Moderate
Amazon Puffer (Colomesus asellus)
24–28°C · pH 6.5–7.5 · 110L
£33.99
An intelligent brackish puffer for experienced keepers. Plan hard, alkaline water, adult salinity, crunchy foods and careful stocking before bringing one home.
Adult size is the maximum length this species reaches at full maturity (scientific sources). The livestock you receive will be younger and smaller — pick a size variant above for the actual shipping size. Photos are AI-enhanced, so the animal may show subtle colour or marking differences.
Dichotomyctere nigroviridis
An intelligent brackish puffer for experienced keepers. Plan hard, alkaline water, adult salinity, crunchy foods and careful stocking before bringing one home.
Adult size is the maximum length this species reaches at full maturity (scientific sources). The livestock you receive will be younger and smaller — pick a size variant above for the actual shipping size. Photos are AI-enhanced, so the animal may show subtle colour or marking differences.
Maintain these water conditions for optimal health and vibrant colors
Green Spotted Pufferfish (Dichotomyctere nigroviridis, formerly sold under Tetraodon nigroviridis) is a clever, alert brackish-water puffer with the bold spotted back and watchful expression that make puffers so addictive. It is also a specialist fish. The small size offered on the product variants should not be mistaken for easy community care: this species matures into a robust, territorial puffer that needs hard, alkaline water, stable brackish conditions, strong filtration and a feeding routine built around shell-on foods.
This listing is written for keepers who are planning the aquarium properly before purchase. If you want a peaceful planted community fish, choose another species. If you want a responsive oddball fish and are ready to manage salinity, teeth, aggression and water quality, the Green Spotted Puffer can become the centrepiece of a carefully designed brackish setup.
| Scientific name | Dichotomyctere nigroviridis |
|---|---|
| Common names | Green Spotted Pufferfish, Spotted Green Puffer, GSP |
| Care level | Difficult - best for experienced aquarists |
| Adult size | Plan for about 15-17 cm, with a heavy-bodied adult shape |
| Temperament | Territorial, predatory and prone to fin nipping |
| Best setup | Species-led brackish aquarium with mature filtration |
| SKU | Listed size | Use this size if... |
|---|---|---|
| 9204 | 2 - 3 cm | You want to grow a juvenile on slowly and already understand the freshwater-to-brackish transition. |
| 9205 | 4 - 5 cm | You prefer a slightly more developed fish that still needs careful acclimation and long-term salinity planning. |
| 9206 | 6 cm | You want the largest listed option and have the space, filtration and brackish setup ready. |
The variant selector on this page shows live availability and price. Choose the actual shipping size from the selector rather than relying on the adult-size figure, which describes what the fish can reach when mature.
Green Spotted Puffers are often seen small, but adults should be planned as brackish fish. FishBase records the species from freshwater habitats and notes that aquarium care requires salt; that is the reason we describe the fish cautiously rather than selling it as a normal freshwater community animal. Keep changes gradual. A young fish may arrive from lower salinity holding water, but the long-term plan should be hard, alkaline, mineral-rich water with salinity increased slowly as the fish matures.
| Temperature | 24-28°C |
|---|---|
| pH target | Hard and alkaline, around pH 7.8-8.5 |
| Hardness | Moderate to hard; avoid soft, acidic water |
| Salinity | Low-end brackish for juveniles, increasing gradually with age and body size |
| Filtration | Oversized biological filtration with regular water changes |
Build the tank around the adult fish. A single Green Spotted Puffer needs more space than its juvenile size suggests because it is active, messy and territorial. Use open swimming space at the front, hardscape or mangrove-style roots for broken sight lines, and a secure lid. Puffers investigate everything and can bite at exposed equipment, so keep heater guards, cable routing and intake protection in mind.
