep the majority of the links related to freshwater and brackish puffer species; however, there are a few general puffer resources and sites focused on marine species that I thought were excellent additions. Before you start browsing, I strongly recommend taking a look at Aqualog: The Puffers of Fresh and Brackish Waters by Klaus Ebert, which is a wonderful source of offline information about these amazing fish. Please note that while I will do my best to maintain this list so that it only contains live links and accurate information, it’s ultimately up to you to do your research and make the judgment call.

• The Puffer Forum – No list of puffer links would be complete without mentioning one of the largest online forums dedicated to just discussing puffer fish! Information about all puffer fish – marine, freshwater, and brackish – is included.
• Dwarf Puffer Forum – Want to learn about all the ins-and-outs of keeping dwarf puffers (Carinotetraodon travancoricus)? Then make sure you check out this website dedicated specifically to the care and discussion of the little guys.
• Green Spotted Puffer.net – This is a very handy website for anyone who keeps a green spotted puffer (Tetraodon nigroviridis). You’ll find general care information, feeding tips, planted tank suggestions, and even a letter template that you can print out and send in to Wal-Mart to protest the sale of green spotted puffers in their store.
• Wet Web Media: FAQs about Freshwater Puffers – A compilation of frequently asked questions about freshwater puffers that cover general care, feeding, health concerns, compatibility, and identification.
• Tetraodon nigroviridis Genome – A hub of links that relate to the Tetraodon nigroviridis genome sequencing project.
• Toxicity of Tetrodotoxin – A description of the effects that Tetrodotoxin has on the human body if consumed.
• Scientific Names for the Genus Tetraodon – A comprehensive set of links that will help you learn to associate the scientific name for your puffer with its common name; something that is very important to become familiar with. If you want to do your own search for freshwater puffers, the following Genus names will start you in the right direction: Tetraodon, Carinotetraodon, Auriglobus and Monotrete.
• Tetraodon nigroviridis Database – An in depth look at the sequencing project for Tetraodon nigroviridis. Really interesting read if you have the time.
• The Puffer Fish Voucher Library – Information regarding an inter-agency project designed to prevent deaths related to Tetrodotoxin poisoning. This link isn’t for the faint of heart; there are images of dead puffers if you decide to click through.
• Introduction to the Freshwater and Brackish Water Puffers – Very well written, comprehensive overview of what you can expect if you decide to keep a freshwater or brackish puffer, from behavior and appearance, to water quality issues.
• Puffer Forum.net – Another puffer website and forum that covers the care of freshwater, brackish, and marine puffer species.
• The Status of Torquigener hypselogeneion – Scholarly article on the following species of marine puffers: Torquigener hypselogeneion, T. florealis, and Torquigener randalli.
• The Puffer Fish Lair – Very detailed site about keeping, acclimating and feeding various species of freshwater and brackish water puffers. It doesn’t appear to have been updated since 2003, but the information that’s already on there will keep you reading for a while!
• List of Freshwater Puffers – A brief list of a few freshwater and brackish species that also includes a short description of each one.
• Brackish and Freshwater Puffers – General information about some of the most commonly encountered fresh and brackish water puffer species.
• Puffernet – Information about puffers in general, including tips for tank setup and purchasing a puffer.
• FAQs about Brackish Water – A very comprehensive page about brackish water; not a puffer specific link, but there is a section specifically dedicated to freshwater and brackish species.
• Tetraodon Genome Browser – If you want to learn more about the actual project, then check out Tetraodon nigroviridis: A Fish with a Compact Genome.
• Puffer Identification – A page dedicated to the identification of puffer species whose origin is unknown; some fin ray counts are included in addition to pictures. There is also a forum and other articles on this website, too.
• Puffer Fish Information – Another forum that covers the discussion of freshwater, brackish and marine puffer species.
• Lagocephalus lunaris (Green Rough-Backed Puffer) – Very nicely laid out school research project on the Green Rough-Backed Puffer, which is a tropical marine species.
• The Puffer List – A collection of profiles and articles about freshwater, brackish and saltwater puffers.
• Tetraodontidae Facts – A brief National Geographic article that describes the various adaptations of the puffer fish.
• Green Spotted Pufferfish: A well written Squidoo lens that covers the basic care of green spotted puffers (Tetraodon nigroviridis) in the home aquaria.
• Toxicity of T. fangi and T. palembangensis: A study that discusses where the highest levels of toxicity were found in a sampling of each species (the highest accumulation of toxin was in the skin).
• Overview of Fresh, Brackish and Marine Puffers: Really neat webpage that talks about the different groups of puffers, and offers a small amount of care information, as well.
• Marine Pufferfish: A brief look at some of the different species of marine puffers.
• A New Record of the Marine Puffer Fish Genus: Read through an article that discusses finding Chelonodon patoca in a freshwater body of water, which was previously only known to inhabit brackish/marine waters.
• Dwarf Puffer: Amazing webpage dedicated to talking about the care, diet and breeding habits of Carinotetraodon travancoricus. I highly recommend checking it out – the pictures are adorable!
• Pufferfish: Very nice article that presents some of the different freshwater and brackish puffer species.

Helpful forum threads you may want to check out:

• Some info on puffers and salinity: This discussion is mostly about Figure 8 puffers, and it talks about the difference between the Figure 8′s natural habitat vs. the preferred aquarium conditions when in captivity.
• Jungle Fish Parasite Clear Tabs: Talks about the best way to use Jungle Fish Parasite Clear fizzy tabs to treat a puffer with internal parasites (IP’s).
• Praziquantel and Metronidazole: Discusses the use of Prazi and Metronidazole with puffers, including tips for administration, like injecting food items.
• Difference between Monotrete and Tetraodon: If you’ve ever been confused as to why some puffer species are in the genus Tetraodon, while others are listed under Monotrete, then you should definitely take a look at this thread.

