Lucy

Ah, crumb, Tony. I hate to hear that Hobo is gone.
Only lab tests might confirm the presence of iridovirus, in Hobo's case and even Rommy's with all his symptoms.
Any illness or virus can be opportune. Meaning it can be present and just waiting for our fish's immune system to go into overdrive for some reason giving the illness a foothold.
Either way, it just stinks to lose a precious fish.

Tony G.

wow... i didnt know that... So you say fish can carry it and not develop it untill their immune system is weak? wow..

thank god clayton never had any contact with any of the 32g's water. Ive been really picky about that.

potatos

Oh man, i was about to go get a couple of the effected fish. I have questions. How long untill it is safe to get DG? angels?

and if pet stores stock DG, and use a filter in which water is recycled throughout the tanks, what stops the desises from spreading throughout their stock and wiping out everything that is not sold before it dies?

Lucy

Nothing stops it from spreading to other dwarf gouramis. I don't know anything about the angels.

They could have a very health batch of DG's. If one is infected, DGD will spread to the others.
Your best bet would be to get them from a local breeder, if you can find one.

potatos

Sorry, i just noticed this thread is older. it popped up on the home screen for me for some reason, and i assumed it was recent. it this epidemic still in effect, or has it passed?

Lucy

It's fine potato. The problem hasn't passed, imo.
This is one of those threads people need to see when considering dwarf gouramis.

potatos

thanks for the replies. If i get one, what preventative measures can i take to help it survive? should i increase my water temp? i do not have a quarantine tank, but i dont think my current fish are seseptable to it (glofish, ram, bristle nose pleco) and if one did get an infected fish, are there any quick action solutions to save it? the last gourami i had would not what and was lethargic, had stingy whit poo, and some pineconing. i returned him, because the pet store had medication at their disposal. i do not want a repeat of last time :/

Lucy

I would guess optimal water conditions will prevent bacterial infections. From what I understand, they're susceptible to them.

As far as DGD, it's a viral infection and incurable. If it's infected, it's infected. Nothing you can do will help it.

potatos

Thats too bad. will this ever pass? and when im at the store, what should i look for to avoid a sick fish, and find a healthy fish. im guessing i should look for bright, active, fish near the front of the glass. anything else? are there tell-tale signes of an infected?

Lucy

Read through the whole thread. In sirdarksol's first post, he provided some links.
A couple are broken, seems that site is down.

potatos

ok thanks. maybe i will just go for pearls instead...i think im going to start a new thread asking people about current experiences of new DG and if the desiese is currently high risk, or if it is a good time to purches. thanks again for your help

Lucy

You're so welcome. I'd hate for anyone to go through what we all did.
Stay away from Colisa lalia (Dwarf Gourami)
Colisa labiosa (Thick Lipped), Colisa fasciata (Banded) and Trichopsis pumila (Sparkling) are said to be immune to DGD.
I'm not 100% positive, but I think Pearls aren't susceptible.
I think there may be others......

haedra

I have a question about this.

If I had known about this disease, I probably wouldn't have gotten Neptune, and saved myself the heartache.

That being said... I was curious as to how long I've had him, and had to look at my previous post history to see when I purchased him. I knew I had posted pictures at the time. Turns out, I've had him since May '09. I had no idea that I had him this long (time flies). If I have had him this long, does this mean I'm "safe" so to speak from this disease.. or can it still strike this late in the game? We're going on 8 months since purchase now.

Lucy

Maybe you got a healthy one

From what I've read, it could lay dormant. Triggering factors may be stress, water quality or nothing.
I had mine for about 3 months before it got sick.

Hebmuller

I bought a DG on Monday, and it died this afternoon. I think I'll skip getting another dwarf gourami, and look into some other fish to add to my tank.

mishykinz

I didn't have a clue about this disease. Last year I got a powder blue DG along with some other fish for my new tank, and he developed the symptoms. When he died, I had no idea why. Now that I do, I feel a bit better...his death always bothered me, but now I have a bit of closure. I'm just thankful that my other fish survived - especially because I do have a female betta in my tropical community. (and that I had the sense not to go get another DG).

wisecrackerz

This is a strange question, but a friend of mine is thinking of getting into breeding. If an infected DG is in a tank with eggs, or fry, can the disease be transmitted?
Also, I've been looking into getting a pair of DGs myself. Is this disease still as prevalent now as it was when this sticky was orriginally posted? If so, are there any precautions I can take?

emily8

What percentage of the dwarf gourami have the disease?

wisecrackerz

I read somewhere it was 20-25%, but I can't be sure of the reliability of my source.

sirdarksol

Fry definitely would be susceptible. I'm not sure about eggs, but they probably could pick it up, as well.
As far as your own setup, the only precautions you can take are keeping the tank healthy and quarantining any new fish.

emily8

Someone told me 75%. Does anyone know for sure?

sirdarksol

20-25% is probably the worldwide average. An infection rate of 75% would likely have been fatal to the entire species by now.
There may be sources that are much higher, though. If one sick gourami is put in a tank that has a shared water supply with a thousand other tanks, and if the gourami in those tanks aren't in perfect health, I wouldn't doubt that half of the fish, or more, in those tanks would become infected.

emily8

Alright. Is there a way to tell, like right off the bat by looking at one?

sirdarksol

Nope. Lucy has had apparently healthy fish die of extremely suspicious circumstances after weeks (maybe months). That's one of the worst parts about this disease. Without the ability to test for the virus, there's really no way to even confirm it after death, let alone before. Much of what we have discussed on the forum has been conjecture; application of stuff that we know about fish and disease and hoping that it will make a dent in the damage caused. For all we know, it is possible (though not terribly likely) that the huge spate of DG deaths we had last year were from an entirely different disease.

emily8

Well that's frustrating. I was considering getting some dwarf gourami but I'm going to be koind of upset if they die.

sirdarksol

It is very frustrating. That's one of the reasons you don't see them suggested on the forums often, despite the fact that they can be really neat additions to certain tanks. There's just too much concern that they'll be sick, and then, once you've added a DG to a tank, there's always a concern that any new fish may be carriers of the disease.

emily8

Yeah, they're really pretty and all. Blech. Now I'm sad.

Walan20

Hmm, my first dwarf gourami did REALLY fine. I just added a new one. Now I'm sad. Sigh. The new one is at the bottom of the tank, not eating. Sigh. Again.

FishVixen

Well now I know what's going on. I purchased 2 DG 2 weeks ago I was wondering why they were on sale for $1. The bigger 1 is doing great but the smaller 1 was put in the quarantine tank 4 days ago. I thought he was just being bullied. He is still eating but on the bottom and wobbly when swimming. Tonight I noticed him getting a dull coloration. Of course I searched the site tonight and found this thread. All I can do is give love to this little guy and try to keep 2ndary infections at bay, and monitor,monitor,monitor! So far no wounds or sores, just weak and on bottom. Does bringing them closer to the surface help, ease or comfort the DG at this time? He is in a 10 gal planted with 2 HOB filters and 2 6" airstones. He is alone as of yet (monitoring 29 gal with other DG as they came together). Keep the little guy in your thoughts. He'll get the best care as long as I have all of you.

Thanks Ursula

Lucy

I'm sorry your DG isn't doing well
When my second one was ill I rigged a sling that kept it close to the top. It was easier for him to get up for air.