Tig Pattern Fade

[Redtailrob]

Hi all.

I have a stunning 18" Tig that I've had for about 2 yrs.

Lately the colour on his flanks is fading badly, it almost looks like it's being rubbed of, as strange as that may sound as it's patchy in places.
I have noticed him "wrestling" / trying to push one of the other cats out from under one of the larger pieces of bogwood.

He is still eating fine & otherwise seems as healthy as before but this pattern fade baffles me.

General tank info:
Tank set up, is 8 foot, 315 Gallon / 1400 Litres.
temp 78 o F
NH4 less than 0.1
Nitrite less tha 1mg/l
pH 7.2
Tank is filtered by a large 45Gallon sump conatining various media

[Richard B]

Can you post a pic Rob?

[Viktor Jarikov]

That may be alarming, Rob. Mine (8") loses color (fades) only occasionally when I change water and then takes half a day to a day to get back to normal color. BTW: I just realized that your gallons differ from US gallons, 1400/315 = 4.4444 l/gal. US gallon is 3.785 l. Maybe it's just me not paying attention, but it appears that vast majority of people do not specify whether they are writing about US gallons or UK gallons, i.e., if that is where the difference lies.

[MatsP]

US gallons are indeed smaller than UK (imperial) gallons. This originates in a US gallon being the same amount of ounces in weight as in volume, 128, where a UK gallon is 160 fl. oz. It is some sort of "almost metrification" that the US decided to do when they formed their units.

So, it means that a pint and a pound in the US weigh the same, where a pint in the UK is 1lb 4oz in weight, and 20fl.oz in volume.

As a consequence, a UK/Imperial gallon is 4.54 liter and a US gallon is 3.785 liter.

--
Mats

[apistomaster]

It must have been an American who came up with the aphorism, "A pint is a pound the world around."

[Redtailrob]

This fish has neither lost any more colour/bands or returned to it's former colours.
I noticed yesterday that it also has some scratches/grazes on its flanks so maybe it's scraping with a tank mate??
Sat in the fish house with a small torch in the pitch black for about an hour last night trying to spot any culprits but didn't see anything.
The things we do for our fish huh???