Do you have a puffer link that you would like to see on this list? Send me your suggestion using the contact form, or by leaving a comment below!

Puffers are a not a good impulse purchase

Making the decision to bring home a fish that has the potential to live just as long, or longer, than a dog is a huge commitment. Puffers are not a novelty item, and you can’t simply return them once they’ve outlived their welcome in your tank. Not only will you have a difficult time finding someone else who has the time and space to devote to a predatory fish, but you also will have to make sure you’re still performing necessary maintenance and water changes while you’re looking.

On this same note, please don’t buy a puffer just to get rid of pest snails in your aquarium. This is horrible advice given out all too freely on Internet forums and at pet stores; there are plenty of other snail eating alternatives that you can choose from.

Sorry, back on topic, now! Taking the above into consideration, I’d like to help you make sure that this is the right pet fish for your situation before you make a potentially costly and time intensive mistake. Here are a few questions that you should take the time to think about before you buy a puffer:

How much experience do you have with aquarium fish?

I’ve made this statement before, but it’s worth saying again: freshwater puffers are not a beginner aquarium fish. If you don’t have experience setting up and maintaining a healthy tropical fish tank, then a puffer probably isn’t the right pet at this point. Instead, wait until you’ve gained some more experience and then try setting up a puffer tank. Your odds of successfully acclimating your puffer into a well adjusted, thriving fish are much higher if you wait, and you’ll be able to trouble shoot problems, like internal parasites (IP’s) better if they occur.

How much tank space do you have available?

Assuming that you’re interested in one of the smaller to midsized freshwater puffer species, then you will need to have at least a 30 gallon fish tank. This doesn’t include room for multiple puffers; just a single fish. However, if you plan on keeping one of the larger species, or even a smaller one that’s very active, then you will need to make sure you can accommodate a larger fish tank in both your living space and your budget. If you’re sitting there shaking your head at the thought of devoting an entire 30 gallon or larger fish tank to a single puffer, then you should probably find a different species of fish to keep.

Are you willing to commit to large, weekly water changes and monitor the water chemistry regularly?

Performing water changes and monitoring water parameters are a fact of life if you plan on keeping any type of fish tank. However, this is something that you absolutely cannot become lax about if you choose to keep a puffer. The amount of stress that a puffer puts on the biological filter is immense due to their protein rich diet and high waste output. Combine their scaleless nature into the mix, and you have a disaster waiting to happen if you’re still convinced that water changes only need to be done once a month. The best piece of advice that I can offer about maintaining your future puffer tank is that you should make sure that you’re keeping a log of your weekly maintenance duties and the results of your water tests. Tracking changes in the water chemistry on a weekly basis will allow you to troubleshoot problems with your puffer tank before they have a chance to escalate – not to mention you’ll be able to pin point exactly what went wrong, too.

Do you have space for a dedicated snail breeding tank?

Developing baby ramshorn snails

Although you could technically get away with using other types of hard food, snails are still by the far one of the easiest ways to feed a puffer on a budget. They aren’t demanding in care and they breed like crazy. A 5-10 gallon plastic tote works great as a snail breeding tank, which means you could potentially set your snail colony up under the stand for your puffer tank.

How much money can you afford to spend on puffer food?

Aside from snails, most puffers still need to have access to a varied diet that consists of crustaceans and other mollusks; if you’re looking at a piscivorous (fish eating) species, then you will have to make sure you can provide a healthy source of feeders, too. You can also use some live feeder insects, like red wigglers, as well. The food bill for some of the larger freshwater puffer species is pretty impressive when you break it down, even if you’re like me and you breed your puffer food and buy the rest when it’s on sale.

Are you willing to keep your puffer as a solitary animal?

Although some puffers can be kept in a species tank, and a select few may tolerate tankmates, the best puffer tank is one that is dedicated to a single fish. In most cases, the word “tolerate” is key; a puffer may allow other fish to live with it, but their existence will most likely be filled with territorial spats, which often end very poorly for the harassed fish in the confines of a glass tank.

Will you take the time to quarantine all live food before it’s offered to your puffer?

This is a very important step that many people overlook, which is unfortunate. All live aquatic prey items, including snails, can transmit parasites and disease to your puffer, so make sure you’re quarantining everything before tossing it in the tank. Even though nothing serious may come out of not quarantining live foods for a long time, you will be in for a rude awakening once it does; it’s not a matter of if your puffer will get sick from eating un-quarantined live food, but a matter of when it will happen. This can be said for any type of predatory fish being kept in the home aquarium that eats live prey.

Are you comfortable with the thought of trimming a puffer’s teeth?

Despite feeding your puffer a consistent diet of hard foods, it’s still possible that they could end up with overgrown teeth. If this happens, you will have to be either comfortable with the idea of sedating your puffer and trimming its teeth, or able to find a vet who can do it for you.

Some Final Thoughts on Determining Why You Want to Keep a Pet Puffer

I know the above may seem like a lot of questions, and some of the answers seem very cynical, but it’s much better to be fully prepared before you take the plunge and get stuck with a fish that you won’t be happy with, or able to properly care for. There’s still time to back out and set up a peaceful community tank before it’s too late! However, if you’re still sure that a puffer sounds like the right fish for you, then please make sure you bookmark this page and check back for the next installment to this series on picking out a puffer.

Not washing the juice off bloodworms can cause an ammonia spike

Since we’re in the market for a few more fish tanks, I thought I’d take a look at what my local Craigslist had to offer. After browsing through some posts, I noticed a trend that really bothered me – people were keeping a lot of hazards next to their tanks that could definitely pose problems for their fish.

