parasite - prevention for other fish in tank

[SamandAnne]

Hi everyone,

I had 3 dwarf platies die recently of parasites, I think. I had some problems with temperature fluctuations in my small tank (non-programmable heater; I think it's resolved now) and first thought that's why I lost the first fish, a female. Then a second female died, and I wondered if the male was being too rough on them. Then, the male died, but a couple days before I noticed that clear, stringy stool and listlessness, and realized the others had the same stool and look the night before they died. I bought some medicated food but he didn't recover. I just didn't put it all together until too late, I think.

1) Would you agree this might be parasitic?
2) The last fish I have is a spotted feeder guppy, who does not have symptoms yet. Anything I can do to help prevent its spread? I have the medicated food now (though they don't seem to like this much) and can do water changes.
3) Would it be a bad idea to introduce ghost shrimp at this point to help with cleaning up food scraps, waste, etc?

Thanks!

[PostalPenguin]

Go ahead and introduce the shrimp. I believe they do not carry diseases that affect fish so you're safe in that regard.

Sounds like you had parasites. Feed the guppy the medicated food for awhile to keep it from getting sick and then go back to regular food.

[SamandAnne]

OK, that sounds good. I'll keep using the medicated food. I was going to try and increase my WC a little to remove any waste that might be infected...if it works that way...

Thinking of adding garlic to the food, but all we have is the minced kind preserved in olive oil. :)