[Anall44]

Hey, I've got a some Peacocks and other Malawi's, all adolescent and they are forming these kind of dark blotches on there bodies that will appear and then kind of fade and reappear in different spots.

I have had a couple of them grow out of this stage. It almost appears that you could rub the spots off like it was a slime or something.

Anyone know anything about what I'm talking about.?

 

[jdgambler111]

I have noticed the same thing on a few of my fish from time to time.They seem allright but i don't know what it is either.

 

[Gibbs]

I had the same thing on my peacocks. Removed a fish that shouldn't have been in the tank and the spots went away

 

[Anall44]

what kind of fish was it that you took out that fixed the problem?

 

[Gibbs]

Dimidiochromis Compressicep.

I got him as an average size juvie, and he grew up with my peacocks but as he matured and large (twice the size of any of my peacocks) he became extremely aggressive and territorial.

All the peacocks were constantly harrased and unfortunately i had to get rid of the big fella

Once i did all my peacocks coloured up better and the few that had black blotch's on them lost them in about a month.

Worked for me but there may be another reason for them

 

[ash01]

I have the same thing on only a couple of my fish out of 23

I don't know what it is either sometimes some of them seem to fade other times there seems to be more. When my Ps.Elongatus Mpanga has coloured down you can notice it but when he is fully coloured up you can't as its in areas where he is black in colour.

The 2 fish that have it are very healthy and don't have any laboured breathing etc so i don't think its parasitic.

My local fish shop thinks it could be pigmentation but im not sure, maybe it is.

Im just glad to here other people have this problem but like my own fish they don't seem to be ill.

 

[Gibbs]

Another Elongatus Mpanga keeper :thumb:

One of my females has some after she spits her fry but then they slowly fade again like they are doing now, but otherwise she is healthy

 

[ash01]

Yeah i love my Ps.Mpanga. He is the guy that breaks up every fall out which is rare anyway in the tank.

If anyone starts too rumble he just comes along does some vibrating beside them and just like that the fish stop brawling and swim off fight ended lol. He's great. So needless to say i never have any major fights ever in the tank because he stops them as soon as they start.

They are known for becoming hyper dominent in the tank but i haven't noticed this in him well not up to now anyway and i have had him for a year.

I actually have a weird assortment of Malawis/Tangs in the same tank and everything seems to go perfectly together considering most of them are not meant to be compatable with each other maybe i have just been lucky. I recently added 3 x 5 bar trets and some Socofoli babies and not one of my much bigger fish blinked an eye at them i couldn't believe it i thought it would of started fighting/territorial issues but nothing. I just hope the luck continues.

 

[Gibbs]

Maybe they love their owner to much to play up.

I'm really happy with my guys i have 7 at the moment along with a handful of fry. My male is really cool like that to, hes not to agro but just enough to let the rest no whos boss....I'll keep an eye out for the hyper activity you speek about but.

 

[jdgambler111]

Ok,you guys.Your fish all seem great,but does anyone really know what this markings are?

 

[Gibbs]

Sorry for the friendly discussion.

The fact is no one has ever had an answer to this problem

Some of the suggestions have been:
A poor quality fish and the fact that the fish may be a 30th generation tank bred fish, which may have an impact on it's make up
A bacterial infection under the skin
Poor water quality
So and so and so and so

In my opinion the makings are caused from stress but the only evidence to back this up is my own experience. The minute i removed a threatening fish which relieved the stress on the rest of the fish the spots disappeared about 1 month later.

The only other fish is an Elongatus female that is holding alot of the time, which in my opinion is a stressful time, she will get spots after she has spat her fry which fade about a week later.

That's my opinion

 

[CichInTheMind]

I thought those were "spirulina spots" from feeding too much spirulina. since peacocks are more carnivorous than mbuna, its easier for them to show this symptom. BTW its harmless.