Bleeding heart tetra and Pea puffer
Can these two share a tank? The assessment below is derived from stored behavioural and environmental traits, not from a compatibility chart.
Should not be attempted. At least one factor is expected to cause harm.
- Minimum volume
- 165 L
- Minimum length
- 120 cm
- Factors considered
- 9
Concerns
Pea puffer harasses slow-moving or long-finned tankmates, and Bleeding heart tetra fits that description. Persistent harassment shows up as hiding, clamped fins and refusal to feed long before it shows up as injury.
Derived from: traits.predation.harassment and traits on the second record
Pea puffer reliably nips trailing fins, and Bleeding heart tetra carries the kind of fins that get nipped. Damaged fins are also an entry point for secondary infection, so this is a welfare issue rather than a cosmetic one.
Derived from: traits.finNipping and traits.vulnerableFins
pH ranges overlap only across 7–7, which is tighter than most tap-water supplies hold naturally.
Derived from: environment.ph overlap width
Pea puffer defends a territory and both animals use the same part of the tank, so give the territory-holder a defensible area away from the main swimming space.
Derived from: traits.territoriality and zone on both records
Why it can work
- Temperature requirements overlap comfortably at 23–28 °C, with room for both animals to sit inside their preferred range.
- Hardness requirements overlap at 5–8 °dGH.
- Bleeding heart tetra needs a group of at least 6. Kept in smaller numbers it is not simply lonely — shoaling species held below their threshold show chronic stress behaviour, colour loss and, in several species, increased aggression towards tankmates.
- Pea puffer needs a group of at least 3. Kept in smaller numbers it is not simply lonely — shoaling species held below their threshold show chronic stress behaviour, colour loss and, in several species, increased aggression towards tankmates.
- The two occupy different levels of the tank, which reduces direct competition for space.
Conditions
Most interesting pairings are conditional on something. These are the things the keeper can actually change.
- At least 6 Bleeding heart tetra, counted as one group
- At least 3 Pea puffer, counted as one group
Derived, or documented?
These are different claims and are shown separately. The verdict above is derived from stored traits — arithmetic on AquariumHQ's own records. Whether the pairing is actually reported to work is a separate question, and for most pairs the honest answer is that we hold nothing.
Environmental compatibility
Derived from stored traits
Temperature, pH, hardness, size and behavioural traits compared between the two records. Sound as far as it goes, and it is not evidence that the pairing works.
Behavioural evidence
No behavioural evidence held
AquariumHQ holds no behavioural evidence for this pairing. The verdict is derived entirely from stored traits — it is arithmetic on our own records, not a report about how the pairing actually goes.
How good is the overlap?
Whether two ranges intersect is a necessary condition, not evidence. What matters is WHERE the shared band sits: an overlap at the top of one animal's range and the bottom of the other's is a forced compromise however wide it looks, and it is the case a simple intersection test cannot see.
| Dimension | Assessment | What that means here |
|---|---|---|
| Temperature | Comfortable for both | The shared band 23–28 °C sits centrally in both ranges, with room to drift. |
| pH | Forced compromise — neither animal is where it wants to be | The shared band 7–7 pH sits at the top of one animal's range and the bottom of the other's. Both would be kept at their limits to accommodate the other. |
| Hardness | One animal at the edge of its range | The shared band 5–8 °dGH sits at the bottom of one animal's range, so that animal is permanently at its limit even though the overlap looks generous. |
Forced compromise — neither animal is where it wants to be
Both animals would be kept at the edge of their ranges to accommodate the other. Nothing here is a recommendation; it is the arithmetic of two incompatible requirements meeting at a point.
Factor by factor
Every factor states what it rests on. Most are derived from the traits stored on both records — sound arithmetic on AquariumHQ's own data, and not a report about how the pairing actually goes. Where a factor says 'not known', the data is missing and saying so matters, because a missing factor and a favourable one look identical once both are absent.
