New To Gouramis

[BooFish]

I just "adopted" a female gold gourami and have a few questions.
 
Her tank is a 30 gallon hexagon shape that is pretty tall. Not really my favorite, but since I only have a 20L setup right now with one catfish (and soon about 6 cory's), I think her original tank is better off. She is about 4 inches right now so I am a bit concerned about getting any other fish to stock with her. Would she be OK with just herself for company? I thought about some cardinal tetras, but would need to get a number of those to keep them happy. I'm also not sure she wouldn't just eat them (apparently she ate a small pleco once).
 
Another issue is that her tank had a massive amount of algae in it. We cleaned out all the algae, but then her previous owner joked that she wouldn't know what to eat now. I guess they didn't feed her to regularly and she picked at the algae which she got used to. So i did try to give her a few flakes which she promptly ignored. Any suggestions to get her back to eating regular fish food like flakes and bloodworms?
 
She also now seems utterly annoyed with the current in the tank. The filter was so clogged that there was no real current at all in the tank so when we cleaned it out and the filter started working properly, it created a "whirlpool" effect (another reason I don't like hex tanks). I pointed the spray bar towards the back and that helped, but she seems to be swimming at the bottom and not swimming around much near the top or middle. Anything I can do further to help with the current, but keep the water circulating?

 

[jwalser18]

Maybe try and point the spraybar straight forward so it dispurces both left and right?

 

[DreamertK]

I'd try crushed up boiled peas. If not those either, try putting in some tasty live plants.

 

[BooFish]

She finally did eat, but only after I turned off the filter. I think the current is to much for her and since it was clogged for so long and didn't really move water around at all so she probably got used to that.
 
So now I think I will need to DIY up some intake/outtake tubes to make the current a little better.
 
I am also still toying with putting her in the 20L since there is more surface area, but I am still concerned about about keeping her with the cories.

 

[DreamertK]

She's 4 inches and your putting her in a 20L? I suppose it's better than a bucket. She wont bother with the cories, I'd just be concerned with the amount of swimming area she has.
 
Its possible you could probably acclimate her to the current by turning on the filter a little bit longer and more often every day. Also putting more decorations/plants to break up the current.

 

[Shelster]

Could you baffle the filter slightly with a filter sponge?

 

[BooFish]

She's 4 inches and your putting her in a 20L? I suppose it's better than a bucket. She wont bother with the cories, I'd just be concerned with the amount of swimming area she has.
 
Its possible you could probably acclimate her to the current by turning on the filter a little bit longer and more often every day. Also putting more decorations/plants to break up the current.

 
Well considering she is currently in a hex shaped tall tank that gives her barely any room at all to swim around I was thinking that the 20L would at least give her more swimming room length wise, and not a really long trek to the top to get air.
 
Is it ideal? Nope, but if you had seen the condition of her the tank when we got her from her previous owner (which apparently she share with 2 other Gourami's before they died) yes, I suppose a bucket would have been better. 

Could you baffle the filter slightly with a filter sponge?

 
I am actually DIY'ing some new intake pipes and an outtake spray bar that I am going to modify to reduce current. I would love to get her into a larger tank, but that is just not in the cards right now. The current in my 20L is very mild so I am thinking I might just put the corries in the hex tank and move her in there by herself that way she has nice gentle water and at least more room to swim.

 

[DreamertK]

Post some pics of the new fixings.
 
I guess I was confused because you said it was a 30G hex and you moved her to a 20L (~5G) tank.

 

[BooFish]

Post some pics of the new fixings.

 
I guess I was confused because you said it was a 30G hex and you moved her to a 20L (~5G) tank.

Yah it's a 20 Gallon Long sorry for the confusion.
 
That tank just finished cycling too, so I am probably going to acclimate her to that tank and see if she likes it. We put some Gold Dust Mollies in the Hex with her to see how her temperament was and she doesn't seem to be bothering them. She is interested in them and was following them around a bit, but no aggression. If anything she seems a bit afraid of them. 
 
I will have to post some pics once the tank is all finished.

 

[DreamertK]

Oh good. Go about your business then.