Monster or oddball fish for planted 75g?

[Seedy J]

A few rope fish , and 2 or 3 upperjaw bichirs. Maybe an african butterfly too

Can I fit all that in a 75? I'm pretty set on a delhezi bichir but wouldn't mind more if they'll fit. Considering rope fish too. African butterfly... would there be too much current at the top of the tank with an overflow and spray bar? Also interested in a knife fish (black ghost knife?).

 

[magpie]

Yes, you could do 3 ropes, 2-3 upper jaws and a few other fish if you did 50-75% weekly water changes. Delhezi, Polli and Senegalus are the most active polys... in a planted tank you'd want to stay away from the ones that have a reputation as hiders unless you wanted to commit to a little more open space on the bottom of your tank - more anubias, java etc. over rooted plants.

Butterfly fish don't like current but I used to point my spray bar away from the surface and with floating plants (which they love) they were fine. You could do 2-3 of them if you used floating plants as a visual barrier.

Ctenopoma Acutirostre would be a great choice for a planted tank with polys.

You could also consider Congo Tetras.

twentyleagues also has solid experience with these fish in a planted tank.

(You might know this already but if you go the poly/rope route you need a completely escape-proof lid with zero gaps around the intake/heater cord etc.)