Redeye puffer
Carinotetraodon lorteti
Also known as Red-eye red-belly puffer, Lorteti puffer, Red eye puffer, Crested puffer, Somphong's puffer
FreshwaterFish
Care at a glance
- Temperature
- 75–82°F
- 24–28°C
- pH
- 6.0–7.5
- Adult size
- 2.4 in
- 6 cm
- Minimum tank
- 14 gal
- 54 L
- Temperament
- Aggressive
- Social behavior
- Solitary
- Own kind
- One male per tank
- Tankmates
- Species tank only
- Swim level
- Middle
- Difficulty
- Medium
- Breeding
- Medium
- Rarity
- Rare
- Family
- Tetraodontidae
- Origin
- Native to slow, shady streams and flooded areas of the Mekong and Chao Phraya basins in Southeast Asia.
Overview
A small but feisty puffer at around 6 cm, it can live in a planted tank from about 54 litres for a single fish. Keep it at 24 to 28 C and pH 6.0 to 7.5. Males are very territorial, so keep one male alone or with several females in a larger, well-planted tank, and avoid slow long-finned tankmates it may nip. Feed small hard foods such as snails, bloodworm and other frozen meaty items.
In the wild
The redeye puffer is a small freshwater puffer with red eyes and, in males, a red belly and a dark back stripe. Males can raise a small keel on the belly and back when displaying. It lives among leaf litter and plants in slow, shady water.
Good to know
Carinotetraodon lorteti reaches only about 6 cm, one of the smaller puffers. Males are far more colourful than the plainer, rounder females. Like all puffers it can inflate and its tissues can hold tetrodotoxin.
Did you know
A displaying male can raise a ridge along his belly and back, a keel that gives the genus Carinotetraodon its name.
Common questions
What size tank does a Redeye puffer need?
A Redeye puffer needs at least 14 gal (54 L). It spends most of its time in the middle.
What temperature and pH does a Redeye puffer need?
A Redeye puffer is comfortable at 75–82°F (24–28°C) with a pH of 6.0–7.5.
How big does a Redeye puffer get?
An adult Redeye puffer reaches about 2.4 in (6 cm).
Related species
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