Does my dwarf gourami need a friend?

I have a 55g community tank with platies, cories, pseudomugils, and otos. Last week I added a gorgeous powderblue dwarf gourami - my very first gourami ever. So far things are going awesome. I read that they are very shy but this little guy is anything but - he swims and plays all over the tank. Hangs out with the cories a lot, swims circles around the platies and completely ignores the otos. When I stick my hand in the tank with food he’s happy to come all the way up to my hand. He has not shown any aggression so far to anyone at all. I was always told that Dwarf Gourami are semi-aggressive and one should avoid keeping more than one male in a tank. But now I also read on a few pages that they are super social and should not be kept alone but in a group of 5 or 6. My LFS has powderblue dwarf girls, but I can not put 4 or 5 of them in my tank without overstocking it and making my entire community unhappy. I could probably get one girl and be fine though. So here’s my question: would my boy be happier if I added one girl? Is he fine by himself? My only other option would be to return him which I’d hate to do but I want to do what’s best for him. I should have asked this before I bought him and feel really bad about that

 

I wonder if you're confusing honey gourami with dwarf gourami. Honeys are generally considered one of the most chill gourami and dwarf gourami are known killers.

 

If you want a group of gouramis I'd strongly suggest returning him and getting either honey gouramis or pearl gouramis. Both of those are social fish that do well in groups, and are rarely, if ever, aggressive toward other tank mates. The same can't be said for dwarf gouramis. He may be peaceful now, but that's likely to change when he gets older.

For a tank that large I believe pearl gouramis would be the best option. I have eleven of them in a 40 gallon breeder (see School of Pearl Gouramis? | Pearl Gourami Forum).

Even if that weren't the case, female dwarf gouramis are often difficult to find in the US (assuming that's where you are).

 

I believe just one male is better than one male and one female. The female will inevitably get beat up and chased around by the male eventually.

 

You've been given good advice.
Your title made me laugh.
Dwarf gouramis don't have friends.

 

Thank you, everyone! Having him as the only gourami in the tank was the plan all along - I just got worried/confused when I found conflicting information online. Thank you for the sanity check; I won't be getting any "friends" for him.

 

All four websites show the layouts, phrasing and contents typical for content farm websites. No author given is also a red flag as well as "John Doe" names and stock descriptions. These websites are written by paid writers that do superficial research or blatantly rewrite the contents of other websites with other words. Thus you get dozens of these articles all over the place.
Competence at work... The same article states the fish have to be kept separate. Great contradiction by the same "author".
Quote:

Can a male and a female dwarf gourami live together?

Yes, male and female dwarf gouramis can live together in an aquarium, provided they are kept separate. Male dwarf gourami should be placed in a smaller tank with females to display dominance without battling each other.

The first sentence contradicts itself, the second might eventually make sense, but seems like the result of a (bad) translator tool.

I'd avoid websites like these like the plague.

 

I had a good laugh over those articles
Keep these guy's on their own if you want to keep them, like Mac says there is so much misinformation out there it's no wonder people don't know what to think.

I will say, the wild fish is completely different but that certainly isn't what those articles are talking about and shouldn't be considered when talking about the domestic fish.