Banded Puffer
Colomesus psittacus
Brackish South America
A large coastal puffer with bold dark transverse bands across its back. Distinct from its smaller freshwater cousin, it requires brackish water transitioning towards marine conditions as an adult. A steady diet of hard-shelled molluscs and crabs is essential to grind down its continually growing teeth.
Try it in the planner Opens a tank sized to its minimum with 1 fish added.
What it needs
| Item | Value | Because |
|---|---|---|
| Adult length | 25 cm | Used for the Space check: the tank must be long enough for the fish to turn round. |
| Smallest tank | 400 L, at least 150 cm long estimated | The least water and floor length this species is kept in for good, as a single fish or smallest group. |
| Extra water per added fish | 80 L estimated | What each further fish adds once the minimum is met. |
| Waste load | Class 4 of 5 estimated | How much waste an adult makes against its size. Feeds the Load check. |
| Temperature | 24 to 28 C | Stock sharing a tank need overlapping ranges. |
| pH | 7.5 to 8.4 | Compared with tankmates in the Water check. |
| Hardness | GH 10 to 25, KH 6 to 15 | Degrees of general and carbonate hardness. |
| Flow | Medium | Low-flow fish are stressed in a strong current. |
| Light | Moderate | Matched to the lighting class on the needs sheet. |
| Group size | Single fish is fine | Not a schooling species. |
| Temperament | Aggressive | Territorial: strong. |
| Swims in | All levels | Fish that use different levels share a tank more easily. |
| Lifespan | About 10 years | A fish is a long commitment. |
| Experience | Experienced keepers only | A guide to how forgiving the species is of mistakes. |
Tags marked estimated are judged from the size and habits of the species rather than measured, so treat them as a sensible default.
Diet and tank layout
Banded Puffer is an carnivore that swims in all levels of the tank. It leaves most plants alone. Give it some cover. It will eat fish small enough to swallow. It nips fins.
Tankmates
Works with
No close matches in the data. Check the pair tool.
Avoid
- Yucatan Sailfin Molly
- Figure Eight Puffer
- Green Spotted Puffer
- Indian Glassy Fish
- Silver Moony
- Spotted Scat
- African Moony
- Banded Archerfish
- Columbian Shark
- Orange Chromide
- African Mudskipper
- Bumblebee Goby
- Four-Eyed Fish
- Knight Goby
- Spotted Archerfish
- Barred Mudskipper
- Ceylon Puffer
- Green Chromide
- Sheepshead Minnow
- Silver Scat
- Banded Lampeye
- Belly Pipefish
- Blueback Blue-Eye
- Green Panchax
- Guyana Leaffish
- Javanese Ricefish
- Mummichog
- Queen of Siam Goby
- Shortfin Molly
Compare any two fish on the compatibility page, or print the equipment for a stock on the needs sheet. How this is worked out: the method.