I thought I had the room, but wanted a 2nd opinion. I'll set up my QT bucket now, so it is ready of I see one I like this weekend. I have seen honey gourami occasionally, but have not encountered a chocolate gourami yet.
I agree there is space, but I do not think now is the time to add gourami. And you need to be careful about which species...Chocolate was mentioned, that is not going to work here. DG are problematic as mentioned by another member. And before it may be suggested, any variety of
Trichopodus trichopterus (blue, gold, cosby, marble, opaline, 3-spot, etc) is almost certain to cause trouble, this is the most aggressive of the small/medium sized species and known to kill even non-gourami fish when something irritates them, and I once observed (in a store tank) two of this gourami cornering and eating neon tetras--not a good combination of species.
To explain from the start...
I would first get a good cover of floating plants established. Gourami are all sedate, cruising fish, and floating plants always improve their appearance because of the shade. And, they naturally live near the surface, feeding on micro-critters in the plant roots and leaves. They will settle in much better with the plants. Frogbit now present will spread, fairly rapidly once settled (you may need a comprehensive liquid fertilizer for these). Water Sprite (
Ceratopteris cornuta) is another ideal floater and rapid spreader, and native to their habitats.
As for species...this tank calls out for a group of Pearl Gourami (
Trichopodus lerii). The rasbora, and (you're lucky) one of the very few barb species that is suited (Black Ruby), should not be trouble for Pearls. Given this is a 4-foot 55g, a lone gourami would be lost...and lonely, they do like a shoal if sufficient room is available for the male territories, and here it is. And Pearls are usually not rough anyway, though I would suggest two males and three females...more females than males help them divert attention from the males.
Generally gourami and cichlids do not do well together as their temperaments are so much alike, but the Bolivian Ram (
Mikrogeophagus altispinosus) is by comparison a more docile cichlid when it is a lone male (which is fine, this species has been observed to live largely in isolation except when spawning/rearing fry).
If you acquire the gourami from a reasonably reliable store, I would just add them to the tank (once the plants are covering the surface), as they will settle much better with likely fewer issues to worry about. Unless you can have a temporary holding tank running...quarantine of new fish to be effective should be a few weeks, say 3 or more, and I can't see a bucket providing this without further stress to the already stressed new fish.
