Abei puffer

Care at a glance

Overview

The Abei puffer is an aggressive, territorial ambush fish that is best kept entirely on its own; it does not tolerate its own kind and will bite tankmates, so a species tank of one is the safe default and any companions are a risk to treat with great caution. It sits and waits in the lower and middle water, often settling into sand. Like all puffers its beak grows continuously, so feed hard-shelled foods such as snails, clams, mussel, and shrimp to keep it worn down, alongside other meaty frozen foods. Give it a soft sand floor, some cover, and clean, well-filtered water with low nitrate. A tank of around 160 liters or more suits a single adult.

In the wild

The Abei puffer comes from the Mekong basin, where it lives over sandy and muddy floors in slow to moderate stretches of river and flooded ground. Give it a soft sand bed it can settle into, some driftwood and planted cover, gentle flow, and clean, stable water. Keep it warm at about 24 to 28 C and from mildly acidic to neutral, roughly pH 6 to 7.5, with low nitrate.

Good to know

A freshwater member of the pufferfish family Tetraodontidae, it reaches around 12 centimeters and is patterned with pale or orange spots on a dark body. Like other members of the genus Pao it is a substrate spawner in which the male guards the eggs, though breeding is not recorded in home aquaria. It was formerly placed in the genus Tetraodon.

Did you know

The genus name Pao comes from the Thai and Lao name for pufferfish, pla pao, which translates roughly as purse fish, a nod to the way a threatened puffer swells its body like a drawstring bag.

Common questions

Related species

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