Top 10 Pufferfish You Can Keep in Freshwater and Brackish AquariumsOut of all the oddball fish, we’ve always had a fascination with puffer fish because of their highly intelligent nature, helicopter-like maneuverability, and large, inquisitive eyes. Plus, they have unique defense mechanisms, such as inflating like a living water balloon and carrying the tetrodotoxin poison that discourages would-be predators. (Note to self: do not try to eat a pet puffer.) Most pufferfish are semi-aggressive to aggressive carnivores with ever-growing teeth like a beaver, so ...
Care Guide for Pea Puffers – The Smallest Pufferfish in the WorldPea puffers are one of the coolest oddball species you can keep in a smaller-sized aquarium. They’re known for their helicopter-like maneuverability, independently moving eyes, and of course, ability to inflate like a tiny water balloon. In this practical care guide, we answer your most frequently asked questions about these amazing, little creatures. What Is a Pea Puffer? Carinotetraodon travancoricus – also known as the pea puffer, Indian dwarf puffer, Malabar puffer, and pygmy puffer – is ...
Care Guide for Amazon Puffers – Freshwater Puffer for Community TanksPuffers are fascinating fish in the aquarium hobby because of their unusual, globelike shape and intelligent personalities, but many species grow incredibly large, require brackish water, or are too aggressive to be kept with other tankmates. Fortunately, the Amazon puffer is one of the few freshwater “community puffers” that only grows to 3 inches (7.6 cm) long and can live with other fish. Find out how to care for this amazing oddball and see if it’s the right pufferfish for you. What is th...
What do puffers eat?Most puffer fish have four, continually growing teeth in the front of their mouths that form a “beak,” enabling them to chomp through the hard shells of crustaceans and mollusks. To prevent their teeth from becoming too long, you must grind them down by feeding all sorts of crunchy foods, such as bladder snails, ramshorn snails, freeze-drilled krill, clams, and oysters. While it may take a bit of training, some hobbyists have successfully fed Repashy gel food mixed with crushed oyster shells ...
How do you clip a pufferfish’s teeth?If the hard foods are not filing down their beaks enough, your puffer’s teeth may become so overgrown that they can no longer properly eat. To prevent them from starving, you need to clip the tips of their teeth using a pair of sharp cuticle trimmers. Do your research to find out which method works best for you, but a common technique is to add 2-4 drops of clove oil per 1 liter (about 4.25 cups) of water. Add the puffer into the mild anesthetic solution and it should become sedated within a ...
How do you deworm a puffer?Pufferfish are especially prone to internal parasites like tapeworms, but the dewormers only get rid of adult worms and do not affect unhatched eggs. Therefore, you must apply multiple deworming treatments to ensure all the eggs have hatched and are eliminated. For our personal puffers, we treat them with the quarantine medication trio and then wait two weeks. Next we follow up with a 5-day treatment of Fritz ParaCleanse (using the instructions on the box) and then wait a month. Afterwards, w...
Tetraodon MBU - The Under Water Giant PuppyThe Tetraodon MBU puffer is the largest freshwater species of puffer fish. Getting 22+ inches in a home aquarium. With the fish getting so big, most aquarists struggle to keep one healthy. While my largest one has only gotten to 22 inches, I suspect they’ll grow to as large as 30 inches depending on how they are raised throughout their extended lives. The first question is always what size of an aquarium? Some say 300 gallons, some say 1000 gallons etc. The reality is the foot print is much m...
How to Set Up (and Maintain) a Brackish AquariumIf you have been keeping freshwater aquariums for a while, you may feel like you’ve already tried everything in the hobby, such as nano tanks, aquascaping, African cichlids, and ponds. Consider setting up your first brackish fish tank that will allow you to try an entirely new category of animals. Many aquarists get a little nervous about making brackish water, but in our opinion, it is quite easy for anyone who has kept freshwater tanks before. Learn what it takes to create and maintain your...
What eats pest snails in aquarium?Pest snails are actually in high demand if you own a snail-eating fish because they provide a lot of essential nutrients and enrichment for the animal to display its natural hunting behavior. Almost all freshwater pufferfish – from the tiny pea puffer to the massive Mbu puffer – love to eat snails, and the crunchiness of the snail shells can help grind down puffer teeth and prevent them from getting too long. Many loaches – such as clown, zebra, yoyo, and dwarf chain loaches – can use their p...
