Hybrid Cories?

[Akasha72]

Hi, anyone who's been following my 'place your bets' thread will know I've been trying to raise some cory fry. I recently got lucky and managed to raise 3. Then a few weeks ago I spotted one in my main tank and a few days ago I was able to catch it and add it to my fry tank with the 3 I had been raising.
 
It was then that I noticed the difference in these cories. 
 
The one I caught in my main tank is an obvious panda cory fry but the 3 in the fry tank that I raised myself from eggs look different. 
They have a very faint mask over the eyes, but it's more blue than black. The also have a dark spot at the base of the tail, but again it's more blue in colour than black. Their dorsal fin isn't black though, it's almost clear. Then last night I noticed that the largest one has some dark spots coming on it's body 
 
I have in my main tank 6 panda cories - a mix of 3 females and 3 males and I have 3 smudge-spot cories - 2 of which are obvious females but the 3rd I'm unsure of
 
I'm now getting concerned that the 3 fry are a hybrid of panda's and smudge-spot and a brief bit of googling tells me that it is possible for these two cories to interbreed
 
I'm making a new post to ask if anyone here has come across this or of anyone has bred smudge-spot cories and what the fry look like. My little one's will be 8 weeks old now
 
I'll see if I can get a photo so I can show you all what I mean

 

[Akasha72]

photo's
 
the smallest one nearest is the one I found in my main tank - you can see the obvious difference
 

 

 

could it be that the 3 I raised from eggs are just slower to develop colour than fry that have grown up with the adults? I'll admit to being rather confused by this

 

[DoubleDutch]

Pandas are notirious hybridizers. The one found looks like 100% Panda. The others definitely look like similis, but the faint mask points me to a Panda-influence. The tailspot is similis though.

 

[Akasha72]

not sure what to do with them now. They were going to the lfs but I'll have to speak to them and ask how they feel about taking in possible hybrids

 

[DoubleDutch]

Checked more pics of juvenile C.similis, hoping to find some with a "mask". I didn't. Somehow I'd expect them to have black dorsal fins / spots as well.

Think the common "thought" is not to bring hybrids into the trade. You could give them to someone that don't want to breed them. They still are Corys = great fish

 

[Akasha72]

I think what I'm going to do is give them another month and see what happens. If the mask disappears then I know they are full smudge-spot, if it stays and the tail spot darkens and the dorsal darkens then I'll go with slow to develop panda's. If things remain the same then I know for sure that they are a hybrid of panda-smudge-spot
 
I'm saying this because I have another in my main tank that's survived a spawn and up until a few days ago it had very faded dorsal and tail spot and then all of a sudden it's dorsal has gone black and so has the tail spot - this one is slightly bigger than the largest of the 3 in my fry tank. It's now a very obvious panda and there's a piece of me that's wondering if the 3 are going to follow the same pattern.
 
Time and patience I think ... see what comes about  
 
Thank you for your help

 

[Baccus]

Just wondering if you are raising the young in a totally different tank and set up or if the young are being raised in a suspended net in the main breeding tank with access to the same water as the parents. The reason I ask is I know for a fact how much variation there can be between two tanks in the same household using the same water. This variation can then have on going affects with fish colouration, especially it the pH's are different.
 
I once had a little strebia fry that for some reason started out life pure white like an albino but as it matured to around 4-5 cm size gradually changed to a normal coloured strebia and now it can not be told apart from the others.
 
To my mind they do look like a hybrid and best being kept yourself for the term of their natural lives.

 

[Akasha72]

they are kept in different tanks yes. I have my Rio 240 as my main tank where the adults live and I have my small 30 litre tank that I use as a fry tank/quarentine tank.
The 3 that are a different colour were hatched in water from the main tank and lived in that for 3 or 4 weeks before being moved to their own tank (the 30 litre) The little one that's an obvious panda was found in the main tank - it has hidden itself away along with another (the one I mentioned that has only coloured up in the last few days) 
 
There was another fry spotted in the main tank a few days ago that is very very small and is hiding under some wood - this one is also an obvious panda. I am wondering if Baccus has hit on something - that this could be a water thing.
 
Again, I still think it best to wait and see. As things are I can not keep them as I lack the space. If they are a hybrid then I need to speak to my lfs as they may agree to take them in and put them in their big display tank so they never enter the trade.

 

[Akasha72]

I've just taken these photo's of one of my smudge-spot females .... look around the eye - she has a dark circle surrounding her eye .... hmm
 

 

 

[HarpyFishLover]

She looks tired

 

[DoubleDutch]

The pics don't show

 

[Akasha72]

can't you see them DD?

 

[PepperjacksMama]

I can. Looks like somebody gave her a shiner.

 

[DoubleDutch]

Yeah they are !! Saw something alike on Planet Catfish, but doesn't really looks like a mask to me.
Think you've to wait a bit longer for the juveniles to throw of their masks ot to be partial Pandas !!

 

[Akasha72]

that's my plan now. I'm just clutching at straws and worrying that they are a hybrid - which I don't want them to be! It would be fantastic for them to be smudge-spots as I only have 3 and getting any more is proving impossible. But if they can't be smudge-spots then I hope that they really are just slow to colour up panda's!