For example, there was one ad that had a line of candles sitting on the light strip of their fish tank, a can of hair spray sitting on the stand, and no glass lid to be seen. So, I thought I would compile a quick list of all the things should either never be near your puffer tank, or that can pose a problem to both fish and owner. Don’t forget to let me know if you think I’ve missed any!

1. Cords That Go Directly to the Outlet

Before plugging any of your fish tank equipment in, it’s important to form a drip loop with the cord. This is really easy to do; just take a section of the cord and twist it around a few times so that it loops down before continuing to the outlet. Taking the time to do this will prevent any water drips that get onto the cord from entering the outlet, which will happen when you’re doing maintenance on your tank.

On a completely unrelated note, if you’re running an air pump for your puffer tank, consider using a check valve – they’re a really small investment (less than $5). They will prevent your air tubing and pump from creating a siphon, which usually happens when the power shuts off, but it can also occur if the tubing gets disconnected from the air stone. If water is allowed to enter your pump it will ruin it, and a replacement pump costs a lot more than a small check valve.

2. Lotions, Perfumes and Air Fresheners

Refrain from using lotion directly before reaching your hands into your puffer tank. If you’re in doubt, don’t reach in – the same goes for soap. Or, better yet, consider investing in a set of arm length aquarium gloves that are specifically meant for doing maintenance without getting your hands and arms wet.

Perfumes, air fresheners, and anything else that you spray into the air can potentially harm your puffer if it gets into the water, which can happen through the little openings in the back of the hood if you don’t have them exactly fitted for your equipment – or if you aren’t using a lid on your fish tank (more on this further down). Moral of the story? Don’t do your beauty regimen near your aquarium!

3. Household Cleaning Supplies, Like Window Sprays

Never use chemicals to clean your fish tank, or anything near it, regardless of how dirty it gets. The only exception to this is a dilute solution of bleach, which can be used to clean decorations or equipment if you purchase them used – but obviously never placed directly in your tank while the fish are there. Instead, try removing water drops with a plain wet cloth, and getting rid of calcium deposits and other gunk with a white vinegar/water mixture.

4. Frozen Blood Worms 

Use a fine mesh net to rinse bloodworms off

This one applies more toward people than it does puffers, but I still think it’s an important fish tank hazard to include because I’ve come across many people that didn’t know about it. If you’re going to be feeding your puffer bloodworms, please keep in mind that some people can have nasty reactions when the juice gets on their hands or they breathe the dust in – freeze dried can go airborne if you stir up the dust.

It’s always a good idea to wear gloves when you’re handling them, and use a turkey baster for delivery. Aside from preventing anything from coming in direct contact with skin, a turkey baster is a great way to ensure the bloodworms are placed directly in front of your puffer. That being said, if you forget to wash the blood worms off, or overfeed your puffer, they can indirectly cause harm to it, as well, through an ammonia spike.

5. Open or Absent Aquarium Lids

Just like any other fish, puffers can and will jump, especially if they see something at the top of the water that looks like food –Fish will also try to jump out of the tank if the water quality is poor. For example, a buildup of ammonia can easily burn (and kill) a puffer, which make them try to escape the source of irritation. Always keep the lid down on your puffer tank once you’re done feeding or performing maintenance, and never leave your fish tank without a covering of some sort. If you can’t afford a new hood yet, plexi glass cut to fit works great as a temporary lid – just don’t put your light directly on it.

6. Sharp Rocks and Decorations

Puffers are scaleless fish, which means anything that has jagged edges can potentially hurt them. In particular, watch out for roughly textured decorations that have small openings. Our puffers are constantly trying to fit through holes that are too small for them when they see food coming. Since most puffers spend a lot of time sitting on the bottom of the tank, especially lurkers and ambush species, it’s also very important to make sure that the substrate you use is smooth – this is another reason why I like pool filter sand so much.

7. Snails That Haven’t Been Quarantined

Quarantine your snails!

Like any other type of live food, snails still have to be quarantined before they are safe to feed to your puffer. It’s a very unwise idea to pick up snails from the pet store and then directly toss them into your puffer’s tank. This is another perk to breeding your own snails – you only have to quarantine them once provided that you keep them in sanitary conditions, and you don’t introduce new stock into your colony that hasn’t been previously quarantined, as well. To learn more about snails and other food items, check out my free guide on feeding your puffer, which can be located in the “Free Stuff!” section of this website.

8. Broken Aquarium Heaters

Some of the glass models are easily smashed by larger puffers, which can cause harm to both keeper and fish. To prevent this from happening, consider investing in a shatter proof heater, or fashion a heater guard to place your glass one behind. Additionally, it’s always a good idea to regularly monitor the temperature of the water, because a malfunctioning heater can quickly heat up the tank resulting in a dead puffer.

9. Decorative Rocks and Old Residential Piping that Contain Heavy Metals

When some types of metal are allowed to dissolve in the aquarium, they can actually harm or kill your fish. Lead negatively affects a fish’s gill function, which can be introduced to your tank water through copper, brass or lead piping. Additionally, some wells contain parts that can also leech lead into the water. This is one of the primary reasons why it’s so important to use a quality water conditioner, like Prime, if you’re filling up your puffer tanks with tap water – don’t forget that letting the water “age” in a bucket does not remove any of the harmful heavy metals from it, or the chloramine, either.

