new 29 gallon setup?
 

I was thinking about having 1 angel, 2 dwarf gourami and 5 hatchet fish. I wanted to do a gravel substrate with driftwood and maybe a few small plants. I want to add some bottom swimming fish also, but I cannot decide. Any suggestions on interesting bottom fish that do well with a gravel substrate? Also I have read that dwarf gourami do not always get along together. Would they be fine together if I got different colored ones? I have read some fish are less aggressive to fish that arent the same color....not sure. Any changes or conflicts that anyone sees in the stocking feel free to make suggestions.

Gouramis can be aggressive not sure about the Dwarf species but for that reason Angels and Gouramis shouldn't be housed together as Angels can also be aggressive. Also Angels need to be in groups and a 29 gallon isn't big enough for that. Now if you can find a mated pair of Angels that would be okay but then you definitely couldn't have the Gouramis as they would sure fight. I am thinking but could be wrong here but thinking you could have 2 Dwarf Gouramis in that size tank and it be okay.

Dwarf gourami are some of the more aggressive smaller gourami. Boredom is right about angels and gourami not doing well together especially in a small tank. You could do two dwarf gourami if one is male and the other female. Gender matters more than color.

As for bottom dwellers, cories and loaches don't do well on gravel, but sucker catfish like bristlenose pleco would do fine provided you have some real driftwood for them. They are also safe with plants.

Smiley Green, welcome to Tropical Fish Keeping forum.:wave:

I concur with what Boredomb and Izzy suggested.

I would just add that given the health issues with Dwarf Gourami, a better choice might be the Honey Gourami. Colourful, and you could have a small group, say 1 male and 2-3 females, in your 29g. A much better gourami, all things considered. You can read more in our profiles; click the shaded name. Profiles are under the second tab from the left in the blue bar across the top of the page, and many fish species are included with useful info on numbers, tank sizes, compatibility issues, etc.

Byron.

Remove the angel. Make sure one of your gourami is male and then have at least 2-3 female or just keep one male or one female, but one of each doesn't work very well. For bottom dwellers try 1 bristlenose pleco, 10+ ghost shrimp (some will probably be eaten but they can hide in live plants and reproduce, and also a school of 6 panda corydoras. A bit heavy for bottom feeders, but looks great!