Christine.

I currently have 4 Gouramis in my new 20gallon tank. Once it is done cycling i am looking to add some more fish. I am interested in adding some silver dollars but im not sure how many to add
any ideas of how many, or maybe other fish that would work well?

jdhef

What type of Gouramis do you have?

The rule of thumb is one inch of adult size fish per gallon.

So if the Gourami's that you have reach an adult size of 5" each, 5x4=20, you would be maxed out and shouldn't add any more fish.

Christine.

i have 1 female dwarf, 1 sunset, 1 male golden, 1 opaline

Shawnie

If they are dwarf you can have probably 1 or 2 silver dollars if they are with plenty of hiding spots needed.....if they are the blue or yellow or regular sized gouramis, you are at the max....gourami's are territorial and need room to get away from one another

angelfish220

I suggest heavily planting your tank to breakup the space, and giving the gouramis more of a defined territory, yet covered enough so they cant see the other gouramis.

sirdarksol

A couple of very important things:
While cycling, the gourami will greatly appreciate extra water changes. They are very sensitive to ammonia.

Second, when you get fish from the pet store, quarantine them for a month. This means setting up an extra tank (or bucket, or large plastic tote) with a filter (some filter media from the main tank with provide an instant cycle) and a heater.
Dwarf gourami are currently being hit by a very nasty virus called iridovirus. It seems that other fish are capable of carrying the virus for a short time (likely incidentally, though there may be a few true carriers that can be infected but not get sick). A month will probably kill this virus off, as well as give you pretty good insurance that the fish don't have some other illness.
Dwarf Guorami, Bettas and Iridovirus
This is the full thread on the iridovirus.

Barbrella

Opaline gouramis grow to about 6" - too big for a 20 gal tank.

And watch that there isn't fighting going on, especially be careful that the female is not being attacked if she's not ready to spawn.

Your tank has only been set up for 4 days, or did you cycle the tank first then add the fish 4 days ago?

MissMTS

I would not go with silver dollars. They get to be 6 inches and they are a schooling fish. They require a much bigger tank than 20 gallons. I would go with a small school of Harlequin Rasboras instead. Right now you have about 14 inches of fish in the tank. You could add in maybe 5 Rasboras and then you are maxed out. They get about 1.5 inches, so your tank would be slightly overstocked with just 5 of them. Honestly, I wouldn't add anything to what you already have.

Christine.

ya i have just decided to get an algae eater and leave it how it is

no one is picking on the female but i do have the male golden gourami being a bit of a bully, mainly to the opaline. when i got the opaline it was not marked male or female so im thinking maybe it is male and that is why he is picking on it