Here are a few resources to check out if you would like to read more about heavy metals:

• Lead Pipes and Lead in the Water
• Impacts of Metals on Aquatic Ecosystems and Human Health

Final Thoughts on Keeping Your Puffer Safe from Everyday Hazards

Avoiding contaminating your puffer’s water, or causing your fish unintentional injury through other means, is largely a matter of common sense. It’s usually the little things, like forgetting to shut a lid, spraying some air freshener, or not creating a drip loop, that creates problems down the road. To combat this, consider making a check list to hang next to your puffer tank that you can quickly reference every time you’re doing maintenance or setting up new equipment. Or, just print off the one that I’ve already made for you – check it out!

Do you have any tips of your own that you would like to share? Let me know about them with a comment!

Swimming up and down the glass in their tank is a common behavior that all puffers exhibit, including freshwater, brackish and saltwater species. This is referred to as glass surfing, and it can be a sign of stress, boredom, hunger, or any combination of the above. This is not to be confused with a puffer that is patrolling the glass for snails, which is also a pretty common sight if you have any leftover feeder snails in your puffer tank! Although Tetraodon nigroviridis is not a species of freshwater puffer, they are often sold as such, which is why you’re going to start seeing more information about their care included on this website.

Here’s a more in depth break down of all the common reasons why you might see your green spotted puffer swimming up and down in its tank:

1. Something is wrong with your water parameters. Testing the water is the first thing you should do in the event that you catch your puffer glass surfing, regardless of the species you are keeping. Often, erratic swimming or constant surfing is a sign that there’s something very wrong with the quality of your puffer’s water, or the overall environment that it’s being kept in. A brackish water puffer, like T. nigroviridis, that is being kept in pure freshwater is a prime example of a fish that will probably start glass surfing as it ages. In the case of a green spotted puffer, I would recommend checking the ammonia and nitrite, as well as the specific gravity (SG), which is a measure of the salinity in your fish tank. If you haven’t already, you should definitely pick up a hydrometer so that you can keep track of the SG in your brackish water puffer tank.

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2. The tank is too small for your green spotted puffer. These are very active puffers, and they grow to a decent size – think avocado. If you don’t provide enough room for your puffer to swim, then you will not only notice them swimming up and down the glass out of boredom, but also because the water quality is deteriorating. Ideally, you should provide your puffer with the largest tank you can afford, because the more water you have to dilute the toxins, like ammonia, the healthier your puffer will be in the long run.

3. There aren’t enough decorations and plants breaking up their line of sight. Aside from poor water quality, boredom is another very common reason why green spotted puffers resort to glass surfing. Wouldn’t you start pacing if you didn’t have anything interesting to look at every single day of the week for the rest of your life? Try breaking up their line of sight with different shapes of decorations, rocks and plants to create a more interactive environment that your puffer will enjoy exploring. If you really want to make things interesting, consider partially burying some food in the sand with just the tip exposed at meal time to let your puffer hunt for its prey – it’s a lot of fun to watch them blow streams of water at the sand!

4. Your puffer is hungry. If you’ve already ruled out poor water quality, inadequate tank size and sheer boredom, then your puffer is probably hungry. They’re notorious beggars when it comes to food, and puffers have surprising gluttonous appetites. However, it’s important to remember that even though your puffer will gladly overeat, feeding them so much that their stomachs stretch out is not a healthy practice.

Final Thoughts on Glass Surfing Green Spotted Puffers

Again, on a final note, Tetraodon nigroviridis (green spotted puffer) is not a freshwater puffer; they require brackish water conditions to thrive. Although I see many people asking whether or not a green spotted puffer can survive in straight freshwater, I think it’s important to remember that merely surviving in one’s current conditions is nowhere near thriving.  If you keep your green spotted puffer in the correct type of environment, it will reward you with a very robust personality and beautiful coloration – not to mention a long, healthy life.

Have any questions about keeping Tetraodon nigroviridis, or concerns about a glass surfing puffer? Let me know about them by leaving a comment!

You probably already know that freshwater puffer fish need hard foods to maintain their teeth – if you didn’t, you wouldn’t be asking where to get feeder snails, right? Just as a quick recap, if puffers aren’t regularly fed crunchy prey items, like snails, crabs and whole fresh shrimp, then their teeth will get too long for them to properly chew their food. When this happens, they will eventually lose the ability to eat and slowly start to starve to death. Depending on the species of freshwater puffer you’re keeping, snails may or may not present a long term solution for keeping their growing teeth in check.

However, if you’ve never kept a puffer tank before, then it might not be clear where you’re actually supposed find the little guys. No worries, I’ve been there, too. So, here are a few suggestions that should help you get started in the right direction with finding your own supply of feeder snails for your freshwater puffer fish:

1. Ask local pet stores for any pest snails that they’re getting rid of. One of the easiest ways to find a steady supply of feeder snails for your puffer is to ask around at local pet stores. Most of the time, you will be able to find Ramshorn snails and common pond snails pretty readily. Additionally, many pet stores have an overabundance of Malaysian trumpet snails (MTS), as well. However, it’s worth noting that some people have had problems feeding trumpet snails to their smaller puffers because of the hardness of the shell, so please proceed with caution if you go down that route. The most important thing to remember about obtaining pest snails from a pet store is that you absolutely must quarantine them before offering them to your puffer. No exceptions.

2. Purchase them online from a trusted seller. Another great place to find feeder snails is to look for people selling starter colonies on aquatic forums and bidding sites. For example, both Ebay.com and Aquabid have Ramshorn snails for sale. Just remember that you have to be home when your shipment of feeder snails arrives because they cannot be exposed to temperature extremes. Again, don’t forget to quarantine your snails before feeding them to your puffer.

