Algae on fish!?!?

[Cposey4]

It appears that my oldest largest male African yellow has algae growing on him.. it's been there awhile doesn't seem to bother him much but was curious to weather this is normal and If so why does it happen... age? ... am I doing something wrong?

 

[Colin_T]

can you post a picture of the fish?

algae doesn't normally grow on fish because their mucous coating resists algae establishing and they shed the mucous regularly.

 

[Demeter32]

Never heard of a fish having algae growing on them. A picture will tell us more. How old is the fish and when did he start having the discoloration?

 

[Cposey4]

For some reason the thread will not allow me to upload a file... I've tried numerous times and it says any file even single photos is too large to upload

 

[Colin_T]

Either make the images smaller on your computer, you will need an image editing software to do that. Or put the pictures on a free image hosting website, and copy the link (web address) for the image and paste it here. We can then go to the address and look at the image.

 

[Cposey4]

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10216730197594372&id=1444860020


I just posted them to my personal facebook page which is open to the public

 

[Colin_T]

The white/ grey film spreading over the electric yellow cichlid is excess mucous. The fish has clamped fins and this combined with the excess mucous would suggest it has a protozoan infection or the water quality is really bad, most likely the former tho.

Have you tested the aquarium water for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH & GH?
If yes, what were the results?

How often do you do water changes and gravel cleans, and how much water do you change?

How often do you clean the filter and how do you clean it?

Have you added any new fish within a month of this showing up?