Yes and no. Some lower plants need more intense light than others; I have what most would term a thick carpet of floating plants in my tanks, and lower plants like Anubias, Java Fern, Java Moss, pygmy chain swords, and even the larger swords manage. But one must remember the first priority is the fish, and plants are secondary. At least that is how it should be in a tank with fish, and ignoring the inherent needs of the fish is not responsible, so I always put this first.
The gourami need floating plants, so if I have gourami (or other fish, like some of the pencilfish, hatchetfish, etc that also are surface fish with similar wants) then I make sure I have what they expect, floating plants. I have found that all forest fish appreciate floating plants anyway, so it is a win-win for all; the more intense colour, plus their tendency to be much more out and about, with floating plants is certainly noticeable. When I had a group of 10 Congo Tetra in my 90g tank, they always moved lower down in the water column in the weeks when I thinned out the floating Water Sprite, only moving back up when the plants had filled in again. That sort of observation is important as it tells us what is and is not important to the fish, avoiding further stress.