3. Breed your own snail colony. The best way to ensure that your puffer always gets a crunchy meal is to breed your own snails. Ramshorn snails and common pond snails are both very easy to get started, and they breed prolifically. Planaria are a common sight in a snail tank, and they won’t hurt anything; however, they are a sign that you’re feeding your snails too much, which can pose a threat. You will have to quarantine your initial batch of snails before feeding them to your puffer, but after that, you won’t have to keep repeating the process unless you introduce new stock into your snail colony. Just remember that you have to keep your snails in a sanitary environment if you want them to remain healthy, prolific, and subsequently, a healthy food for your puffer to eat.

On a final note, please remember the snails that you find outside in the garden are not the right type of food to feed your freshwater puffer, especially since they could potentially be contaminated with pesticide residue. That goes for any type of live food you can collect in your backyard, including earth worms, even if you don’t personally spray your yard with pesticides and other chemicals, like weed killers; always assume your neighbor does!

Have any questions about feeding snails to puffers? Let me know in the comments!

Charmander, the red congo

The longer I keep freshwater pufferfish, the more I fall in love with each species. There is such a diverse range of fish in the puffer family, even though it’s a relatively small group as a whole.

Here’s a brief list of a few things that I think set freshwater puffers apart from other aquarium fish:

1. They all have a different personality. Even if someone says that something won’t work for a specific type of puffer – it never hurts to try it out, unless of course it’s going to harm your fish. For instance, most of what I’ve read about Congo puffers (T. miurus) says that they probably won’t eat snails and it will be really hard to transition them to dead prey; neither one of those held true for our little guy, even though they may apply to many other Congo puffers.

Just to illustrate my point, I threw a handful of ramshorn snails in our Congo’s tank thinking that he wouldn’t touch them. Well, he didn’t for months – long enough for their population to explode like crazy. However, one morning I woke up and saw him stalking the glass eating baby snails. It took him less than a week to completely destroy the entire colony of snails. What works for one puffer may not work for another, and that’s why they’re such fascinating fish to keep.

2. Puffers are definitely not community fish. Despite the fact that some people swear by keeping their puffers in a general community tank, there’s still plenty of evidence and solid reasons not to. Like, I don’t know, the fact that all freshwater puffers, even with their cute face and expressive eyes, will always be predators – no matter how long you have kept them in captivity. Or, as I like to refer to them, the Ultimate Predator Fish. After all, what other fish is ridiculously smart (my opinion), has the ability to evade predators by puffing up, can take a serious chunk out of them if that doesn’t work, and if all else fails, gets in the last word by poisoning whatever ate them?

3. I usually know more than the pet store – and I bet you do, too. Unfortunately, most pet stores are not knowledgeable about specialty fish, like freshwater puffers. They usually have a very broad knowledge on keeping fish as a whole, but no hands-on experience with the odd balls that they occasionally stock. However, that being said, it’s also not the pet store employee’s job to do the research for you! If you’re interested in purchasing a freshwater puffer, then you should always come prepared with your own research – and always, always fact check anything you’re told. Although, this could be said of any purchase you make, period.

4. Topping off and water changes are two completely different things. Although frequent, large water changes are important regardless of the type of tank you’re keeping, anything that excretes as much waste as a puffer does demands a strict adherence to a regular maintenance schedule. And as easy as it is to just top off the tank when the water line gets low, don’t forget that toxins, like Ammonia and Nitrite, don’t evaporate. Instead, they’re left behind creating a increasingly concentrated toxic mess the longer you let that water evaporate.

Some Final Thoughts on Keeping Freshwater Puffers

Over the years, I’ve kept quite the variety of tropical fish. And you know what? Puffers are by far my favorite. Although other aquarium fish will always interest me, I enjoy how aware all of our puffers seem to be of their surroundings. For instance, you know how most fish, like mollies, guppies and platys, tend to only notice you’re there when it’s time to eat, and then swim around doing their own thing for the rest of the day?

Well, puffers are very different. Although, ours definitely rush to the glass when they think they’re going to be fed, and I’ve also caught them on more than one occasion observing what I’m doing through the glass, as well. In fact, GIR, our Fahaka puffer, will hover around in the corner of his tank that’s closest to my computer desk the entire time I’m in the room. It definitely gives you a better perspective on the clichéd saying, “feeling like you’re being watched in a fish bowl.”

Book Title: Practical Fishkeeping Pufferfish

Author: Chris Ralph

Price Range: $15-30

Pages: 64

Who Would Buy This:

Hobbyists that are new to keeping freshwater puffers who are looking for a care guide to help them keep their puffer healthy are most likely to get the most out of the Practical Fishkeeping Pufferfish book.

The purpose of the Practical Fishkeeping book on Pufferfish is to offer a thorough resource to hobbyists who wish to keep freshwater or brackish water species of puffers.

Pros:

The first thing that stood out to me about this Practical Fishkeeping book was that it offers the reader many different aspects of puffer care – I was pretty thrilled to see so much promising info packed into one book, especially since I couldn’t find any other books about freshwater puffers at the time.

There are also basic care guides and pictures included for 11 different species of puffers, including the green spotted puffer, dwarf puffer and Fahaka puffer. It’s nice having all of this information physically at hand when you want to flip through a book.

Another aspect of this puffer book that really stood out to me was that it actually goes over breeding – I haven’t run across very many resources that talked about breeding puffers. It also covers setting up a brackish tank, which I thought was pretty cool!

Cons:

The biggest downside to this book is that it tries to cover too many different puffer species in such a short amount of pages – there just isn’t enough information about each one, in my opinion. I also noticed a few of the pictures included depicted puffers that were very skinny (although, some were labeled as such, others weren’t) – I wouldn’t base view of what a healthy freshwater puffer should look like on the pictures in this book.

