I remember having tetra eating syno cats. So yeah, try not having small fish. What would work would be rainbow fish and roseline sharks. Lots of colors and activity for a pretty long tank. Loaches would be good too.
I had a nice group of filament barbs in one tank for about 2 years, moved them to another planted tank and they completely decimated all the plants.
So in my experience, they left the plants they grew up around alone but decided to eat all the plants they considered to be a new addition.
They get some really nice red colors on their flanks when they are in spawning condition, it is most noticeable under natural light in the mornings.
A group of Dennison barbs, Congo tetras and 2 or 3 leopard ctenopoma would be nice in a planted tank. Maybe a pair of empire gudgeons and a flagtail. ?