# Black spots on my dragons blood peacock



## whatupcichlids (Apr 12, 2010)

Hey I noticed just today that there are all these random black spots on my female dragon's blood. The water is fine I just checked and the results are as follow:
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 10

She appears to be eating fine and eager to get food like the rest of the tank.... she is the only one with these spots. 
Any suggestions? Thanks guys


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Can you post a picture? Are they tiny specs or bigger spots? Was she raised in a pond?


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## bearded lab (Apr 28, 2010)

My albino hybrid peacock has tiny black specks that look like they are part of it's coloration. It may be that, as my fish and tank are healthy as well.


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## whatupcichlids (Apr 12, 2010)

Hey heres some pics of her.... sorry is they arent too clear.... oh and also, not too sure where she was raised.









Rather sexy sp.44 on the right huh?


















I also noticed that my male Dragons Blood doesnt have black spots, but rather BLACK FINS (a little on the pectoral, a little bit on the dorsal and the top half of the tail! starting to freak me out


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## bearded lab (Apr 28, 2010)

The specks on mine aren't that big.


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## whatupcichlids (Apr 12, 2010)

bearded lab said:


> The specks on mine aren't that big.


wow. Any suggestions on what I should do if you guys think its a problem?


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## bearded lab (Apr 28, 2010)

I guess the first thing to do is see if it spreads. I have seen black spots like that on fish from local lakes and on baitshop minnows, but never on cichlids.


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## whatupcichlids (Apr 12, 2010)

Ok i read this article (thanks tires_6792 for the link, very imformative!) and I believe my cause may be too much spirulina. I just recently started feeding them colour enhancing food containing a reasonable amount of spirulina (not religiously, but about 3-4 times a week). I will take it down to 1-2 a week and see if that helps it. I hope it goes away, it makes my fish ugly!


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## bearded lab (Apr 28, 2010)

I just checked, and mine does have small black streaks on the tips of its pectoral fins.


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## bearded lab (Apr 28, 2010)

That might be be the cause, as I feed mine almost exclusively vegy and spirulina-oriented foods. Then again, mine was like that from when it was very young, maybe even when I bought it.


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## firenzena (Nov 29, 2009)

When I had Dragonbloods I had the same issue.
The blotches were relatively small and irregularly shaped.
They started as dots and got bigger then stopped growing.

The pair were healthy as and never showed any signs of illness.

They were fed on a fairly mixed diet

I had other people recount similar blotches on theirs.

Remember they are man-made and this seems to be fairly common in as much there seems to be plenty accounts of it.

In the same way GBA bristlenoses will often develop brown spots- A throwback to their genetic ancestry.

On of the people who had similar probs with his Dragonbloods showed me a fish from a spawn.
It was a dead ringer for a Red shoulder peacock, so i could see how something like this may be a part of their mixed make-up whether it is food related or not.


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## whatupcichlids (Apr 12, 2010)

firenzena said:


> When I had Dragonbloods I had the same issue.
> The blotches were relatively small and irregularly shaped.
> They started as dots and got bigger then stopped growing.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the helpful input. It could just be a DB thing.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

When my pond raised red zebras were juveniles they had the occasional tiny spec (like pepper) on/near the dorsal. It went away after many months (like a year even) and no treatment seemed to help.

It may have been black spot which is a pond parasite, but it usually goes away on it's own in a tank since it needs wildlife to complete it's life cycle. Like herons and snails.

I never changed the amount of spirulina I fed.


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## ws812 (Apr 17, 2009)

Our Dragon's Blood was COVERED in black specks like that when he was a juvie. They spread in weird patterns then pretty much went away for no reason when he got bigger. Seems to be a common thing though! I freaked out at the time too, even posted a question on the forum and didn't ever get any reassurance. I don't think you should worry too much about her if she's got good water and is fed well!


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## whatupcichlids (Apr 12, 2010)

ws812 said:


> Our Dragon's Blood was COVERED in black specks like that when he was a juvie. They spread in weird patterns then pretty much went away for no reason when he got bigger. Seems to be a common thing though! I freaked out at the time too, even posted a question on the forum and didn't ever get any reassurance. I don't think you should worry too much about her if she's got good water and is fed well!


Thanks for that! i am at peace now haha.


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## Trivika (Oct 16, 2011)

... Has a similar spec! Looks like a tiny splatter of mud. I just got her today, and I'm not sure if its a big deal or not. Could this be the same as all the above comments, or should I worry/return her??

Tina, NJ
90gal African mix


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