Project Description

Blue Cobalt Discus

Cobalt,

Blue Cobalt is a darker blue discus strain with some red veins seen in their fins occasionally which is the result of genetic corrections of the brilliant blue turquoise. It is considered a Solid strain. Cobalts discus is having minimum 2 stress bars or more and is a favorite strain for discus breeders around the world.
  • QUICK LOOK:
  • Recommended for: beginners or higher
  • Price Range: or higher
  • Growth Speed:
  • Strength: but very sensitive to skin diseases
  • Family Group: Hybrids
  • Design: solid
  • Best Food: foods high in Spirulina
  • Water Condition: TDS up to 300, PH: 6.5 – 7.5

Care and Breeding Information

General care for Blue Cobalt Discus

Blue Cobalt is fairly a fast-growing discus strain and it’s an easy-to-keep discus fish for most beginners and other discus lovers. They are usually strong, but be careful of skin diseases as blue Cobalt is so sensitive to any skin issues. if well cared, they’ll live up to 8 to 9 years in aquariums. This strain is usually in a mid-range price for discus, however, some are sold at any higher prices.
Best food:
Foods with a higher amount of spirulina are the best for a blue Cobalt discus which naturally intensifies their blue coloration. One of the specifically produced foods for this strain is Sera Discus Color Blue. Other foods which contains red pigmentations like krill might intensify their tail and pecyoral fin as they are a bit red already. Like most other strains It’s best to use an appropriate discus feeding plan for your Blue Diamond as it helps you not only to have a growing and healthier discus but also a cleaner tank as well.
Suitable water and tank condition:
Conditioning water is always an important factor for every aquarium and it seems to be even more important when it comes to Discus. Blue Cobalt needs the water not to be higher than 300 in TDS and the water temperature of 29.5 -30.5 °C to showcase it’s the best coloration, expanded fins, eating habits and in general to show you how a happy discus look like. to learn more about how to maintain well-conditioned water for discus click here.
The best tank condition for Blue Cobalt can be tanks with brighter backgrounds as they turn dark immediately when they are stressed out which a dark background is usually one of the reasons. Sand and gravel can also cause your Blue cobalt to turn darker immediately. Woods and plants can be used if you are not a fan of bare bottom tanks but it’s better to avoid high-density planting as it makes it difficult to clean the tank up to its cleanest. You can always use pots or plant on woods if you love having plants but a clean tank at the same time. to learn more about the best tank conditions for discus click here.
A healthy Blue Cobalt should look like:
I can’t stress it enough, Buying healthy discus and from a reliable source is like the MOST IMPORTANT step of every discus lover which will save you a lot of headache and money. There are common signs of a healthy and quality discus but talking about Blue Cobalt Discus, First, you’ll need to pay attention to their skin, as their skin is very sensitive and a good reflection of their health. Opened fins, healthy gills should be considered. looking at their poop tells a lot and also the dorsal fin and anal fin needs to look symmetrical.  Click here to learn more about how to buy a quality discus!
Blue Cobalt Discus is often confused with:
Blue Diamond Discus!

General Breeding information

Blue Cobalt was first bred by Lo Wing Yat in hong kong by correcting brilliant blue turquoise’s genetic (brilliant blue). He selected the brilliant blue turquoise which were having no stress bars, paired them up and could successfully breed Blue Cobalt. You might know that he could also breed Blue Diamond by correcting cobalt’s gene afterward and in 1991. Actually, many of the other famous and popular strains of discus were produces in this journey such as Albino Platinum, Blue Saphir and Neon Saphir who are bred by Martin NG, and many more other strains!
You will like to know that Cobalt breeding is very simple, as they can beautifully grow out their fry due to their extreme ability to darken their skin coloration while breeding and easily feeding their mucus to the fry. Their babies will show up their real coloration almost when they get to 2 inches as they are considered in the solid group. The Blue Cobalt is also a wonderful pick for Discus Foster Parenting as they can also produce a lot of mucus secretions.
Pairs Preparations For Breeding Discus
If you want quality eggs, you’ll need a healthy pair. So one thing I found vital in successful breeding is to prepare the pair for breeding at least 15 days before laying the eggs you are planning to work on. using Chloramine-T on Flubendazole every 5 days and for 3 cycles. click on here to learn how to use chloramine-T or Flubendazole!
Water Condition for Breeding Blue Cobalt Discus
The water you put in the breeding tank first is usually the water of the bigger tank where your pair fell in love! Remember, your matured discus could be stronger in some various water conditions but that might not be the case for their eggs. If you want a high rate of discus eggs hatching, apart from using methylene blue you’ll need soft water, TDS from 30 to 70 is fine and my favorite number is 50. You just take care of this number and the rest of the parameters will simply adjust to it’s best (Such as the PH and etc).
Tank and filtration system for Breeding Discus
To explain it briefly and based on my experience, I think The best size for a breeding tank is 50cm * 50cm * 50cm Which ends up holding 125 Liters of water. It is best to choose a similar size for the Lenght, width, and height of the breeding tank. but none of them should be less than 40 cm while holding 125 Liters of water.
Then for filtration set up, you’ll need a simple, and easy to use a sponge filter.  We’ll want to remove the sponge filter when the eggs are hatched and to replace it back after the fry are better swimmers. read more here!
Next is the heater, for such tank, you’ll need a 150W or 200W to maintain a temperature of 28°C – 28.5°C. Here is a trick I use all the time, as 30% to 50% water change is recommended daily and it helps to soften the water. I purposely choose to add enough water of 25°C until I can decrease the tank temperature by 1°C or 1.5°C suddenly, and the heater works to bring it back to the beginning temperature of 28°C or 28.5°C. This happens to lead the pairs into temptation and desire for sex.
lastly, we’ll need to have a breeding cone or anything else like ceramics, Pvc pipes to provide a surface for laying the eggs although they might still decide to lay their eggs anywhere else they like!
Blue Cobalt Discus pairs up well with:
Best with the Blues such as Blue Diamonds, Blue Angels, Blue cover, Blue Turquoise. but basically cobalt pairs up well with any other strains.

Other types of Discus you can learn about: