gray haired purple tang?

[haysanatar]

i was curious if anyone else has seen this/ knows what it could be. I've had a purple tang for over a year (got it with my tank and he had it for a few years as well). Its never ceased to amaze me how robust it is, its never gotten ick (even when i've had small outbreaks) survived power outages due to tornadoes for several days and has been in excellent shape since day one. Recently its developed a white patch on the right side about mouth/ snout area. It seems to be doing fine though, still eats is active very deep coloring everywhere else. Is it a possible skin/fungal infection, or could it just be old age kicking in.

 

[TruReef]

It could possibly be hlle? A little late in it's life to develop but possible.

 

[fender4string]

I'd bet you're right about it being a bacterial infection. Those are pretty common around the mouth/gills. I'd pull him, QT him, and administer an antibacterial.

 

[haysanatar]

its odd though its just a whitish patch of skin (its more a lighter purple but the markings spots etc are still visible) on what i would call almost the brow ridge/nose ha now all i have to do is catch him.. that should be easy...


here's a picture of a tang with what looks like a similar skin condition mine is just above the mouth and not under it.