Dwarf Puffer Diet

The dwarf puffer is also known as the Malabar puffer, the pea puffer and the Indian dwarf puffer. It is the smallest of the puffer fish, growing only to a length of between 1 and 1.5 inches. These aggressive fish are popular in the aquarium trade, and learning more about their diet can tell you more about how to take care of them.

  1. Features

    • The dwarf puffer is a carnivorous fish, meaning that it will only eat meat. They tend to reject flake foods, but they can eat frozen foods as well as live foods. A common diet for the dwarf puffer fish in captivity consists of bloodworms, brine shrimp and small snails.

    Considerations

    • Dwarf puffer fish that are caught from the wild rather than bred in captivity may have difficulty accepting frozen food. While some wild-caught dwarf puffer fish can eventually be convinced to take frozen food, others will starve unless you provide them with live food. To avoid this issue, talk with the vendor about whether the dwarf puffer fish you are considering was bred in captivity or caught in the wild.

    Types

    • When feeding a dwarf puffer, there are three types of food to choose from. Some dwarf puffers will eat flakes, but given how many dwarf puffers reject them, do not count on being able to use flakes. Frozen food for dwarf puffers is available in the form of bloodworms, which are midge fly larva, mysis shrimp, glass worms, krill and tubifex worms. Live foods for dwarf puffers include blackworms, snails and brine shrimp.

    Environment

    • Dwarf puffers are messy eaters, meaning that they typically do not finish all of their food. This leads to rapid waste buildup in the tank that needs to be handled quickly. Install a powerful filter to keep the water clear, and vacuum the tank weekly to remove bits of uneaten foods. Dwarf puffer fish require a 50 percent water change every week.

    Misconceptions

    • Though other puffer fish require snails in their diet to wear down their teeth, most snails are too large for dwarf puffers, according to the resource site, Dwarf Puffers. Though they are not at risk for overgrown teeth, putting live snails in their tank will allow them to practice hunting. Regular pond snails are ideal for this purpose because they have thin shells that dwarf puffers can easily crush.