Panda Cory question????

[LDZ]

Hi all, Weird question.....  I know that you should keep schools of the same species of Cory catfish together.   I have regular Panda Corys.   Can I add long finned Panda Corys to make a small school??  Will they recognize each other as the same species?????  Or should I just get more regular Pandas????  Thank you for your help!!!

 

[Lennie]

The answer to your question; they are the same species just artificially bred to have those long fins by humans, by breeding the fish that rarely has such genetics over and over again until reaching a point they look as it is now, if I am not wrong. Therefore they are likely to school together.

My personal opinion: I would personally only get the" normal" version of any fish and avoid versions that are artificially bred by humans just for the look purposes where it results in bigger fins, super big tails, weird body shapes, bigger and even lop-sided eyes, and so on. We all see what goldfish industry has turned into and how some of the breeds struggle to swim, to see, or even to move at some point. And these all happen to be for the "cute" or "beautiful look". I personally dont like the idea of  playing around the genetics that affect fish's body parts & quality of life in an unnatural way. This is kind of an industry, and works with a supply and demand like every other one.  Long fin corys today, maybe some other features tomorrow. I don't know how much long fins effects a panda cory's quality of life, but I believe nature has the best system and there is always a reason why normal version does not have those super long fins, lop sided eyes, bigger and chunky body sizes 🙂 

It is your tank and your preference at the end of the day😊

[T. Payne]

They will school together fine.

[Flumpweesel]

My long finned and normal bronze corys do not seem to display a prejudice.

[nabokovfan87]

I would encourage to rehome if you want longfins or something.   You could also just try to spawn yours to get more 🙂

There isn't any issue with mixing the two, but as mentioned above genetically it's not the best situation.  I almost always default to keeping one species of cory per tank.  I have two tanks so I can get two.  I would love to have more, but it's not something that will happen soon or possibly ever.   Maybe someone will trade with you?