Yellow Tang with brown mouth

[joefromnz]

My yellow tang has a dark brown/red mouth I am sure there is no other red or brown anywhere else on its body. Is it just brown algae that he has tried to eat stuck on his mouth or is it a bacterial infection Has anyone experienced this before?

Water parameters are fine but phosphates are a little high. I have started to do frequent water changes again to get rid of the phosphate, and if it is bacterial infection it should disappear over the next few weeks.

Any help would be much appreciated!

 

[Percula9]

I doubt brown algae is stuck to the mouth. I would quarantine and treat with antibiotics before it really becomes a major infection. As for your phosphates, get some phosban and run it in the filter where the water flow is high. Bacterial infections just don't dissappear on their own. When humans get infections we treat with antibiotics. If you want to wait and see that of course is your perogative, I don't recommend it. My aquatics teacher at school says, the wait and see method only results in dead livestock.