Animal-World > Freshwater Fish > Puffers - Pufferfish > Amazon Puffer

Amazon PufferSouth American Freshwater Puffer ~ Bee Puffer
Asell's Puffer - Brazilian Puffer

Family: Tetraodontidae

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Colomesus asellusPhoto © Animal-World: Courtesy Ken Childs

     The bright colors and beautiful pattern on the Amazon Puffer makes it one of the most sought after members of this family!

     Although many puffers look cute and comical, most of them have a mean streak and will at least do some kind of damage to tank mates that are slow or that have long fins. The Amazon Puffer is the exception to this rule. It is a peaceful fish, almost to the point of being shy so they cannot be kept with aggressive tank mates. Even so it is a puffer and can nip fins, though usually just at feeding time.

     Its peaceful nature and the fact that it is one of the few puffers that naturally exists in pure freshwater makes it a good choice for a community tank. Constantly on the move, this is an active, intelligent, and curious fish. They appreciate a well planted aquarium along with some open swimming space.

For more Information on keeping this fish see:
Guide to a Happy, Healthy Freshwater Aquarium

Distribution:      The Amazon Puffers are found throughout the Amazon River basin in South America

Status:      These fish are not endangered.

Description:      The Amazon Puffer looks a bit like an overstuffed bumblebee, thus its alternate common name 'Bee Puffer'. These fish may have a golden cast to the upper parts of their bodies getting lighter and whiter on the underside, and several dark bold partial bands. Like many of the pufferfish however, the coloring of the Amazon Puffer can vary. Not all will be as bold in coloration; some may be more uniform in color, and the band patterning may be faint. The most prominent identification of this puffer is a large dark spot on the underside just before the caudal fin.
     Puffer fish have the ability to 'puff' themselves up with water or air if threatened. This apparently helps keep them from being eaten. Another defense of many puffer species, including this puffer, is to produce toxic substances in their flesh that is poisonous if eaten. The Pufferfish can be quite long lived in the aquarium, many living for 10 or more years.

Size - Weight:      These fish can grow up to 5 inches (14 cm).

Care and feeding:      The Amazon Puffers are carnivores. They prefer a diet of small insects and shrimp, so frozen bloodworms and brine shrimp are good choices for food. They will sometimes eat high quality freeze dried and   flake foods.
     Puffers have strong teeth that grow throughout their lives. The Amazon Puffer has faster growing teeth than many of the puffers, so is prone to overgrown teeth. It will need to be offered hard shelled live food often to keep the teeth worn down. Feeding snails daily will help to wear down the teeth. If the teeth get too long, they will be unable to eat, requiring the owner to clip the teeth.
     Since puffers do not have gill covers or scales, they are thought to be more susceptible to diseases, nitrite, nitrate and ammonia levels. Like all puffers, this puffer is not a good fish to cycle an aquarium with. Also because they usually don't eat all of their food (messy eaters!), these fish will usually put more load on the aquarium filtration requiring more frequent water changes and better maintenance in general. A generous weekly water change of 30% to 50% is the standard recommendation for a puffer aquarium. This puffer is especially sensitive upon arrival to a new aquarium, though once it is acclimated it is quite hardy.
          The Amazon Puffer doesn't require a large aquarium, so a 15 gallon aquarium will work fine. However if you want to keep more than one or some other species with them, a well planted 20 - 30 gallon aquarium is better. This puffer fish is a freshwater species.

Water Region: Top, Middle, Bottom:      The Amazon Puffer will swim in all parts of your aquarium.

Acceptable Water Conditions:      Temp: 72 ° - 82 ° F (22 - 28 °C)
     pH: 5.5 - 7.2
     Hardness: 5 - 15 dH

Social Behaviors:      These puffer fish are peaceful so they can be kept with other non-aggressive species in a community tank. Even so it is a puffer and can nip fins, though usually just at feeding time.

Sexual Differences:      Sexual differences are unknown.

Breeding/Reproduction:      Has not been bred in captivity.

Availability:      The Amazon Puffer are commonly available.

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Latest Comments
I am looking for somewhere to get a hold of more of these puffer fish. We originally had 3, but lost two. We absolutely love them, but have had no success in being able to replace them. Does anybody know where (in Canada) I can get more of these wonderful fish? estrondo 2009-06-20
I've had an amazon puffer for about two months now. Theodore - the puffer - is the greediest fish in my tank. He shares his home with a blood parrot, 1 bristlenose, 1 peacock eel, 1 red forest jewel, 2 convicts, and recently 4 angel fish. He is the boss of everyone, but is not mean and does not bite anyone. He has a great personality though can appear to be a little dim witted or stupid at times, which somehow makes him even cuter :D Shannyn 2008-06-02
SAP's are one pufferfish that no matter what you do, their teeth eventually get too long. I have fed mine snails daily since the day I got them and still every 6 months or so, I still have to trim teeth. Very personable. One of the few "schooling" puffers that enjoy being in groups of 4-7. crystal 2008-04-09
I have two amazon puffer fish in a 90 litre tank. at the moment they are young and about max. 5cm long. i feed them on bloodworm and their teeth are growing, but when i try to feed them snails they are scared of them, or loose the small ones, and i find the snail dead and uneaten later. i think this is only because they are still babies. They get along well, although sometimes they fin nip or fight over their food. this is only very rarely and most of the time they are good friends. they rest together at night at the bottom of the tank. i worked with them for a while at a pet shop, the fish are wild as they cannot be bred in captivity and come from South American rivers such as the Napo River where they are naturally found under floating plants in little schools. maria 2007-08-13

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