Value for money?

Although some of the advice in the Practical Fishkeeping Pufferfish book doesn’t really apply to puffers (but it is sound aquarium advice for regular tropical fish), I still think that it is a good read and a worthwhile purchase if you’re new to keeping puffers – one tidbit of info that stood out to me was the author’s recommendation that omnivorous puffers should be offered sinking catfish pellets (p. 24); let me know if you get your puffer to eat dry commercial food!

I would recommend purchasing it as a supplement to another book about freshwater puffers, like the Beginner’s Guide to Freshwater Puffers or the Aqualog Puffer Book.

Where to buy:

Click Here To Buy Practical Fishkeeping Pufferfish

*Please note that this book review contains affiliate links.

Book Title: Aqualog: The Puffers of Fresh and Brackish Waters

Author: Klaus Ebert

Price Range: $40-60

Pages: 96

Who Would Buy This:

If you’re looking for a trusted guide on pufferfish that’s beautifully illustrated, then you’ll love the Aqualog Puffer Book! However, it’s a book that’s more geared towards intermediate-advanced puffer hobbyists.

Pros:

The author, Klaus Ebert, has over 40 years of experience with keeping pufferfish, which definitely makes this a must-have puffer book for your book shelf – there really is no better way to learn about a specialty fish species than from someone else who already actively keeps them.

Another huge plus to the Aqualog Puffer Book is that there are around 300 photographs of fresh and brackish water puffers that are in-color, which makes it a perfect resource if you are looking for an encyclopedia-like book that can help you associate puffers with their correct scientific name.

I’m a pretty big fan of the Aqualog series of books because it is always kept updated, which is by far one of the coolest features of this puffer book – if any information ever changes, you will always be kept in the loop.

Cons:

The Aqualog Puffer Book doesn’t supply any general fish keeping advice, although it was never intended to, anyways – if you’re completely new to keeping freshwater puffers and you’re looking for a book that will tell you how to take care of them, then this probably isn’t the book for you.

Additionally, the descriptions are pretty brief, and I would have really liked to read more about each puffer. However, I understand they puffers are a relatively unstudied group of fish, so it’s pretty hard to compile a lot of in depth information about individual species.

Value for money?

Aqualog: The Puffers of Fresh and Brackish Waters should definitely be on your must have list of puffer books if you’re serious about keeping these fascinating fish as pets. Although it’s a bit pricey, I think you’ll find that it was money well spent; it’s considered one of the best guides out there on fresh and brackish puffers by many hobbyists.

Where to buy:

Click Here To Buy the Aqualog Puffer Book

*Please note that this book review contains affiliate links.

The name “anchorworm” is actually a misnomer of sorts because the “worm” isn’t a worm at all – the parasite is a small crustacean, not an insect, which is usually relatively rare with tropical aquarium fish because it prefers cooler water.

Typically, anchor worms are only seen in pond fish and recently wild caught specimens – goldfish are another frequent victim of this pesky crustacean. You can also inadvertently introduce anchorworms, both eggs and in their free-swimming stage, by adding live plants to your tank or feeding your puffer live foods.

© Freshwater Pufferfish

However, since the majority of freshwater puffers are wild caught fish, you may end up having to deal with an infestation of anchor worms at some point – our Red Congo Puffer (Tetraodon miurus) came home with one that emerged near its gill, in addition to a few other problems, like constipation, fish ick and a few bite marks.

What do anchor worms look like?

The first time that I saw an anchorworm on a fish, I thought that it had a piece of food sticking out of its gill – when the adult form of the parasite is attached to the fish it looks like a small stick with a forked tail.

The anchor worms that attach to your puffer are female, and they carry their egg sacs at the end of their body where the fork is located – the sacs are long and shaped like a tube; however, without a microscope they have the appearance of little balls because they are normally twisted or rolled up.

As their name implies, the head is shaped like an anchor, which makes it so that the parasite can attach firmly to your fish – this is necessary because the afflicted fish will often rub against rocks and other objects in an effort to dislodge the anchorworm. There are different types of anchorworms – they can be found on the eyes, skin, and gills of fish, sometimes burrowing deeply into the musculature to anchor themselves on their host.

Depending on the species, anchorworms can be white, green, red, grey or brown. Sometimes, the females attached to your puffer may appear threadlike, lacking the forked body, because they are immature – they will develop the Y shape when they mature and produce egg sacs.

What symptoms will my puffer exhibit if it has anchor worms?

If you just purchased a wild caught puffer, then you may see anchor worms crop up in a couple of weeks.

A puffer infested with anchorworms will exhibit one or more of the following:

• Loss of appetite
• Flashing
• Dull coloration/darkened belly
• Lethargy
• Swollen bumps on the skin
• Difficulty breathing (from anchorworms in gills)
• Unexplained puncture wounds
• Obvious anchorworms hanging out of the body

Sometimes, a swollen bump will form where the anchorworm is attached to your puffer – this can become red and infected, so it’s very important to keep an eye on the site.

What is the life cycle of an anchor worm?

© Freshwater Pufferfish

Like fish ick, anchor worms have a free swimming larval stage, as well as an adult stage where they are attached to the body of the fish.

The larval stage burrows into the muscle of the fish to develop, and will only emerge from the skin when it’s an adult – as the anchor worm is burrowing back out of the skin, you will probably notice your puffer flashing and rubbing up against objects in an attempt to get rid of the irritation.

The free swimming larval stage can be introduced through contaminated water, as well – which is why you should never add the bag water to your main tank.

