Sick Jack Dempsey..please help

Question
I just returned from vacation, we were gone for one week, and had feeding tablets in the tank when we left.  My Dempsey, his name is Phred, is approximately 7 or 8 yrs old and lives in a 30 gallon tank.  He only shares the tank with a few feeder guppies and recently 3 small clown loaches to help with our snail problem.  He was fine when we left and eating well.  When I came home last night I noticed he had a small, white blister looking fungus on him.  I put some "fungus clear" tablets in the tank as well as some ick medicine because I saw a few white spots on his fins.  This morning the large spot on his head is gone, but he still has the ick spots, and his color has gotten VERY dark.  Also, his eyes seem to be bugging out, I haven't ever noticed them doing that before.  He was swimming so near the top of the water that his fin was coming in and out of the water, and now he seems to be slowly flailing about, mostly on his side or even vertical looking down...almost like he's eating..but he won't eat.  PLEASE help!  I love this fish dearly and would be so upset if he dies, I hope there is something I can do to help him.  I'm getting ready to do a partial water change.
Thanks!!

Answer
Hi Clarissa,
The best thing you can do for your Jack Dempsey, Phred right now is a massive water change. Drain the water down to leave just enough for him to comfortable wiggle around a bit. And be sure to refill with dechlorinated and equal in temp (or a little warmer) to his tank temp, water. This should help him. The medications you put in may have a really bad effect on him. Especially if the Fungus clear and the Ick Medication were not made to be used together.

The medications could also have caused the biological filter to crash. Resulting in ammonia spikes. If you could test your water that would be great. But do a massive water change as soon as possible.

If you are certain he has ick, then you might want to consider an alternative to medications and just use the "Heat and salt" treatment. You can read all about it here plus other methods of ick treatment-
http://cichlid-forum.com/articles/ich.php

The bugging eyes may be popeye, which can be the result of poor water quality or a bacterial infection. Sometimes popeye can recover on its own if the tank conditions are improved. Which hopefully will be your case.

Don't forget the importance of water changes. There's nothing better you can do for your fish than water changes.

I really hope Phred gets better, poor guy, he's a old fella too!
Best wishes,
Karen~