Ocellated puffer

Care at a glance

Overview

The ocellated puffer, sometimes sold as the emerald puffer, is a classic grumpy freshwater puffer that is best kept alone; it is aggressive toward its own kind and toward tankmates, so a species tank suits it and any companions are a risk to treat with great caution. It moves through the middle and lower water among plants and cover. Its beak grows for life, so feed hard-shelled foods such as pond and ramshorn snails, plus shrimp and other meaty frozen foods, to keep the teeth trimmed. Give it a well planted tank with cover and clean, stable water. A tank of around 110 liters or more suits a single adult.

In the wild

This species lives in the lowland ponds, ditches, and slow rivers of the Ganges and Brahmaputra plains and nearby parts of South Asia, in warm, weedy water. Recreate that with dense planting, driftwood, gentle flow, and a soft floor. Keep it warm at about 24 to 28 C and from neutral to slightly alkaline, roughly pH 6.5 to 7.8, with clean water and low nitrate.

Good to know

A member of the pufferfish family Tetraodontidae, it reaches about 15 centimeters and is olive to emerald green with a dark eyespot near the base of the tail. Long known as Tetraodon cutcutia, it was returned to the genus Leiodon in a 2013 review of Southeast Asian fishes. Unusually for a freshwater puffer, its breeding is well documented: a pair spawns on a flat surface and the male guards and fans the eggs until they hatch.

Did you know

It is one of the few freshwater puffers that will readily spawn in aquaria, with the male standing guard over a single layer of eggs and fanning them until the fry hatch about a week later.

Common questions

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