well for about a year now i been taking care of platies and sword tails, and some mollies. i have had sucess with all of them as far as getting them to breed and what not but everyday i look at the tank i get bored. so i am thinking its time for a change . im thinking i want to try out cichlids out. what i need to know is what do i need to start out . the tank has about 1 full size amazon sword. and a bunch of lilly bulds plus about the whole top is covered in hornwort. which i may get rid of some kind of troublesome. i need to know do i need to get rid of the plants what kind of water param do i need . its fully cycled by all means everything is perfect. what would be great is if i could find some cichlids that wouldnt eat my plants and could somewhat be easy to breed . as far as filtration goes i got a fluval 304 and a aquaclear 300 . how many of what species could i fit in my 55 gal without stressing or over crowding any ideas im really confused about all this. i mean im ready for it but i want something to start reading about like certain types of fish .. ok end rant lets hear some ideas.