It takes the larvae several months to develop, emerge and then mate – once the female anchorworm attaches to the puffer, it will take a couple of weeks for the eggs to develop and hatch. When the eggs hatch, you will have a fresh batch of microscopic anchorworms swimming around in the water column searching for a host so that they can repeat the cycle again.

Can anchor worms kill my freshwater puffer fish?

Yes and no – if your puffer dies after being infested with anchor worms it will probably be because of a secondary infection or an overdose of medication. Technically speaking, a heavy enough infestation could definitely kill a fish – but it would most likely be the result of weakened state of the puffer caused by the feeding habits of the attached anchorworms.

When an adult female anchor worm burrows underneath the skin of your puffer, completes its life cycle by laying eggs, and then dies, the parasite will leave an open wound. This leaves your puffer susceptible to secondary infections, which can be difficult to treat because puffers are scaleless fish – in conjunction with the fish’s weakened state, medication can sometimes prove fatal.

How do I treat a freshwater puffer with anchor worms?

There are three different methods of getting rid of anchor worms:

• Using medicine dips
• Dosing the entire tank
• Applying medicine directly to the anchor worm

The most common remedy for pufferfish with anchorworms is a medicine called Praziquantel.  Although Prazi can be injected into food items, like snails and night crawlers, to treat internal parasites, I opt for treating the entire puffer tank because unlike IP’s, anchorworms have a free swimming stage – if you only dose the food with medication, you will not eliminate any of the larvae before they reach your puffer to repeat the cycle.  

If you’re having difficulty finding a pet store that carries Prazi, then you can always look online, as well – I buy the Jungle Parasite Clear Tank Buddies (fizzy tabs), which contain Praziquantel. You can treat 10 gallons with each tab, so a 30 gallon tank will need approximately 3 tabs per dose. You will want to dissolve the tabs before adding the medicine to the water.

I also follow up treatment for anchorworms with a dose of Melafix to help prevent the wounds left by the dead parasites from becoming infected – Melafix is widely accepted as a gentle enough medication to use on puffer fish, just remember to increase the amount of dissolved oxygen during treatment as a safety precaution.

In addition to treating your puffer with Prazi, you will also need to perform large water changes for the best results – when I treat my puffers for parasites, I try to change 50% of the water at least every other day. Doing so will not only help you maintain good water quality so that your puffer’s risk of secondary infection is lower, but the water changes will also remove any free-swimming anchorworms so they don’t have time to reach their host.

Make sure you read the instructions on the medication because they may have a different suggestion for the frequency of water changes during treatment.

© Freshwater Pufferfish

Some sources suggest manually removing the adult anchor worms with tweezers. However, I don’t recommend trying to pull the parasites out because you will most likely do more damage to your fish than the anchor worm is doing – the parasites that are visibly hanging off of your puffer are very deeply rooted under the skin, and possibly the muscle, as well. If you feel that pulling out the worms is the best route for you, then you should at least consult with a vet before attempting the procedure.

Make sure you are prepared to treat the gaping wound for infection, and don’t leave the head of the anchor worm behind – this will require firmly grasping the anchor worm as closely as possible at the base where it is embedded your puffer’s skin; do not pull in the middle of the parasite’s body or near the tail.

Unless you have a completely cycled quarantine tank, then it will be easier to just keep your puffer where they’re at and treat the entire tank as a whole – this will also help ensure that all stages of the anchorworm are eradicated. However, if you do have a spare tank that’s cycled, you could move your puffer to the sick tank and use dips and spot treatments to get rid of the attached anchorworms – the free swimming larvae that you leave behind will die in a few weeks because they won’t be able to find a host.

Final Words about Treating Puffers for Anchor Worms

If you wake up one day to see a Y-shaped worm dangling off of your freshwater puffer – don’t panic! Although anchor worms can potentially kill a fish because they weaken their immune system which leaves them susceptible to secondary infections, the parasites are more annoying than anything else in most cases – it normally take a large number of anchor worms to weaken a puffer to the point of death.

Always, always watch your puffer for signs of stress when you add a medication directly to the water – you may have to cut the dose in half because they are scaleless fish.

As a side note, many people confuse anchor worms, which again are crustaceans, with planaria, which are flatworms – fortunately, it’s very easy to tell the two apart. In the simplest terms, if you have an infestation of planaria in your fish tank, then you will see the worms all over the glass and possibly free floating in the water – they do not attach to fish.

In fact, they are relatively harmless little creatures and are actually very similar to pest snails in that they are a good warning sign that you are feeding your tank too much – if you see white worms with a triangular head all over your aquarium glass, then your tank has an overabundance of nutrients (and probably too much gravel), so you should really cut back on the amount of food your feed your puffer fish.  

© Freshwater Pufferfish

I like to keep a variety of snails on hand for my puffers, including pond snails (also known as bladder snails), Ramshorn snails and Mystery snails. There many different species of pond snails, but most of them look almost identical, which makes it hard to tell them apart – this is why I am using the blanket term, pond snail, to refer to any snail that has a clear brown shell with black spots, a pointed spire and is less than 25mm in size.

I used to have a lot of difficulty getting my snails colonies started – I still jokingly call myself the worst snails breeder, ever. It seemed like everyone else was always having a problem with an exploding colony of pest snails in their tank, normally when they didn’t want them, and I wasn’t even getting Malaysian Trumpet Snails to breed (see what I mean about the worst snail breeder, ever?).

However, I noticed a few things that really helped things along:

• Start with a large enough colony of adults. This really falls under common sense, but the more adult snails you have the quicker you will start seeing large numbers of baby snails. Luckily, the two most common snails raised for puffer food, pond snails and ramshorn snails, are hermaphroditic – which means that unlike the Mystery Snail which requires a male and female specimen, these little guys just need two snails to start a colony. However, you will see better results if you start with at least 10 adults.

