in my personal opinion, scats and monos are pretty hard... i've been into fish for 6 years now, and i can never seem to be able to keep them alive. i definitely think it's a bad fish for a newbie...
and as for the gouramis and goldies, i've heard of gouramis picking on the goldies to a point where the goldies would start losing their eyes...
I think that the best way for you to continue would be through research. Look up different species of fish on the computer, and pay attention to the detail, like water temp, pH, water hardness, salinity, origin, maximum size, temperament/behavior, tank size, and compatibility/tankmates.
The best thing for you to do is go to the pet store, write down the names of some of the fish that catch your eye, and then go home and look up those fish on the computer (make a chart if that helps you), and then pick and choose a couple of species that would work well together in your tank. Then, go back to the pet store and slowly start buying fish. Don't go spending all your money on fish at once, cuz chances are, if you add a lot of fish quickly to your tank, you'll end up throwing the tank off balance and losing all your fish. Take your time, be patient, and add fish slowly and carefully...
And remember, the best way to keep fish is to try to recreate their natural habitat. You can't try to add a brackish fish from the tropical waters of Australia with a freshwater fish from Japan's cold water ponds...
