I have 4 Oscars and three of them have some small white dots on there side fins( don't know the mane of the fin but its by there gills. they don't seem to be sick they are real energetic and eat out of my hand, but i'm curious about those spots.
someone told me that they are males, showing signs of being ready to mate, and I don't think its Ick, just want some opinions of what it may be ( maybe a Fungus or something)

i know that the spots come out on the pecteral fins on male goldfish...

not on any kind of cichlid... well that i know of...

they sound like ulcers... i've never had any problems with any cichlids... so i wouldn't know what to do my friend...

do a search on ulcers...

I had white spots on my Pleco about 4 months ago and he was the same, ate well very energetic. It wasn't ick, it ended up being some sort of fungus. So i treated him with a fungus medication I got from my lfs once a week for 2 weeks. The white spots are completely gone now and he and all my other fish are very healthy.
Not saying that it is a fungus but just throwing that out there for you to check into it.