Phil,
Those are good questions and not easy to answer. There is a mindset some have in the hobby that its not good to cross strains and lines, that it does muddy the waters. I agree it can. But I don't subscribe to that line of thinking. 99% of whats available came from crosses and initially followed by selective breeding when a desirable trait is discovered. Its the same for livestock, plants etc. We'd all be keeping wild type discus if people had not examined any variations and crosses. Discus have shown themselves to be very genetically plastic... we have barely scraped the surface of our understanding of their genetics and look at the diversity we have.
There is always the chance a cross will produce something extraordinary , also a chance it could be absolutely ugly and undesirable. Even among the No-No crosses like Pigeons X non-Pbs, useful and beautiful Discus have come out of those crosses when selective breeding is used judiciously. In my views, If we want to move the hobby forward a breeder must be ethical and responsible in any fry they sell...whether a cross or not. A breeder also has the responsibility to be truthful as to what the Fish is. If its a cross like this one in this thread.. this isn't a " Brewmaster Golden moon sunshine super duper alpha Centuri " Discus.. Its a Wild Green X Red White F1 cross aka WGXRW F1 .. That tells you everything you need to know. If something comes of that and its interesting and I work with it and refine it and it can breed true as expected, then I may conservatively give it a name to distinguish it. Honestly, thats not likely though.
Would I cull them or give them away if a bad cross.. honestly I would determine that latter... I am not opposed to culling stock...whether a cross or not that is not healthy, or goes against the development of good solid stock that is desirable to the Hobby if the intent is retail.
Oddly enough though even if they are not great and colorful fish as an f1, f2s they could potentially shine. Theres also the fact that though they may not be something that I could ethically sell they may be something I really like. It doesn't matter to me what "The hobby" thinks in this case. I keep the fish I have because I like them. Thats all I need. Doesn't matter to me if someone else does though I hope they do,
If I truly want to understand these non-typical crosses, I need to grow them out and Study them, document them, and maybe breed them sibling to sibling to get my f2, or maybe back to the parent if thats an option.
I can only tell you this at this... Its a LONG Road..
al