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About Ron Coleman
Expertise
I am an expert on cichlid fishes, particularly New World cichlids. My broader expertise includes the behavior, ecology and reproduction of fishes in general. (I am NOT an expert on Goldfish. Please do not ask me questions about why your goldfish are sick -- they are almost always sick due to the way that they are sold). Also, please do not use abbreviations, such as "my GT has a swollen
eye" because I don't know what a "GT" is. The more clearly you can explain your question, the better chance I have of understanding what it is that you seek. Thanks.
Experience
I teach at the California State University, Sacramento in the Department of Biological Sciences, and I run a website, called the Cichlid Research Home Page . I also write for many popular aquarist magazines, and I am editor of Cichlid News magazine. I am a scientist and I spend my time teaching fish biology, ecology, behavior and evolution and doing research on the reproductive biology of fishes, particularly cichlids. I do research in the laboratory and in Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Mexico. My main interest is understanding the evolution of parental care in fishes. I am interested in encouraging greater public awareness, understanding and participation in science.
Organizations belong to
American Cichlid Association, Pacific Coast Cichlid Association, American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, etc
Publications
Cichlid News, Tropical Fish Hobbyist, Freshwater and Marine Aquarium, Science, Behavioural Ecology and Sociobiology, Copeia, Canadian Journal of Zoology, Trends in Ecology and Evolution, AUK, Environmental Biology of Fishes
Education/Credentials
PhD (Toronto, 1993) MSc (Simon Fraser, 1986) BSc (British Columbia, 1983)
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You are here: Experts > Animals/Pets > Pet Fish > Fish > malawi chiclids and black spot
Expert: Ron Coleman
Date: 5/12/2008
Subject: malawi chiclids and black spot
Question
Hi,
I have a fish tank with some Malawi cichlids and two of them(electric yellow) have few black spots on their body. According to me it is black spot but I don't know how to treat it. Besides this I don't have an other tank where to put them and treat them. So can you please give me some advice.
PS. The sales person at the pet shop suggested me to add tonic salt the the water.
Regards
Ismael Cutajar
Answer
Hi Ismael,
There are two kinds of black spots that I know of. The one kind is essentially little bruises caused by bites from another fish.
The other kind is one life stage of a little aquatic parasite. It forms little black spots which are actually little tiny mounds on the fishes skin. The good news is that you don't need to do anything about these. The parasites come in on plants and snails I believe and only one life history stage lives on the fish. Eventually they need to get to their next host which is a bird I believe. Since that isn't going to happen in a fish tank, eventually they will simply disappear.
I would not add anything to try to get rid of them. No good can come from that and there is a lot of potential harm.
-- Ron
rcoleman@cichlidresearch.com
Cichlid Research Home Page <http://cichlidresearch.com>
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