Blue Spotted Puffer – Complete Care Guide

Blue Spotted Puffer fish Facts

The Blue Spotted Puffer sometimes called the Blue Dot Puffer, or Blue Dot Toby is a species of pufferfish that is often kept in saltwater aquariums. It has gorgeous brown, tan, and yellow colorations as well as blue spots speckled across its body. Like other puffers, the Blue Dot Toby has a beaklike structure that is used to break through tough invertebrate exoskeletons.

Blue Spotted Pufferfish have fantastic personalities which may make them the centerpiece of any aquarium they are in. You can often find Blue Spotted Puffers for sale at LiveAquaria, Saltwaterfish.com, or check out your local fish stores! This guide will cover the aquarium requirements, food and diet, tank mates, and breeding of the Blue Spotted Puffer.

Aquarium Requirements

The Blue Spot Puffer will grow between 4 and 5 inches. An aquarium that is 55 gallons or larger will suit this fish incredibly well. It is beneficial to provide live rock with varying-sized caves and nooks for the fish to hide in. Monitoring the water for elevated levels of nitrates and phosphates because puffers can sometimes be sensitive to unbalanced waters. They will also require the following water parameters:

• Water Temperature: 72°-78° F
• dKH: 8 – 12
• pH: 8.1 – 8.4
• Salinity: 1.020 – 1.025 sg

Providing the following water parameters will help keep your fish healthy! A simple thermometer such as the Penn Plax floating thermometer can be used to check your water temperature. DKH levels can be tested using an API KH test kit or you can get fancy with a Hanna Instrument Alkalinity Check (HI772). pH levels can be tested using an API High-Range pH test kit. Lastly, I recommend checking your salinity using a refractometer over a hydrometer. Over time, hydrometers become less accurate because salt particles build up on the tool.

Is the Blue Spotted Puffer Reef Safe?

Like many other saltwater puffers, I would not consider the Blue Spot Puffer reef safe. They consume invertebrates and can potentially eat your coral. After doing some research, some reef keepers have claimed that their Blue Spot Puffers are model citizens around coral but others didn’t have such luck. Being safe with coral is likely dependent on the individual fish but I would not risk it.

Food & Diet

Blue Spotted Puffer fish eat primarily meaty foods. You will want to feed them an assortment of foods to help wear down their teeth. Great frozen foods for Blue Dot Tobys are krill, clams, squid, hard-shelled shrimp, and Mysis shrimp. I would feed your puffer a mix of these foods to provide them with a variety to help grind down their beak. I would also recommend occasionally feeding your puffer live hermit crabs or snails.

Tank Mates

Blue Spot Puffers are fairly peaceful. They can become territorial and may nip on other fish’s fins, but overall they keep to themselves. They should do well with clownfish, damsels, chromis, dwarf angels, wrasses, and other friendly and small saltwater fish. They should also do well with larger fish such as tangs, foxfaces, rabbitfish, and other peaceful large fish.

Breeding

I would not recommend keeping more than one Blue Spot Puffer in a fish tank. Because of this, breeding is impossible.

Final Notes

Blue Spot Tobys are beautiful and vibrant fish that can be kept in a saltwater fish tank. They are a great centerpiece for aquariums that are 55 gallons or larger. If you’re looking for something unique to keep in your saltwater fish tank, consider picking up a Blue Spot Puffer fish. Check out the Saltwater Pufferfish page for information are different puffer species.

Image by Nhobgood Nick Hobgood on wikiMedia