Black convict cichlids

Question
Hey, I just recently bought two black convicts, one male and one female. I just noticed that the female has some very small white spots on her side, as well as a small one on her front fin. I'm not sure if it's anything at all, but I decided it was best to ask before it developed into something bad. Both fish have been acting perfectly normal and have been regularly eating. This is also a new tank (I did run the water for a few days previous, however) Do you think that maybe she has ick? Or something else?

Thanks.  

Answer
Hi Sarah;

It could be ick. If they look like tiny white pindots, that's it. New Tank Syndrome can cause enough stress that it easily attacks fish. New Tank Syndrome lasts about 6 to 8 weeks. Toxins rise and fall and the fish sometimes get sick if you don't know the toxins are up too high. You may need to make some 25% water changes every couple of days during the break-in period to keep toxins tolerable. It will help their immunity against the ick too, if that's what they have. Here is a link to my article about it;

http://www.xanga.com/Expert_Fish_Help

To treat the fish (if it is ick), Raise the water temperature to 82f by turning up the heater. Stay with it for several hours so you can adjust it so it doesn't go too high. Also add aquarium salt at the rate of one teaspoon per gallon. Cichlids are very tolerant of salt, but ick parasites hate it. They hate heat too. You can use an ick remedy along with the heat/salt if you want to. Keep the temperature up like that for 2 weeks. Make sure to add more salt every time you make a water change. But, only add enough salt to treat the replaced water when you make a water change. For instance, if you replace 2 gallons of water, add back 2 teaspoons of salt. Once the crisis is over, just don't add more salt when you make regular maintenance water changes. After the tank fully breaks in, a weekly 25% change and a gravel vacuuming every 2 to 4 weeks is needed.

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins