Dwarf Gourami companions

[Louise02]

My daughter is setting up her dwarf gourami aquarium.  He is aggressive.  She doesn't want him to hurt anything else.  Are there any critters that help keep aquariums clean that she can safely add to this dwarf gourami aquarium....or not?  Thanks!

[Lennie]

Bettas and most gouramis are hit or miss when it comes to keeping them in a community tank. Their character changes a lot.

If it is an agressive one, then I would recommend keeping it alone. 

The only thing comes to my mind is "pest snails"? They may also help with algae and clean up crew perspective! Ramshorns are colorful, maybe she likes the look? They may overpopulate easily if stuff goes wrong or there is lots of food available tho.

Gourami would probably harm anything bigger like nerites or mysteries tho, if it is an agressive one.

And def no to bottom dwellers. You can see how an agressive gourami can bully them here:

 

[Cinnebuns]

First of all, what size tank?  That would change the recommendations. 

Secondly, what specifically do you mean by cleaning?  That can mean different things to different people. Mainly, do you mean algae, extra food, micro organism, a little of each?

Mostly you are looking at snails as the best option but what type of snail varies on the above. Also, do you want something that reproduces rapidly and will require managing their population or not?  There are benefits to each.