Red-tailed Redeye Puffer
Carinotetraodon irrubesco
- Care level
- Intermediate
- Adult size
- 4.5 cm
- Minimum tank
- 54 litres
- Temperature
- 20–28 °C
Species profile
Mbu Puffer
Tetraodon mbu
Common names: Mbu Puffer, Giant Puffer, Giant Freshwater Puffer
Recognized speciesPufferfish
Adult size
Up to 75 cm
Up to 75 cm
Countries of origin
Good fit for your tank?
Good fit for
- A public aquarium or an extremely large private system
Think carefully if
- You do not already have a tank of around 2,000 litres
- You plan to keep it with other fish
- You also keep shrimp or snails you want to protect, because this puffer will eat them
The largest freshwater puffer, at up to 75 cm. It needs close to 2,000 litres and is suitable only for a very small number of keepers.
Appearance and Identification
A huge puffer with a yellow to tan body covered in a maze of dark lines, and a large head.
Sources give its maximum size as 75 cm (Seriously Fish), nearly 70 cm (Aquarium Glaser), 67 cm (FishBase) or 60 cm (OATA). Young fish look harmless and are sometimes sold without warning.
No external differences.
Tank Requirements
- Suggested filter
- About 7,780–9,720 litres an hour
- Suggested heater
- About 1950–2925 W for this tank
- Minimum tank volume
- 1944 litres
- Minimum tank length
- 240 cm
- Minimum group size
- 1
- Recommended group size
- 1
- Activity level
- Active
- Flow preference
- Moderate
- Planting preference
- Open swimming space required
- Hiding places
- Yes
- Lid recommended
- Yes
- Jumping risk
- Low
Plan on a footprint of 240 × 90 cm or larger, with sand, smooth rock and very heavy filtration. Few home setups can meet this.
Behaviour and Tankmates
Slow-moving but intolerant. Some fish are calmer than others, but none are safe to trust.
Keep alone.
Generally aggressive towards other fish.
Keep alone. Its beak can tear pieces from tankmates. It will eat shrimp and snails.
Water Parameters
Prefers moderately hard, slightly alkaline water, in line with its range around Lake Tanganyika.
Parameter caveat
Puffers are messy feeders and sensitive to waste, so keep up regular water changes and use a filter rated for a larger tank.
Feeding
- Diet types
- Carnivore, Predator
- Feeding frequency
- Once or twice daily
- Preferred foods
- Snails and mussels in the shellEssential. Crushing shells wears down the beak, which never stops growing.
- Crab legs, prawns and cocklesFeed unshelled where you can, for the same reason.
- EarthwormsA useful meaty food, and many puffers take them readily.
Eats mostly snails and shellfish, plus worms and other meaty foods.
Check the beak regularly. If it overgrows, the fish can no longer eat and the teeth may need to be trimmed by someone experienced.
Breeding
- Breeding difficulty
- Not commonly bred
- Parental care
- Unknown
Has not been bred in aquariums. A vast volume of water would be needed for a serious attempt.
Habitat and Origin
- Geographic origin
- Africa, Burundi, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Zambia
- Natural habitat
- Ancient Lake, Lake, River
- Aquarium contexts
- Large Freshwater Aquarium, Species-Only Aquarium
- Audience level
- Specialist
Classification
- Profile type
- Recognized species
- Genus
- Tetraodon
- Family
- Tetraodontidae
- Species group
- Fish, Pufferfish
Have you kept this species?
You can write a note about what worked for you, or send a photograph. We check everything before it appears here.
Share a note or photo
Redeye Puffer
Carinotetraodon lorteti
- Care level
- Intermediate
- Adult size
- 6 cm
- Minimum tank
- 54 litres
- Temperature
- 20–28 °C
Striped Redeye Puffer
Carinotetraodon salivator
- Care level
- Intermediate
- Adult size
- 5 cm
- Minimum tank
- 54 litres
- Temperature
- 20–28 °C
Amazon Puffer
Colomesus asellus
- Care level
- Advanced
- Adult size
- 12.8 cm
- Minimum tank
- 108 litres
- Temperature
- 20–26 °C