Loaches have some unknown sickness

[loachee]

So far I haven't been able to figure out a diagnosis on what is going wrong with my loaches.

Problem:

My loaches are getting a white discoloration on their black bands.
Here is a picture of it http://www.usauctionwatch.com/loach.jpg

My tank has been established for awhile and my loaches have been in the tank for about 2 months now. The one loach started exhibiting this a few weeks ago and then the others started showing signs. The original loach that had this issue has died unfortunately. Of my remaining two loaches one has it slightly less severe as the one in the picture and the other doesn't have the discoloration in the bands, but the grayish area is on/around his eye.

Tank spec:
30 gallon ecplise
Ecocomplete gravel planted tank
PH 7.2/Ammonia & Nitrite 0/Nitrate 20ppm

Filtration:
Integrated hood filter power filter with bio wheel
Fluval 204 canister filter

Fish:
8 neon tetra
4 male endlers
3 clown loaches (originally)
2 golden algae eaters
10 ghost shrimp

What I have tried:
Water change
Low dose aquarium salt
Pimafix & Melafix

It seemed to have stagnated the progression for awhile, but seems to have lost effectiveness. They are still eating fine. Has anyone seen anything like this before?

Thanks

[cybermeez]

Those are some very sick looking Clowns! It's hard to see clearly in the photo but it appears to me to be an internal bacterial infection. I'd start treating them with a combination of Maracyn and Maracyn 2 as soon as possible.

If you have a hospital tank, with a fully cycled filter and the same water parameters as the main tank, that would be the optimal place to treat them. If not, you can treat the main tank and neither antibiotic will harm your plants or the other fish. Keep an eye on you water quality during treatment. It's rare when using the Maracyns, but there is the slim chance you could see elevated nitrite levels.

[loachee]

Will it harm inverts or stain my tank?

[cybermeez]

Neither Maracyn or Maracyn 2 will harm inverts or discolor your tank. During treatment you may notice a slight yellow coloration to the water, but it will not stain anything. Be sure to remove any carbon in your filter while you are using the medications. If you don't, the carbon will remove the medicine from the water before it can help the fish.

[loachee]

Picked up some maracyn II and going to give it a shot.

[clownloach]

good luck and may your fish survive

thats all i gotta say

[cybermeez]

Picked up some maracyn II and going to give it a shot.

Use "Maracyn Two" and regular "Maracyn" at the same time. They are complimentary antibiotics and safe to use together. Using both at the same time will give your fish a better chance of recovering.

[loachee]

!!!

I lost the one that looked healthier and the one that looked worse off is actually swimming around energetically and eating like mad. You wouldn't know anything was wrong with him except for the discoloration on him.

The one I lost started breathing rapidly and seemed to have trouble swimming. It floated around and kept trying to get himself back on plane all yesterday.

I'll try adding maracyn 1 as well. I didn't know they could be stacked.

[cybermeez]

Test your water. Particularly for nitrite and ammonia. If your test kit registers either, do a 50% water change and start adding something to detoxify the ammonia and/or nitrite. Seachem's Prime will detoxify ammonia and nitrite if dosed according to the instructions. AmmoLock will detoxify ammonia, but I don't know if it does nitrite too.