Restocking - Help Me Entertain My Baby!

[Jenste]

Good afternoon all -  been a long time since I posted. 
My daughter is now nearly 7 months old and I want to stock my 72 gallon bow as a bright, colorful, peaceful freshwater community tank.
 
I have been keeping my ACF for a long time in the tank after getting rid of my breeding pair of angelfish (who took over the tank once they bonded). 
I want something that will attract the eye of my daughter while she's in her playpen / corral lol (she can see it from where she is but she's not able to get close enough to touch it - baby proofing!)  
 
It is fully cycled, lightly planted with a few amazon swords but primarily silk plants at the moment. 
Two Penn Plax Cascade 1500 filters on it with spray bars on the outflow to reduce the current.  
 
Thinking of a few schooling species and a centerpiece ...
this is where I get torn....so many options as far as schooling.   I want a nice harmonious tank with splashes of color. 
 
I was thinking a school of cories - 8-10 would probably shoal nicely in the 4 foot frame (already have sand substrate)...might up the numbers as high as 12-15 depending on availability.
 
Tetras?   Cardinals perhaps?
 
Heck I am even thinking mollies and letting any offspring that will result grow up in the tank if they can hide in the plants from the parents/other fish and depending on stocking levels will rehome as needed. 
 
What about a centerpiece-  - this is where I feel trapped.   A single or trio of fish to be the main focus. Not looking for Angels again after Diablo and Bunny ruled the roost lol.  Gouramis if I can find a definite male and two females? Aside from Gouramis I can't think of anything off the top of my head.
 
 
 
Help?
 
Nothing has been bought yet so this stocking is very adaptable if you guys have any suggestions that I haven't been able to think of   I feel like it has been ages since I have fish shopped!

 

[omega59]

A bunch of barbs or panda Cory cats would look cool. Or cardinal tetras.

 

[Akasha72]

what water type are we talking about? Hard or soft? Knowing this would help stocking suggestions

 

[betta fish]

Have you thought of male guppies? I find my daughter who is now nearly three was never really interested in smaller fast moving fish but anything slower moving or that came to the front of the tank she loved, she adores my purple apple snails I know not fish

  but she loves searching for them and gets very excited when she finds one, I have 3 in my 55 gallon she loves to see them stuck  to the glass and watch them float to the bottom!

 

[Jenste]

what water type are we talking about? Hard or soft? Knowing this would help stocking suggestions

pH is usually 6.8 - 7.0

 

[Ch4rlie]

A small shoal of Lambchop Rasboras perhaps, 12 + would be nice - http/www.seriouslyfish.com/species/trigonostigma-espei/
 
Nice colourful fish and shoals pretty well, pictures do not do this underrated species justice tbh.
 
The usual colourful fish children would like, some have been mentioned already, guppies, mollies, platies, gouramis.
 
Perhaps pushing the boat out here, a few discus with some cardinals?
 
Or if you're brave enough, a female betta sorority tank?
 
But honestly, children like ANY fish they can see in the tank, my son who is only 2 loves pointing out any of my fish or shrimps he can see
 
Having said that, I am planning on setting up a tank just for him, a little 30 litre / 7.5 gals US for a nice colourful betta and some snails

 

[Jenste]

I tried Discus a long time ago and TBH the only great local source is a breeder about 2 hours away.... I'd love to but I can't justify the expense with a 6 month old lol...that girl already costs us a fortune!
 
 
I have always wanted a female sorority tank and have gone back and forth on it several times.   Would they be tolerant of any others such as cories or tetras?  
I had a male in with a community tank for the longest time (in this 72 gallon  ) 

 

[Akasha72]

I've no kiddies of my own but all my friends kids just love my fish tank ... the type of fish doesn't seem to matter ... they just either go silent and stare ... or get really excited bouncing up and down shouting 'fish' ... although it sounds more like 'fisss' lol 

 
I'd also second a nice colourful shoaler ... the main one that jumps out is cardinals. A large shoal of around 20 would create an amazing effect. Another that springs to mind would be a large shoal of rummy noses. I've not kept either of these (although they are both on my wish list) but after watching video's online of them shoaling I'm always over-awed by the beauty of the effect.
 
Cories ... I could never have a tank without cories. They are just adorable and your little one would undoubtedly love watching them shoot to the surface

 

[Jenste]

I had peppereds a long time ago and they are the ones I would get - the little flashes of iridescence on their sides along with their patterns are lovely against a paler sand. 
 
With a moderately (although mostly silk) planted tank the cardinals I think would create a great shoal - 
 
looking at tanks online I think I may do a large shoal of cardinals, a decent school of peppered cories, some molies and maybe a dwarf or pearl/opaline gourami.  Just not sure if I want to do a single or a trio (1m:2f). Probably the single if a dwarf or a trio if pearl/opaline.    Can never source a female dwarf around here. 

 

[Akasha72]

the only problem I see with this plan is the mollies. Mollies not only need hard water but they really need brackish water too. As your water is soft I would avoid the mollies. The cories wouldn't be able to cope with salt (brackish) either so it's stacked against them from the start.
 
What about ... a large group of cardinals and a large group of rummy noses (two lots of shoalers for your little one to watch) A group of peppered cories plus another cory group - if you like iridescence, what about a group of green laser cories? or orange laser? A little group of otocinclus and the gourami as your centrepiece fish?
 
As for plants ... swapping out the silk plants for natural would help you keep nitrate at bay and would give the oto's somewhere to feed ... If you went with easy plants such as amazon swords, java fern, anubias etc you could easily make this tank a nice little set up with minimum effort

 

[Baccus]

Just a thought on a possible schooling fish for you, what about Burmese Rummynose Sawbwa resplendens, a minimum of 10 would be a good starting point and then you should be sure to get a couple of males, which from all accounts are stunning when coloured up, and a few females that apparently remain a plainer silver. They are a relatively small fish but should also be peaceful towards any corydoras.
An interesting side not about these fish is they apparently lack scales, so if treating for anything then similar protocols followed for tetras, loaches and catfish would apply.