How do you humanely kill a pest snail?Feed your extra snails to snail-eating fish (like puffers and loaches), give them to other hobbyists who own snail eaters, or crush them for a quick death. For more information, read our full article on how to get rid of aquarium pest snails.
What fish can you put in a 5-gallon aquarium?A 5-gallon fish tank is the ideal size for your office desk or dorm room, but it can be hard to find creatures that are small enough to live in it. Check out this article that covers our 5 favorite fish that are perfect for inhabiting a nano aquarium. Dwarf pea puffer Rosy loaches Green neon tetras White cloud mountain minnows Scarlet badis
Care Guide for Assassin Snails — Natural Way to Get Rid of Pest SnailsIf you have a freshwater aquarium that is infested with bladder snails, ramshorn snails, or Malaysian trumpet snails (MTS), it may seem impossible to get rid of them. It’s hard to root out every single egg or baby snail hiding amongst the plants and substrate, and chemical pesticides can often have a negative impact on the other living creatures in your fish tank. Luckily, there is a little helper you can employ that will happily sniff out any pest snails — the amazing assassin snail. Learn h...
5 Amazing Wild Betta Species that You Should Try BreedingEveryone has heard of Betta splendens, the colorful, flowy-finned betta fish you see in pet stores. But did you know there are several other species in the Betta genus that can be kept in home aquariums? As with B. splendens, most of them come from the vegetation-filled swamps and marshes of tropical countries in Southeast Asia. Because of the low oxygen levels in stagnant waters, these anabantoids have a special labyrinth organ that allows them to swim up to the water surface to gulp air. Th...
Care Guide for Mystery Snails — Entertaining and Useful ScavengerMany aquarium hobbyists don’t like pest snails like bladder, ramshorn, and Malaysian trumpet snails because they can rapidly increase in population even if you only start with one. In contrast, mystery snails (Pomacea diffusa and P. bridgesii) are really cool, little pets that you can buy at your local pet or fish store for only $3–4. They cannot self-fertilize or change their sex, which makes it much easier to control their breeding, and unlike their larger apple snail relatives, they won’t ...
How to Pick the Best Fish Foods That Aquarium Fish Can’t ResistWith so many brands and types of fish foods at the pet store, how do you know which one to get? Many beginners just reach for a jar that has a picture of their fish on the front without considering whether or not their fish will actually eat it. Living animals actually have preferences when it comes to the taste, ingredients, and form factor, and picky eaters may even refuse the most expensive, high-quality brands if they don’t suit their needs. Let’s talk about the different types of fish fo...
Cory McElroy | Company Owner and Founder Started Aquarium Co-Op in June of 2012Q: Your Favorite thing about working at Aquarium Co-Op? A: My role is always evolving, however the one thing that mains true is that I love helping people. Whether it’s one on one in person at the store or at an event or in a video, I take pride in my work knowing what I do helps others. Master Aquatic Horticulturalist Served on the Board of Directors for the Greater Seattle Aquarium Society as the Fish Breeder Award Program Chair Named in Pet Age Magazine as a top 40 under the age of 40. Q: ...
Top 10 Pufferfish You Can Keep in Freshwater and Brackish Aquariums
Out of all the oddball fish, we’ve always had a fascination with puffer fish because of their highly intelligent nature, helicopter-like maneuverability, and large, inquisitive eyes. Plus, they have unique defense mechanisms, such as inflating like a living water balloon and carrying the tetrodotoxin poison that discourages would-be predators. (Note to self: do not try to eat a pet puffer.) Most pufferfish are semi-aggressive to aggressive carnivores with ever-growing teeth like a beaver, so ...
Care Guide for Pea Puffers – The Smallest Pufferfish in the World
Pea puffers are one of the coolest oddball species you can keep in a smaller-sized aquarium. They’re known for their helicopter-like maneuverability, independently moving eyes, and of course, ability to inflate like a tiny water balloon. In this practical care guide, we answer your most frequently asked questions about these amazing, little creatures. What Is a Pea Puffer? Carinotetraodon travancoricus – also known as the pea puffer, Indian dwarf puffer, Malabar puffer, and pygmy puffer – is ...
