# Will rainbow fish cross breed?



## dpod (Sep 16, 2014)

I don't believe those species will interbreed (someone else tell me if I'm wrong!), but it's good to be careful. If they do breed with each other, the offspring will probably not be very attractive. And that's assuming the babies would even be viable.


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## HDBenson (Jan 26, 2015)

Slight chance of the large Melanotaenia TRYING to breed.. but the praecoxs will NOT be able to breed with the other two species. I wouldn't even worry about what offspring would look like cause it's not going to happen. Seriously though, if it does then that's going to cause an uproar, and post the heck out of it!


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## mistergreen (Dec 9, 2006)

Most likely any eggs and fry will be eaten unless you save them.


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## morfeeis (Jan 15, 2015)

Thanks all...


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

YES, all melanotaneia species can interbreed, just like the chilatherina bow species can interbreed, and the pseudomugil can interbreed. If you plan to breed your bows, separate the parents into a separate tank and make sure they are the same species. It is frowned on in the bow community to purposefully mix the breeds as it brings about very bland low color fish, and dilutes the lines that are extremely hard to get to. 

the Praecox are a Melanotaniea species, the Austrialian (common name) is truly m.australis they CAN interbreed. There are a couple bow species that go by "aulstrailian" rainbow. 

Now... if it is in a show tank, eggs are not likely to survive as the adults will eat the eggs / fry if they are found. 

check out Rainbow-fish.org if you need more rainbow specific questions answered. They are a bunch of great guys, and the foremost experts in bows hang around there


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