Possible infection or just age? (pics included)

[yellow_tang2009]

I have progressivly noticed darkening areas then missing portions around the caudal fin of my marroon clowfish. I do not know what would cause this nor a way to treat it. You can also notice darkened areas of the remaining four fins. Any idea what this is and how to treat?

The fish is atleast 3 years old if not older. He is in a 55g reef tank, all parameters within normal limits. No agressive fish. No recent additions (~ 1 year)

Hyper-Melaninization doesnt seem to make since to me since to me. I dont really have any invertebrates that would do this. The anenome was moved quite some time ago and it seems the condition tends to progress. Maybe there is another cause of Hyper-Melaninization?

Thank you for your time

[b0bab0ey]

Blurry pic, so it's hard to say. IME Hyper-Melanization is usually caused by a coral that the clown is trying to host but the coral isn't playing nice. Clowns don't seem to understand why the coral won't show them any love, so they just keep trying and trying to their detriment. In rare cases, it can even be caused by the host anemone itself. Some believe that it's a clown's thick mucous coating that protects it from anemones/corals and if that coating starts to weaken for some reason... If you have a coral/anemone you think might be causing this, I would move the clown to a separate QT and see if the problem just goes away on it's own. That will tell you something. If not, I would suspect a bacterial infection of some sort and you'll probably need to treat with antibiotics.