Text by Leonard of Discus Sanctuary Australia, Photos by Stan Chung of Discus Sanctuary Malaysia

Ocean Green Blue vs Blue Sapphire

There's a lot of speculation between Ocean Greens (Blue Diamond) and Blue Sapphires and we've had a lot of customers wanting to know the difference.

The most important thing to remember is the Ocean Greens of today are better than the ones that 1st came out-those were mutants but were generally thin weak and with poor shape in today's standards.

As breeders all over the world fiddled to improve the blue diamond, some blue diamonds were out crossed with cobalts for better body shape, but ended up with some cobalt traits, face pattern, bar on the tail base/peduncle.

Blue Sapphires are in fact among the highest grade blue diamonds. It was given a different name because our proud breeder Mr Martin Ng, wanted to differentiate his from those sold around the world. The 1st thing you will notice is the striking blue colour-when photographed out of water like wild fishes look more vivid, the 2nd thing is the shinier glossier colour of the Blue Sapphires. They literally glow in the tank compared to ordinary Ocean Greens who have a grey blue green disposition.

The eye colour is also improved greatly with very low incidence of amber - inherited from older generations, some are barless with beautiful red 'donut' iris. These are subtle differences but would be appreciated by expert breeders who have struggled with this minor but important detail on a discus.You will notice the absence of pattern on the gill plate, bar on the tail base/peduncle that's also present in the higher grade blue diamonds that were inherited from outcrossing with cobalts.

Being a very much improved Ocean Greens, it very rightly deserves a different name. We have customers who immediately spot the colour difference!

Blue Sapphires are bred in Malaysia and now distributed to worldwide by Discus Sanctuary. Check with us today if they have arrived in your local area. Visit our web site at www.discussanctuary.com.my or see us at Malaysia discus forum at www.discus.com.my

Leonard, Discus Sanctuary Australia