i duno how much you are usually willing to spend on a fish, but id take your top amount and add a hundred bucks to it. i might think about getting that piranha that dangerousdan had/has for sale, im not a massive piranha fan, but that fish would be NEAT, if i had a spare hundred. just take it to the next level so to speak...
u have a good point with the sponge filters, i may spend the hundred on cichla????? what do u guys think abou thta, i prolly cant get anything amazing or rare, just whatever pbass my lfs can get in