Fungus, fin rot, ich - help me get a handle please!

[inssane]

So I have about 18 or so tetras and one red severum in my 55gallon.
I must have brought something home on the last 7 tetras I put in there as I noticed (not in the store unfortunately) when I had them in my tank a few days, that their fins were a bit tattered.

Well that turned into a little bit of slime (what I think is fungal) progressing. So I bumped the heat over a few days (now 87, normal is 84) to prevent ick. Went to the store to get "Fungus Guard" by Tetra. I don't have alot of money right now and the others were very expensive to treat properly.

So I put it in two days ago and I have a St. Patty's green tanks, ha. Problem is that now I am seeing ick on a few of the tetras and whatever fungus/fin rot seems to be getting worse in the fish that had it already.

So, the fish that I "bought sick" seem to be getting a little worse where on their tail in front of their fin, on their scales, seems to be "tattered" as well.

I don't want the Sev to get sick, and I thought that maybe the Sev was nipping their fins as he has snacked on Tetras in the past, but I don't think this is the case.

What is my next move?
I don't know how long this Fungus Guard lasts actively in my tank and I want to get an ich treatment, but I think the fungus is more detrimental.
Problem is, the ick is spreading to fish that were fine.

Please advise as it has literally been around 5 years since I have had to deal with sickness.

Water parameters are on par, and no one seems overtly stressed. The Sev has been "shivering" here and there for a few days, but I thought it was from the MelaFix I used for the fins when I first got the Tetras. Sev shows no sign of sickness.

Nick

 

[freebyrd]

I had this happen to me recently I used mardel maracyn powder and it seems to have worked but beware the sickness I had (sounds alot like yours) was lethal and spread quickly killing fish in 72 hours or so. Hope this helps

 

[inssane]

How long did you treat with the Mardel?
That was one I looked at and it was going to cost alot with the days they recommend.

It's been lingering for a week or a little over, just the last few days two of the fish in particular are bad.
I may just remove them for good since they may be the "hosts".
Honestly, so long as my Sev is fine, Tetra losses I can deal with.

Nick

 

[inssane]

I ended up removing two of the tetras that were really bad.
As far as I can see, there is one that has some light body fungus, and another that has some tail fin degeneration. Otherwise a few have ick.

I did notice that the Sev has one single spot of what looks like ick on the first spine of his dorsal fin.
Between the water change a few days ago, the meds, and me catching those two tetras that's enough stress for a while.
I will monitor and see how it goes.

My main question is how long do I have to wait until I can treat for the "secondary" ick?
I don't want things to become unmanageable, and like I said, it's been a long time since I have had to deal with any sickness.
N