In my answer I was not trying to be facetious, or snide by using small tetras.
There are cichlids that eat plants, (some large tetras do too)and there are those that tear up plants to provide an easily visible defensive position.
But there are many (any cichlid like polleni or other robust fish that attain a size of around 10" or more), that will dislodge plants by simply moving around.
At present I have a very densely planted tank with Andinoacara coerleopunctatus, these cichlids are considered in most literature, to be plant compatible, yet every morning, there are dislodged plants floating around the tank, even though the largest of these cichlids is only 5".
In aquariums by serious aquatic gardeners like the "Amano" enthusiasts, you hardly every see any fish, much larger than a small tetra, because those small species are the best the way to maintain those beautiful type aquascapes.
With most of my large cichlids (when in the states) I used separate planted refugiums, or separate tanks connected to cichlid tanks by plumbing, that didn't contain any cichlids in them to provide the planted displays I like, and the benefits that those planted tanks provide for water quality. I do find planted tanks, as interesting in themselves, as cichlid tanks, but in most cases find large cichlids, and plants to be incompatible.
For those tanks, I kept Killifish, small wild type Bettas, juvie grow out cichlids, or those species I knew would be plant friendly.