| Minimum planning volume | About 150 litres for one adult; larger is easier to keep stable |
|---|---|
| Substrate | Sand or smooth gravel that will not trap waste |
| Decor | Rocks, wood and visual barriers without tight traps |
| Plants | Use hardy brackish-tolerant plants or focus on hardscape |
| Maintenance | Frequent testing for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH and salinity |
This is one of the most important parts of Green Spotted Puffer care. Puffer teeth continue growing, so a soft-only diet is risky. Offer crunchy shell-on foods such as pest snails, cockle, mussel, prawn, crab pieces and other suitable meaty foods. Vary the diet, remove leftovers quickly and avoid making bloodworm or soft frozen food the only regular meal.
| Staple approach | Varied carnivorous diet with regular hard-shelled foods |
|---|---|
| Useful foods | Snails, mussel, cockle, prawn, crab, krill and other meaty items |
| Feeding style | Small measured feeds; puffers are greedy and messy |
| Watch for | Overgrown teeth, weight loss, uneaten food and nitrate build-up |
This puffer is best treated as a species-led fish. It may bite long fins, kill small fish, eat shrimp and snails, and challenge tank mates that cannot move away. Some experienced keepers combine Green Spotted Puffers with fast, robust brackish fish in very large aquariums, but that is a planned risk rather than a default recommendation.
| Safest choice | Keep singly or design the aquarium around puffers first |
|---|---|
| Possible with caution | Large, fast, robust brackish fish in a spacious tank with sight breaks |
| Avoid | Shrimp, snails you want to keep, long-finned fish, small fish and slow community fish |
| Behaviour signs | Glass pacing, fin chasing, biting, territorial guarding and food aggression |
If you want a true freshwater puffer, compare this fish with the Amazon Puffer or the smaller Dwarf Puffer. If you are already building a brackish oddball aquarium, useful comparisons include Eyespot or Figure Eight Pufferfish, Silver Moony, Spotted Scat and Golden Band Bumblebee Goby. Those links help you plan the whole aquarium rather than choosing one animal in isolation.
Match temperature first, then adjust water chemistry slowly. Do not make a sudden jump from transport water to strong brackish water on arrival. Ask us if you need the current holding conditions before dispatch; the safest acclimation plan depends on the fish size, current salinity and your aquarium. Keep lights low during introduction, offer food only after the fish has settled, and test water more often during the first week.
Livestock is packed by species and sent with a licensed live-animal courier under the process explained on our Delivery & Live Arrival Guarantee page. New customers can use WELCOME10 for 10% off a first order where the code is eligible. The guarantee gives you a clear claims route if a live animal arrives in poor condition, while the product page gives the care facts you need before committing to the fish.
Care guidance here is based on the live product record, practical aquarium husbandry and species references including FishBase and the Seriously Fish species profile. We keep the language practical because the Green Spotted Puffer is often mis-sold as a simple freshwater novelty fish, when the long-term care is much more demanding.
24–28°C · pH 6.5–7.5 · 110L
22–28°C · pH 6.5–7.5 · 20L
24–28°C · pH 7–8 · 75L
24–28°C · pH 7.5–8.5 · 400L
20–28°C · pH 7.5–8.5 · 570L
24–28°C · pH 7–8.2 · 45L
18–26°C · pH 6.5–8 · 30L
23–27°C · pH 7.4–8.4 · 500L
20–27°C · pH 6–7 · 54L
23–27°C · pH 7.4–8.4 · 150L
24–28°C · pH 6.5–7.8 · 300L
20–24°C · pH 7–8 · 45L
24–28°C · pH 6.5–7.5 · 2000L
24–28°C · pH 7.5–8.5 · 200L
24–28°C · pH 5.5–7 · 60L
18–25°C · pH 6–8 · 100L
24–28°C · pH 7–8 · 120L
18–28°C · pH 6.5–8 · 20L
24–27°C · pH 7.5–8.8 · 150L
22–26°C · pH 6–7.5 · 60L
24–28°C · pH 7.5–8.5 · 40L
24–28°C · pH 7.5–8.5 · 500L