# white spots growing on fish. not ick. check pics and help me



## sunny231 (Aug 21, 2010)

they stopped going wild for the food. they barely eat. something definitely is up. i thought they were bite wounds at first then other fish started to get same white blotches. i know its not ick.


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## 13razorbackfan (Sep 28, 2011)

What size tank is that? Dimensions specifically.

How many fish total? Do you have a list of all the fish?

How often do you do water changes?

What are your ammonia/nitrite/nitrate readings?

From what I can tell...that tank looks jam packed with a lot of different fish that probably are not going to do well together. It looks to me like stress could be causing this outbreak.


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## Steffano2 (Jan 11, 2007)

It might be Lymphocystic read the info from this link: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/fa181


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## 24Tropheus (Jun 21, 2006)

Just infected bite/scratch marks I think. To be expected in such a tank with so many big cichlids.
Hard to suggest best (chemical) treatment as I can not tell if its bacterial or fungal.
Generaly try bacterial first as fungal ones are harder to treat and less lethal. Or best yet, get someone to do a swab and look under a microscope.
Real answer is have compatable smaller guys and less scratchy rocks. If thats coral/Marine white sand it does not help iether as it can irritate bigger Malawi cichlids.

All the best James


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## sunny231 (Aug 21, 2010)

tanks a 125 gallon tank. i had these guys in here growing together over 2 years with no prob. never had ick in this tank just one disease that was brought from a new fish added a long time ago. that time has passed. i did a 30% water change yest and now they look amazing. they are eating and looking back on track. the white spots some how faded away. i dont know what was up. im going to do another 30 or 50 % water change today. ill c how things go.

thanks guys for your help appreciate the fast feed back!


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## 24Tropheus (Jun 21, 2006)

No worries (glad a little improvement in water quality did the trick this time) but it may be a warning sine that the fish are now big enough to be becomming a problem to each other or the set up too small (or filtration not up to it) for them long term. Look out to see if you can see any unacceptable aggression and maybe think of getting less scratchy rocks and swaping out bullies for others or for removal. Big guys (esp open water haps and some peacocks) blunder into em when chased or chasing esp older adults for some reason. Resulting eye damage can be particularly distressing and hard to treat. Skin/scale/fin damage less so. And maybe test the water. Nitrate build up (or ammonia peaks or nitrite peaks soon after feeding) or KH drop can often suprise us if a tank has been running without problems for a long time.

All the best James


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## 13razorbackfan (Sep 28, 2011)

Yep....water changes usually help fish heal rather quickly especially from fighting injuries.


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## sunny231 (Aug 21, 2010)

i think ill keep it the way it is. they been adults for about 1 year. i had them for a while. there good.


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## ahud (Aug 22, 2009)

At the very least keep an eye out on the guy centered in most of the photos. Bullying always needs to be looked out for (heck, even pairs go postal on each other). Part of my maintenance is looking everybody over, if I see marks I know somebody is not playing nice. The kicker is the fish usually don't bully each other when your around, because they are waiting on food.

Glad your problem cleared up. I doubt you have much to worry about with aggression, *but* many old timers have stories of tanks working for years and then a few fish decide its time for them to become boss!


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## sunny231 (Aug 21, 2010)

ahud said:


> At the very least keep an eye out on the guy centered in most of the photos. Bullying always needs to be looked out for (heck, even pairs go postal on each other). Part of my maintenance is looking everybody over, if I see marks I know somebody is not playing nice. The kicker is the fish usually don't bully each other when your around, because they are waiting on food.
> 
> Glad your problem cleared up. I doubt you have much to worry about with aggression, *but* many old timers have stories of tanks working for years and then a few fish decide its time for them to become boss!


i hear yah. ill keep a better eye on them. thanks for details brotha. and thanks for the support guys!


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