Dwarf Gourami Advice?

[DreaminginBlue]

Hi all,
My friend has a ten gallon tank she hasn't used since her beloved fish died of old age a few years ago. She's thinking of setting it back up, and was interested in having a dwarf gourami. I want to help her with this, and I figured I'd consult you guys with our questions, as you have way more experience than my limited research provided.
How can I help her cycle her tank? Can I take driftwood or filter media in a bag full of water over to her place? (Which part of my filter would I take out to put in her tank?) Also, she lives an hour or so away, so how long will the beneficial bacteria survive? Does it need to be kept a certain temperature? I also have some bottled bacteria, which I know either works or is useless, but I suppose it doesn't hurt to try that, too.
Is 10 gallons okay? My research seems to indicate you should only keep one, as they can't be aggressive to each other, and if you keep multiple, the male to female ratio should be at least 2 females for every 1 male. It also said never to keep two males together unless you have a big enough tank for them to have their own territories. I don't think I'll advise her to get more than one, but in case she wanted a few, is this do-able?
Also, general tank setup help would be nice. I know they like hiding spots, but I don't know about the substrate. She also hasn't mentioned if she's going to do live or fake plants (personally I'll always advocate for live)....
Can they live with other fish? If so, what would you recommend? The internet suggested cory cats and tetras, but NOT guppies or bettas; however, I'm sure there must be other types that can be housed peacefully with dwarf gouramis. Can she keep any inverts with one, i.e. snails and shrimp?
And other general care tips you guys have would be great. I've been looking online but nothing beats an experienced fish keeper who knows what they're doing!

 

[_Drago_]

Hello and congrats to her for thinking of getting a gourami! Gouramis are such charismatic little fish and definitely on my top favorite species list! In all honesty, adding filter media wouldn't really do much as you'd need quite a lot of it for the tank to be cycled nearly immediately. I'd recommend instead taking a bit of gravel out of your tank (if you have gravel) and keeping this in a bag of aquarium water and bringing this over to her place. Again it won't help do much, but it could help give it a bit of a jumpstart. I'm not sure if the bottled bacteria will really do anything but I don't see any reason not to use it, I have heard though that slight temp variations where the bottles are stored can hurt the bacterial growth so be careful when transporting it. 10 gallons is fine for a single gourami, and maybe a few tankmates if you keep up well on water changes. I'd recommend keeping gouramis alone without any tankmates but it's certainly doable. You should definitely keep only one gourami, if you were to ever keep more than one it should be in a tank that is 30 gallons+ to avoid fighting, stress, and other undesirable issues. If she upgrades one day however, it might be possible if kept in a larger group (sort of like the rules of a betta sorority) so aggression is spread out i.e. more than four individuals. It's definitely important for gouramis to have lots of hides to retreat to. Despite their decent size, they can be skittish little fish so adding caves, rock, and driftwood would be good for them to hide about in. Live plants would be best as I always recommend simply due to their natural feel and how they benefit the water quality, but they can certainly be kept with just normal artificial plants if your friend doesn't want to deal with live. In a ten gallon, tank mates are limited simply due to the fact that gouramis are territorial and that small of a space would be good for one, but having other tankmates crowding about can make the gourami a bit more aggressive and nippy. Bettas and other anabantoids are a definite no, I've attempted keeping a gourami with a few guppies of mine and well... may the guppies swim in Peace this isn't to say they can't live together, but I wouldn't recommend it! Peaceful schooling tetras would make great tankmates, though the problem is that they like large schools and in a 10 gallon, this would be a tight squeeze. Cory cats would make great tankmates as they don't stay in the same "zone" as the gourami thus they're often ignored. When keeping inverts with gouramis, it really depends on the individual's personality. I've had gouramis that ignore my ghost shrimp, and gouramis that will tear them to shreds. In the end, each gourami is different and your friend will just have to learn the personality of hers before making too many set decisions. It's very kind of you to help her set it up and I wish the two of you the best of luck!

 

[DreaminginBlue]

Thank you so much, Drago! I really appreciate all your help.