All fish / Tetraodontidae

Red-eye puffer

Carinotetraodon lorteti

Also known as somphong's puffer, somphongs puffer, red eye puffer, redtail puffer, red-tail puffer, red eye red tail puffer, lorteti puffer, red-eyed puffer, ปักเป้าตาแดง, buntal merah, レッドアイパファー, buntal mata merah

This is a small, true freshwater puffer with bright red eyes and a mottled brown body. Mature males show a red belly, a dark stripe along the underside and a fin-like keel on the back and belly that they raise when displaying. Keepers like its character, its colour and the way it hunts snails.

Care at a glance

Care level

Moderate

Temperament

Aggressive

Adult size

6 cm

Temperature

22 to 28 °C

pH

6 to 7.5

Smallest tank

60 litres

Keep as

Best kept alone or as one male with several females in a well-planted tank

Diet

Carnivore: small snails, bloodworm, brine shrimp, mosquito larvae and other live or frozen invertebrates

Swims

Middle of the tank

Lifespan

3 to 5 years

Water

Freshwater

Wild range

Southeast Asia: Mekong and Chao Phraya basins (Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam), the Malay Peninsula and Borneo

Breeding

Pairs spawn among fine-leaved plants or moss, and the male guards the eggs until they hatch. It has been bred in home aquariums, but the fry need tiny live foods and the parents can be rough, so it takes some effort.

Good to know

Males are territorial and nippy, so do not keep them with long-finned or slow fish, and give females plenty of cover. Older stock sold as Somphong's puffer (Carinotetraodon somphongsi) is now treated as the same species.