Do Dwarf Puffer fish need an aquarium filter, heater or lights ?

Do Dwarf Puffers need an aquarium filter, heater, air pump & air stone or lights?

Pea Puffers also known as Dwarf Puffers are little fish that live peacefully with other peaceful fish in the community tanks. They are from India & normally sold at a complete size of around 2.5 cm.

Due to the tiny size of the Pea Puffer, it does not need a large aquarium. A single Dwarf Puffer needs one-gallon of aquarium water. Dwarf Puffers are schooling fish therefore a ten-gallon aquarium is enough for them. Nevertheless, if you decide to keep more fish with Dwarf Puffers then you can consider a large aquarium.

Avoid adding large fish in the Dwarf Puffers aquarium because they might eat your Puffers.

Do Dwarf Puffer fish need an aquarium filter, heater or lights?

Do Pea Puffers need an aquarium filter?

Water should be clean because Dwarf Puffers are messy fish & they produce lots of waste. Ideally, they prefer low turbulence in water because they can’t swim in fast moving water. A large filter is recommended for Dwarf Puffer fish because they produce lots of poop. When offering food to Dwarf Puffers, it is a good habit of taking out the uneaten food using a net or siphon hose.

 

Do Dwarf Puffers need an aquarium heater?

Dwarf Puffers prefer stable water temperature between 74 – 82 °F, therefore if the aquarium temperature is cooler than this range or fluctuates too much, then a heater is required.

 

Do Pea Puffers need an air pump and air stone?

An air stone is not required for Pea Puffers tank but it can be a good addition if you like tiny bubbles coming out of it. Aquarium filter is enough to cause surface agitation for addition of oxygen, & removal of CO2 from the water.

 

Do Dwarf Puffers need aquarium lights?

It is recommended to have a balance when you are lighting a Dwarf Puffer aquarium. They do well with diffuse lights. If you suddenly turn on strong lights, then it may startle Dwarf Puffer & stress them.

However, if you want bright lights for growing aquatic plants in an aquarium, then my recommendation is to keep floating plants that break up the light.

In addition, if you have setup programmable lights that slowly increase brightness, instead of all lights turned on at once, then it will prevent Pea Puffers from stress.

If your tank is not equipped with programmable lights, then you can turn on a strong light in the room a few minutes before turning on the aquarium lights.