Care Guide for Amazon Puffers – Freshwater Puffer for Community Tanks
Puffers are fascinating fish in the aquarium hobby because of their unusual, globelike shape and intelligent personalities, but many species grow incredibly large, require brackish water, or are too aggressive to be kept with other tankmates. Fortunately, the Amazon puffer is one of the few freshwater “community puffers” that only grows to 3 inches (7.6 cm) long and can live with other fish. Find out how to care for this amazing oddball and see if it’s the right pufferfish for you. What is th...
Tetraodon MBU - The Under Water Giant Puppy
The Tetraodon MBU puffer is the largest freshwater species of puffer fish. Getting 22+ inches in a home aquarium. With the fish getting so big, most aquarists struggle to keep one healthy. While my largest one has only gotten to 22 inches, I suspect they’ll grow to as large as 30 inches depending on how they are raised throughout their extended lives. The first question is always what size of an aquarium? Some say 300 gallons, some say 1000 gallons etc. The reality is the foot print is much m...
How to Set Up (and Maintain) a Brackish Aquarium
If you have been keeping freshwater aquariums for a while, you may feel like you’ve already tried everything in the hobby, such as nano tanks, aquascaping, African cichlids, and ponds. Consider setting up your first brackish fish tank that will allow you to try an entirely new category of animals. Many aquarists get a little nervous about making brackish water, but in our opinion, it is quite easy for anyone who has kept freshwater tanks before. Learn what it takes to create and maintain your...
Care Guide for Assassin Snails — Natural Way to Get Rid of Pest Snails
If you have a freshwater aquarium that is infested with bladder snails, ramshorn snails, or Malaysian trumpet snails (MTS), it may seem impossible to get rid of them. It’s hard to root out every single egg or baby snail hiding amongst the plants and substrate, and chemical pesticides can often have a negative impact on the other living creatures in your fish tank. Luckily, there is a little helper you can employ that will happily sniff out any pest snails — the amazing assassin snail. Learn h...
5 Amazing Wild Betta Species that You Should Try Breeding
Everyone has heard of Betta splendens, the colorful, flowy-finned betta fish you see in pet stores. But did you know there are several other species in the Betta genus that can be kept in home aquariums? As with B. splendens, most of them come from the vegetation-filled swamps and marshes of tropical countries in Southeast Asia. Because of the low oxygen levels in stagnant waters, these anabantoids have a special labyrinth organ that allows them to swim up to the water surface to gulp air. Th...
Care Guide for Mystery Snails — Entertaining and Useful Scavenger
Many aquarium hobbyists don’t like pest snails like bladder, ramshorn, and Malaysian trumpet snails because they can rapidly increase in population even if you only start with one. In contrast, mystery snails (Pomacea diffusa and P. bridgesii) are really cool, little pets that you can buy at your local pet or fish store for only $3–4. They cannot self-fertilize or change their sex, which makes it much easier to control their breeding, and unlike their larger apple snail relatives, they won’t ...
How to Pick the Best Fish Foods That Aquarium Fish Can’t Resist
With so many brands and types of fish foods at the pet store, how do you know which one to get? Many beginners just reach for a jar that has a picture of their fish on the front without considering whether or not their fish will actually eat it. Living animals actually have preferences when it comes to the taste, ingredients, and form factor, and picky eaters may even refuse the most expensive, high-quality brands if they don’t suit their needs. Let’s talk about the different types of fish fo...
Cory McElroy | Company Owner and Founder Started Aquarium Co-Op in June of 2012
Q: Your Favorite thing about working at Aquarium Co-Op? A: My role is always evolving, however the one thing that mains true is that I love helping people. Whether it’s one on one in person at the store or at an event or in a video, I take pride in my work knowing what I do helps others. Master Aquatic Horticulturalist Served on the Board of Directors for the Greater Seattle Aquarium Society as the Fish Breeder Award Program Chair Named in Pet Age Magazine as a top 40 under the age of 40. Q: ...
