A couple of questions (blue gourami/betta and tankmates)

[zero2dash]

Ok, last night I went out and bought a couple fish. I switched out my substrate three days ago and had been checking the tank every day to see if I had any spikes which I didn't. (I basically left all the water in the tank, removed all the plants and decorations, left the one blue gourami -male I think- I already had, and simply scooped out the old gravel and put in the new). Checked everything for 3 days with no problems...pH, Ammonia, Nitrites, Nitrates all remained the same as they did before I did the swap.

I went to Petsmart last night and purchased 3 fish, not only to keep it simple but also not to overload the tank (in case it *does* decide to go nutty from the new substrate). I got (1) small/medium pleco, (1) male betta and (1) blue gourami (looks like a female at least as much as I can tell from the dorsal fin) to go with the 1 blue gourami (male I think) I already had.

Ok - questions:

1) The male gourami I already had seems to chase around/pick on the female (?) gourami I bought last night. I have plenty of plant coverage for her to hide, and I think the only reason he's picking on her is because she's about 1" smaller than he is right now. Is this something that will go away or...

2) Should I buy another one (or more) gourami (females) as further distraction so the male doesn't pick on the only other one I have?

Oddly enough it seems like the male betta sorta bodyguards the female; I had no idea how neat a betta could be in a community tank - I always thought buying one meant the rest of the tank died (until I read things from here on AA). He swims around her quite a lot and that makes the male gourami leave both of them alone 'cause he doesn't seem to sure of what to do with the betta.

I was worried about the betta last night when I first brought him home because he stayed at the water surface all night and wouldn't really "submerge" but he's swimming everywhere today.

Finally -
3) What would be some good colorful tankmates for the fish I have so far? I almost regretted not making this a cichlid tank (purple/blue and yellow ones) but I know there's gotta be plenty of colorful community fish out there (other than tetras I know about). What are good tank mates for a 55gal with 2 blue gourami, 1 male betta and 1 pleco?

I thought about (maybe in a week) picking up a couple of kuhli loaches, I had those a long time ago and those were neat. I need a good scavenger or two...either loaches or maybe a cat? What do you think?

Thanks in advance everyone

 

[lyquidphyre]

What size is your tank?

Gouramis are naturally aggressive towards one another, and the more gouramis you have the worse the situation can get. You might want to buy some drfitwood or something for the smaller gourami to hide under/in
My bf bought two kissing grouamis who were about the same size... as time has gone on the more aggressive one has gotten HUGE while the other was has stayed the same size and hides in the castle- he still gets picked on... your gourami being aggressive most likely will not pass with time... it could even get worse

 

[zero2dash]

I've got a 55gal with a lot of plants; when I went out and bought the substrate I spent another $20 on plants and now I've got a ton of them and I rearranged things so there's plenty of hiding spots and plant coverage; the female gourami seems to have plenty of places to hide (and/or escape from the male chasing her).

 

[lyquidphyre]

My bf has a castle in his tank where the larger gourami can not go. I would suggest driftwood or something with holes to where the smaller gourami can hide and the larger gourami can't even follow him

Maybe an angel fish to go with ur gouramis?

 

[RoK]

and the more gouramis you have the worse the situation can get.

That's not entirely true, when there are 2 gouramis in the tank one will usually overpower the other but if there are 3 or more they usually calm down. It worked for me anyway and I've heard many other stories like this.
I'd suggest either to keep only 1 gourami or try and get another 1 or 2.