[vash]

holy krap!! those cichlids havent killed everything yet? that poor molly. take her to back to petsmart and give her back to them. looks like she could even be pregnant. i'm not holding my breath for your tiger barbs either.

that tank looks pretty good. for plants, buy some Nubias plants. they grow slow, very slow, but the leaves and stems are very hardy. you will need some driftwood. i remember reading that that one lake where most of the cichlids come from has a great deal of driftwood. apparently, it does something to the water that the fish like. i used to have a cichlid tank. i had LESS fish, and more live plants. all i did was to provide plenty of cubby holes and places for the territorial fish to "call their own". it all worked out. never heard of high populations curbing aggression.