Lost my 2 dwarf gourami's to dwarf gourami disease

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TL1000RSquid

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Apr 6, 2011
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Had these 2 guys for around 5 or 6 months they did great, then a couple days ago 1 showed signs then the other one with in 24 hours. I'm debating on replacing them with 2 more this time I'll try to make sure I don't get imported ones if possible.
So on to my question those were the only gourami's I had, is it safe to add more gourami's? Can the virus survive any length of time in a tank with no host?
 

Jannika

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Mar 17, 2010
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Sorry to hear. I've never kept dwarf gouramis myself, mainly because of this seemingly inevitable disease with imported stock. Here's what Neale Monks on WetWebMedia says about restocking:

"Under no circumstances buy another dwarf Gourami unless you are 100% sure it is locally bred. Even then, it is possible the virus could remain in your aquarium and infect the new fish. The best thing to do is avoid the gouramis sensitive to this disease (dwarf gouramis plus the various hybrid/varieties like "robin" and "neon" gouramis). Instead stick with hardier, look-alike species such as Colisa labiosus and Colisa fasciata."

Also, for those reading, some additional comments about DGD:

"Dwarf Gourami Disease, a viral infection without a cure that infects a large proportion of commercially bred Colisa lalia (including all the varieties: powder blues, reds, Neons, etc.). The problem is that virtually all mass-produced dwarf gouramis are exposed to the disease because of the very low standards of hygiene used by the fish farmers in Southeast Asia. The only "cure" is to get people to stop buying the **** things so the breeders stop producing them. But capitalism being what it is, there are always enough people out there who haven't heard about Dwarf Gourami Disease, so our friends on the fish farms crank out more of these disease-ridden animals. But do not, under any circumstances, either transfer livestock from this tank to another with Dwarf Gouramis, or else add more Dwarf Gouramis hoping to "try again". They will die, as sure as God made little green apples. I really can't say this strongly enough: DO NOT BUY DWARF GOURAMIS!!!! Remove and humanely destroy the infected fish. Nothing else helps. The symptoms are consistent: first a loss of vitality and appetite, then shyness, then bumps, then sores, then obviously bleeding on the skin, then death. If you want a small Gourami species, my recommendations are Colisa labiosus and Colisa fasciata."
 

betteraquariums

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Feb 15, 2012
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Had these 2 guys for around 5 or 6 months they did great, then a couple days ago 1 showed signs then the other one with in 24 hours. I'm debating on replacing them with 2 more this time I'll try to make sure I don't get imported ones if possible.
So on to my question those were the only gourami's I had, is it safe to add more gourami's? Can the virus survive any length of time in a tank with no host?
To answer your questions in short, no the virus ( iridovirus) can not live without a host, so you could add more gouramis if you so choose. Being a operations manager for a wholesale tropical company, they are very few farmers that even raise dwarf gouramis anymore because they can't compete with the price from imports.

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TL1000RSquid

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Apr 6, 2011
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Thanks, I know my originals had to be imports(petsmart) asked my usual goto LFS last night and their gourami's are imported as well. Sucks I like low cost fish but I don't mind paying a couple extra bucks for something that will live more then a few months.
 
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