Welcome to Puffernet.  This website is to be used as a guide for keeping freshwater and brackish pufferfish.  You'll find lots of useful information concerning these interesting fish, including data on many species you're bound to run into at your LFS.  You can also share your experiences with each species or read other puffkeeper's experiences on each of those pages.  We'll even post a pic of your puff with your story if you like! (JPEG or GIF Format only, please.)
Again, this is not the end all of keeping puffers.  Use this as a guide, along with your best judgment.  There is a navigation bar at the bottom of every page.  Enjoy your visit.
 
 

Thanks for taking the time to read this section of Puffernet.  This whole project began some time ago not long after I saw my first pufferfish.  They were so incredibly cool with contrasting colors on back and belly, and those spots!  Who can resist those eyes and the way they seem to hover around your tank with that old-fashioned torpedo shaped body?  I couldn't.  This fish looked like a saltwater fish and I could keep him in my freshwater tank right next to my big brown plecostomus, right?
Riiiight....
The fish store eagerly sold me 3 Green Puffers with some bloodworms and sent me on my way.
This is where the trouble began.
My big-eyed, brightly colored fish soon had blackened bellies.  Their beautiful spots faded into a really unhealthy greyish-brown and all but disappeared into their backs.  Within a day or two they no longer ate, and just swam up and down the sides of my tank incessantly.  Their fins and gills clamped.  Soon after they gave that up and simply sat on the bottom...listless.
Sound familiar?  I hope not.
What was I doing this whole time?  I was basically getting an ulcer watching these poor fish struggle, while getting no definitive answers from the LFS.  I surfed the net until I was cross-eyed only to find out that what little was on the net at the time was either too general or conflicted with other sites.  I was sick of finding sites on the genomic relevance of puffers.  Mine needed help, not a dna test.  Even my local corporate-giant-bookstore didn't have anything on these little guys.
Sorry to my first puffs.  I should have known better.
Soon after, I began to gather all the info I could on these fish.  Frustrating!! The amount of data I found on these fish could have been written on the reverse side of the thermometer in my tank.  I wished there was ONE site where I could find all the information I needed to keep these fish!!
So here it is, Puffernet.  You'll be happy to know that I've since compiled tons of information on freshwater and brackish pufferfish, and have had the same puffers for some time now.  While I'm no ichthyologist, I have had much success in keeping these fish.  I haven't kept all of the species out there, but I did take it upon myself to do as much research as possible to make sure the data I'm including is accurate.  This is not the "absolute" last word on puffers, however.  You should take into account that there are many variables working here, and draw your own conclusions.  My main purpose is to provide a complete, suitable and comprehensive guideline from which to work.  I hope you find these pages useful, I wish I had them when I purchased my first puffers.
Thanks again for reading my micro-rant here.
Good water,
PH.

ps. If there's a species that you keep that I have omitted due to lack of information, don't hesitate to send me information regarding their care (H2O parameters, diet, etc.).  I'll certainly give you credit. (don't forget your sources!)