sick texas cichlid

Question
hello i have a 50 gallon tank with a pleco, green terror, and a small texas cichlid. I recently noticed that my texas cichlid has some little black balls growing off his sides and he also has an area on his gills that has turned black as well. I have been doing some research but i can't find these symptoms anywhere i would really appreciate it if you would give me any info. you have thank you.

Answer
Hi Shelley
I probably won't be able to help you much.  I just did a search a few days ago on something similar.  Was a different type of fish, but had a small black lump on it's side.  A few minutes ago I just found this site, scroll down to Black Spot:

http://www.angelfire.com/poetry/canadasangel/FishDiseases.html

That is the only thing I've been able to find out on black spots that are raised.  I'm going to keep looking, if I find anything else about it I'll revise this and send it to you.

Christy