• Keep the snail species separate from each other. Some species of snails will continually eat the eggs of other snails, which makes it really difficult to get a colony going in strong enough numbers to start feeding off – snails that lay eggs in jelly sacs on the glass and other hard surfaces, like the pond snails, are the most vulnerable to predation. Additionally, you should also keep your snails separate from fish, even peaceful species that don’t harm the adult snails, because most fish have no problem eating snail eggs for dinner if given the chance.

• Keep an abundance of food available at all times. Most people have problems with explosions of pest snails in their tanks because they over-feed their fish. Well, it works the same way when you’re trying to breed a colony of snails on purpose – they will breed faster when there is a steady and abundant source of food available. I alternate between offering zucchini rounds, crushed peas, broccoli and spinach (all things I hate to eat!) to my snails every day – you can also use algae wafers, as well.

• Learn about the basic requirements of each species. Just like aquarium fish, there are tropical and temperate freshwater species of snails. For instance, if you’re going to try to raise pond snails for your freshwater puffer, then you will not need to setup a heater in your breeding tank because they are found in coldwater – in fact, some species of pond snail will not survive very long in heated water. Room temperature seems to suit mine just fine.

• Leave them alone to do their thing! I had this problem when I first started breeding cockroaches as feeders, as well – I just couldn’t stop bothering them, and as a result, they wouldn’t breed. Instead, once I got discouraged and decided to forget about the tubs of roaches, I came back one day to check on them only to discover the colony had exploded with hundreds of little babies. I’ve noticed that most of the snails I keep are the same way – don’t bother them more than you have to, except for the weekly water changes and removing uneaten food.

So, now that we have that out of the way, let’s talk about getting the pond snail colony set up:

You will need:

• Sponge filter

• Air pump

• Container

• Adult pond snails

• Green veggies

1. Set up a breeding tank for your pond snail colony. You can use almost anything for this, including plastic totes, Critter Keepers, and small glass fish tanks. I use a mixture of all three; however, my pond snails are in a simple plastic tote. I like to use containers that are see-through so that I can easily monitor my snail tank, but it isn’t necessary.

2. Hook up the air pump to the sponge filter. You can use a regular hand on the back filter if you want – however, I like using sponge filters for snail breeding tanks because they create less disturbance and they don’t suck up the little babies when they are free floating in the water. Additionally, the sponge is a great medium for a healthy biological filter, which is definitely a perk when you are trying to keep a large bioload.

3. Let the tank cycle before introducing your initial snails. Just like when you’re setting up a tank for fish, you will need to allow your snail tank to mature first before you start throwing them in. Although most pond snails are pretty hardy and can probably survive an uncycled tank, you will have a healthier colony if you wait.

4. Purchase at least 10 pond snails.The amount of snails you start with

© Freshwater Pufferfish

really depends on how patient you are and how many snails you need to feed your puffer on a daily basis – I’m pretty impatient, and I have more than 1 puffer to feed, so I normally start out with 20 or more adult snails. However, 10 will get you started if you don’t need a very high output.

You can purchase snails online from sellers on Ebay, or you can look around for them at local pet stores – check the plant tanks, because pond snails are commonly found hitchhiking on shipments of Anacharis. If you’re lucky, you may find a local store that’s willing to give them to you for free just to get rid of them.

5. Feed your snails daily. If you want your snails to stay healthy, you will need to offer them nutritious foods. I like to use fresh green veggies, like spinach leaves and peas, because it’s a cheap way to feed my snails and whole veggies don’t cloud up the water like most algae wafers will. Just remember to remove the uneaten food every day so that it doesn’t rot and foul the water!

6. Change the water in the snail tank at least once per week. I like to change 50% of the water in my snail tanks every week, although sometimes it ends up being two 25% water changes per week instead. Just remember to stay consistent.

7. Leave your snails alone! Both the common pond snail and Ramshorn snails lay small clusters of eggs enclosed in jelly sacs. I’ve noticed that pond snails tend to have to rhyme or reason to their egg clusters, while Ramshorn snails lay their eggs in circular or oval pattern.

© Freshwater Pufferfish

Since the jelly sacs are clear, it’s difficult to see them unless they are laid on the glass – however, if you do get the chance, watch the eggs develop into little baby snails! It’s a really neat process, and the baby snails move around in their sacs before breaking free, which is pretty fun to watch. Once the babies hatch, they are like miniature adult snails and are completely self sufficient.

When you’re breeding pond snails for puffer food, it’s important to remember that you cannot immediately start feeding off snails from your colony – if you start too soon, you will quickly deplete your supply which means you will have to start the whole process over again. At the very least, give your colony several months to mature before you start heavily picking off snails. Each adult can potentially lay several hundred babies before they die, so you shouldn’t have to wait long! In the meantime, you can offer your puffer other hard foods, like whole shrimp, feeder insects and live feeder crabs.

As a side note, I’ve really started to get interested in keeping aquatic snails as pets now that I’ve finally got an abundance of them – ramshorn snails are one of my favorites, closely followed by the intricately patterned bladder snails. I’m still working on learning the correct names for all the snail species I have because common names, like bladder snail, are virtually worthless when it comes to describing a species – there are too many variations that reference multiple species of snail.

If you’re interested in learning more about keeping snails, then I highly recommend finding a copy of Apple Snails in the Aquarium by Dr. Gloria Perera and Jerry G. Walls – although its main focus is apple snails, there is also a section on other snails in the aquarium, as well. I think one of the best ways to learn how to successfully breed an animal is to learn how it lives in the wild, and Apple Snails in the Aquarium does much more than that.