| Factor | Basis | Finding |
|---|---|---|
| Temperature | Derived from stored traits | Comfortable for both. The shared band 23–28 °C sits centrally in both ranges, with room to drift. |
| pH | Derived from stored traits | Forced compromise — neither animal is where it wants to be. The shared band 7–7 pH sits at the top of one animal's range and the bottom of the other's. Both would be kept at their limits to accommodate the other. |
| Hardness | Derived from stored traits | One animal at the edge of its range. The shared band 5–8 °dGH sits at the bottom of one animal's range, so that animal is permanently at its limit even though the overlap looks generous. |
| Body size | Derived from stored traits | Bleeding heart tetra reaches about 8 cm against 3.5 cm for Pea puffer — a ratio of 2.3. Size disparity drives opportunistic predation independently of temperament. |
| Predation | Derived from stored traits | Highest predation risk in either direction is "low". |
| Territoriality | Derived from stored traits | Strongest territoriality across the pair is "moderate". |
| Breeding aggression | Derived from stored traits | Neither becomes notably more aggressive while spawning. |
| Fin-nipping | Derived from stored traits | One animal nips trailing fins and the other carries the kind of fins that get nipped. Damaged fins are an entry point for secondary infection, so this is a welfare matter rather than a cosmetic one. |
| Aggression | Derived from stored traits | Strongest intraspecific aggression across the pair is "moderate". It bears on the pairing because a fish under pressure from its own kind redirects. |
| Social requirements | Derived from stored traits | Bleeding heart tetra needs at least 6; Pea puffer needs at least 3. A shoaling species held below its threshold shows chronic stress and, in several species, increased aggression towards tankmates. |
| Group-size dependency | Derived from stored traits | The outcome depends on group size as much as on the pairing: under-grouped shoalers nip more and hide more. |
| Tank zone | Derived from stored traits | The two use different levels of the tank, which reduces direct competition for space. |
| Activity level | Derived from stored traits | Activity levels are compatible. |
| Food competition | Derived from stored traits | Different feeding strategies, so direct competition is limited. |
| Risk to shrimp and snails | Derived from stored traits | Highest risk either animal poses to dwarf shrimp or snails is "near-certain". |
| Effect on plants | Derived from stored traits | Neither animal damages planting. |
| Tank dimensions | Derived from stored traits | The more demanding of the two needs at least 120 L and 90 cm of length before anything else is in the tank. Volume alone does not describe a home for a fish that swims in straight lines. |
| Life stage | Not known | AquariumHQ holds no record of whether this pairing changes as either animal matures. Stored traits describe adults, so a pairing that fails at adult size looks identical to one that never fails. |
| Individual variation | Not known | AquariumHQ holds no record of how much this pairing varies between individuals. For several species — bettas and cichlids especially — that variation decides the outcome and a species-level verdict cannot express it. |
Environmental overlap
| Parameter | Shared range | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| Temperature | 23–28 °C | Aim for the middle of the shared band. |
| pH | 7–7 | Stability matters more than the exact figure. |
| Hardness | 5–8 °dGH | Check your source water before committing. |
What this assessment cannot tell you
- Individual temperament varies, particularly in cichlids and in bettas, and can override a favourable verdict for Bleeding heart tetra or Pea puffer.
- The assessment is for the pair in isolation. A third species can change the outcome in either direction.
- Both animals are assessed at adult size, not at the size they are sold.
- A verdict is a statement about probability, not a guarantee.
Where the two water bands meet
Derived from the ranges AquariumHQ publishes for each species. The compatibility engine reads the same numbers; this is what they look like drawn on one axis.
Temperature (°C)
Scale: 0 to 36 °C.
pH (pH)
Scale: 4 to 9.5 pH.
No overlap. There is no ph at which both species are inside their advised range.
Hardness (°dGH)
Scale: 0 to 30 °dGH.
Why the bands sit where they do
The overlap above is arithmetic. This is where the two numbers came from — the kind of water each animal is recorded from, and how much room that leaves.
These two animals come from different kinds of water, and that is where the arithmetic below comes from rather than from anything about their temperaments.
Bleeding heart tetra
Soft forest stream
20–120 µS/cm · low flow · moderate oxygen
Pea puffer
Lowland floodplain
40–300 µS/cm · still flow · low oxygen
- TemperatureBleeding heart tetra 23–28°CPea puffer 23–28°C
Both inside their range from 23–28°C — 100% of the narrower animal’s range.
A wide window. Both animals are inside their own range across most of it, and the tank can be run without either sitting at an edge.
- pHBleeding heart tetra 5.5–7Pea puffer 7–8
Both inside their range from 7–7 — 0% of the narrower animal’s range.
Barely an overlap. Whatever is chosen, at least one animal spends its life at the limit of its published range — which is survivable and is not the same as suitable.
- General hardnessBleeding heart tetra 1–8 dGHPea puffer 5–20 dGH
Both inside their range from 5–8 dGH — 43% of the narrower animal’s range.
A real window, and a narrow one. The tank has to be held inside it, and there is little room for the drift that happens between water changes.
Computed from the ranges AquariumHQ publishes for each species, each of which records what it rests on — a source value, a habitat inference, a physiological requirement or a trade convention. Most are habitat inferences, and the species pages say which.