Confirm the puffer is fully freshwater
Ask the shop to confirm that its pea puffers are the true freshwater species and to tell you where the stock came from. Pea puffers are sometimes confused with brackish puffers that need very different water, and a mix-up at the buying stage dooms the fish slowly at home. A good shop will state plainly that these puffers live their whole lives in fresh water and will explain the conditions its tank is run at. Ask how long the group has been in store, and watch the fish hunting around the decor, because active, curious puffers with rounded bellies are the healthy sign you want to see before money changes hands.
Ask what the puffers are eating
Ask exactly what the pea puffers are eating in the shop, and ask to see a feeding if possible. These little puffers are specialist hunters that thrive on live and frozen meaty foods, including small snails, and many will not recognise dry food as food at all. Ask whether the shop cultures or stocks the foods the fish are used to, because your home supply has to continue the same menu from the first day. Ask how often the group is fed and how the shop makes sure slower individuals get their share. A puffer that hangs back, thin and uninterested while others hunt, is one to leave behind.
Ask how the shop keeps them together
Ask whether the shop recommends a single pea puffer or a group, and what that choice demands from the tank. Pea puffers are territorial for their size, and males in particular guard small areas and chase rivals, so group keeping needs space, dense planting, and broken sight lines rather than an open box. Ask how the shop sexes its fish and whether it can supply a balanced group, because too many males in close quarters is the common failure. Ask about tankmates with equal honesty, since puffers nip flowing fins and eat small shrimp. Straight answers here prevent the most common pea puffer regrets.
Ask about water, snails, and teeth
Ask what water conditions the shop holds its pea puffers in and how stable its system is, because these fish are scaleless and sensitive to poor or swinging water quality. Ask whether the puffers have access to snails and hard-shelled foods, since crunching through shells helps wear their ever-growing beaks, and a shop feeding only soft foods may be storing up problems. Ask whether any fish in the tank show sunken bellies or lethargy, which in puffers can signal internal problems a beginner cannot fix. The shop's answers, and its willingness to discuss drawbacks at all, tell you how much to trust its stock.
Ask about the daily commitment
Ask the shop to describe a normal week of pea puffer care, because this species asks more of its keeper than most fish its size. Regular live-food sourcing, careful feeding so every puffer eats, and close watching for bullying or weight loss are ongoing jobs, not setup tasks. If more than one person at home will share those jobs, agree who does what before the fish arrives. KinsLe's Care Teams helps by letting you assign this puffer's feeding and checking duties to family members or helpers per pet, with each completed task marked by a timestamp so nothing is doubled or missed.