Worried about my JD tank

[rmorse]

Hey guys. I am new to the whole cichlid scene. (Been keeping fish for quite sometime, but just not cichlids.) This is my first real attempt at doing a cichlid tank, and I chose JD's. I have 5 JD's in a 55 gallon. I am waiting for a pair, then I will return the other 3. I have 2 Bushynosed Plecos as my cleanup crew. I have 4 Giant Danios as my dithers.

I recently saw I had ich, freaked the F out, and raised salt and temp. I treated the tank with Ridich yesterday. I am concerned about a couple of the Jacks. For one, my large male is developing alot of red on his forehead. (Once again, I am new with the cichlid scene...is this normal?):

I also noticed a weird thing on a couple of my Jacks. Here is the worst one. See the white crap? Its like its scales are missing. Any idea what this is, how its caused, and how it can be fixed? The white crap is on its forehead sorta...Right before its back fin thing.

This is one of the Plecos. Other one is a normal bushynose.

You can also see the white crap on the Jack there.


Last pic: full tank shot.

Other crap:

Running an acuaclear 110. I also use a Diatom Vortex every now and then. Temp is kept at 80.


Let me know if you need any other info, AND PLEASE HELP!!!!! I am worried about my lil fishy friends

 

[davidefc]

about the white marks they could be little bite marks, i would add aquarium salt, it helps healing because it makes the fish produce extra slim coat also it helps fight against ick, the red colouring is just a colouring all jacks get it. just keep up with the w/c and you should be fine.
Your male JD has good colouring, he will be a looker when older

 

[pdbrady]

about the white marks they could be little bite marks, i would add aquarium salt, it helps healing because it makes the fish produce extra slim coat also it helps fight against ick, the red colouring is just a colouring all jacks get it. just keep up with the w/c and you should be fine.
Your male JD has good colouring, he will be a looker when older

x2 exactly as said

 

[rmorse]

Whew...thank you guys sooo much! I <3 my male jack...I don't want him hurting. How often should I be doing wc's? 1x week?

 

[pdbrady]

It honestly varies tank to tank. Test your water, and see how long your tank takes to build nitrates, and do changes based on that. If it takes a long time to get a pair, and you have all five jd in there for a while, weekly will end up being a minimum.

 

[thrillbillie12]

i have three jd/texas hybrids, im doing 25-30% wc every 2-3 days, and there in a 55 gallon.

 

[rmorse]

Okie dokie =)

I do believe I have a pair going on now...But that may just be wishful thinking...Although, my big male seems to not care if one particular female is chilling near him. I am going to slowly start taking JD's back, till I have just those 2.