Doggfather said:
Chocolate gourami are not a community fish, they should be kept in a species aquarium due to their less hardy nature. To put it bluntly, chocolates have two attitudes, happy and pissed (excuse the language if anybody found that rude/offensive
) and they have a tendancy to lean towards the latter.
Their requirements are quite specific, soft, acidic water, subdued lighting are just a few. Not to mention them rarely eating any kind of flake/pellet food so a good supply of live foods is a must.
They are an extremly shy fish and need to be kept in group of 6+ to keep them happy in nothing lower than a 20 gallon tank. A high quality filter is a must, but the water shouldn't be turbulent or the fish will tend to hide away.
Thats just a very brief description of keeping these fish and as you can probably see, they're quite delicate and need a lot of attention.
nice Doggfather ,
Never kept one , sounds very much like my sons [ false]leaf fish .
He had 2 , we believe one died because it couldn't get enough to eat . [ the other must have out competed him for food ]
They didn't eat meal worms , sometimes crickets , whatever they ate had to be moving . Finding good and safe live food can be problem .
I saw a Ctenopma Acutirostre [ closely related to the chocolate gourami ] in a pet shop about a year ago , under 2 " maybe under 1 1/2 "s , It's been a while . Anyway the fish's price was $40. US [ that I remember ].
Dogg is right , unless you want to set them up in their own tank , avoid them .
However there are many other dwarf sized [ small ]gouramis [ Anabantoids ]that may be able to live with the apisto , and some even eat prepared foods , if you can find them .
Do you have access to Axelrods mini atlas of fresh water fish ? some info seems
misleading
, but it is still a good reference source . I'm looking at mine now other wise I couldn't spell the following
.
If so , or if you can get it check out the parosphromenus , trichopsis , some betta species and even honey gouramis .
These fish are listed to range in sizes from 4 to 10 cms .
Just remember to provide as much cover as you can , caves , rocks , plants , it makes the fish feel safe and secure [ I.M.E ] If you go for the gouramis make sure they have room at the surface to catch a breath of air .
It's great that you are trying to find out first , what fish will Coexist together .
Hopefully more people with more experience will post here to help you .
[ go for a 40 gal
]
It would be best if you quarantine different species separately .
it was rubbing and hiding in a soft enenemy. 
