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Yes, I have found the same thing about Banjos. The plan is indeed to get active cories. Past assuming that most of the common ones are active, I'd like some input if there are those that are more active than others, or some that will just hide out all the time that I can avoid.

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The aquarist is one who must learn the ways of the biologist, the chemist, and the veterinarian.

Pandas, bronze and albinos are the most active corys in my experience. Im sure there are more out there but I dont get to see them out here in Australia.

Rummynoses are just susceptable to shock more than other fish, and will look Dead in the bag, but will perk back up later. At least, thats what ive heard.

I love the giant danios too.....Reminds me of a cross between a danio and a swordtail! I love the combo! I wish i had a large tank to get one though, but apparantly i dont....

Have you seen a congo tetra? I dunno if it is fake fins/color or not, so.......

Good luck, and i will check the PHOTO BOOTH to see the pix!

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Pandas are cool but the fact that they're a few bucks more expensive than some of the other cories turn me off, especially when IMO I can get an equally attractive and larger (they sell them tiny here!) fish for a lower price. At least that's the way it seems; I haven't paid much attention to Cories until just now, and I haven't had a chance to check the LFS yet.

Congos look amazing. The one thing I might be worried about is if their activity might make other fish nervous. See? How paranoid am I? I'm also curious of they display (or "joust", as Cali puts it!) similar to Hyphessobrycon. IME when my past fish (Rosies) jousted, they would swim side by side with fins spread. Amazing! But since Congos are quite distantly related I was wondering if they show similar behavior. Plus, they are pricier than other tetras.

If it's a rare catfish I'll pay out for it if it's reasonable enough, lol, but if it's not I pay attention to price much more, it seems.

As long as I'm looking for easy to breed fish I was considering bristlenoses. It seems to me that they would be fine additions to this tank. As long as I've been in fish I haven't bred any egg-layers, so having some little fins pattering about sounds like fun to me.

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The aquarist is one who must learn the ways of the biologist, the chemist, and the veterinarian.

Bristlenoses are my favorite type of pleco. They are soo nice! Also, try to get the spotted variety, as they are very nicely colored and marked. My BN is just starting to blossom, and it has a whiteish symmetrical mark on its back that looks like a saddle! He isnt too active though....And i fear that he will become like the Panaque in that he dosent come out of the cave. Also, plecos are very messy as you probably know, and therefore limit the stocking of other fish in the tank. So i would stock lightly in schooler fish.....

Other than that, i love BNs, and if i had the money/tank/approval to breed them, i would. Its just that i cant have any more weight in my bedroom, and i might not be able to breed them then!

What do you mean by jousting? Ive never heard of the term!

Congos are neat. I think i will get a few in the future!

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In certain tetra species, males will display to each other and "battle" for mating rights. IME this involves the fish opening their fins, and swimming side by side. Personally I find jousting one of the most fascinating behaviors I've ever seen from a tetra, so I'm curious if Congos display such a behavior. If not I'm sure Bleeding Hearts do, and considering they're relatively common and grow to a somewhat larger size than the other jousting tetras I know of, I may go for them instead for my jousting fix. If Cali doesn't come in here soon maybe I'll have to PM him! On the other hand, I'm curious if the high activity of a large-ish fish such as a Congo tetra would make smaller tetras nervous.

I brush off the fact most of my fish aren't exactly obvious, so I don't mind if the bristlenoses aren't either. One reason I want some activity in the tank is for presentation purposes. If the average person looks at my tank they won't see much, lol, while I'll crouch down and push my face as close to the glass as I can. That's a catfish keeper for ya!

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The aquarist is one who must learn the ways of the biologist, the chemist, and the veterinarian.

As a bit of an update, here's what I'm thinking about adding now:

6-12 Corydoras: I'm leaning towards sterbai but that's somewhat affected by price, as I hear they're pricier...
A pair of Ancistrus sp. Bristlenose Plecs: Although I might have to get 6 and wait for a pair to form...
2 or 3-6 Tatia perugiae Oil Catfish: Not sure yet how I'm going to get these... I'll get 6 if they're cheaper, otherwise I'll only get 1M and 1 or 2F since they're easy enough to sex.
6+ Congos: Congos look pretty awesome, as I saw them at the LFS the other day. Can't believe I don't even have them yet, lol. I saw these crazy Barred Danios (gasp!) but they appeared to be quite nippy, and I don't want them going after my debauwi cats.

The LFS had some Glass Knifefish... They group of 3 is tentatively on my list too, but it'll depend on how they acclimate to being at the LFS; if they start feeding there I'll pick them up, but if they're just going to starve than there's no point for me to flush my money.

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The aquarist is one who must learn the ways of the biologist, the chemist, and the veterinarian.

Really like the sound of the way this tank is going. Dont know if your still considering headstanders, but I have 3 spotted ones,Chilodus punctatus. When my new tank gets here definatly add in 2-3 more. The do a fantastic job of cleaning up and they blend in so well with some valis that they disapear, very slow moving fish though but they also stick to one area in the tank and rarley move from it. Also one advantage I was not aware of is that they eat algae, not quite as effective as other species but they can keep it at bay for a week before I start scrubbing lol!

Also about the glass knives, be really careful about them not eating because they really are notorious for it. Also how about the african knife? Or somthing that has been recomemnded to me but seem to be quite rare the Gymnotus family of knife fish? personaly I know very little about them and would enjoy any info you find if you know about them.

I don't know how you would feel about it but how about an elephant nose? It wouldnt fit with the congo's but I think it could do well with the other slow movers you have mentioned.

I considered the Elephantnose, but my real love in electic fishes is the knives. There was a Gymnotus carapo maybe 8 months ago at the LFS; looked bangin', but they're quite aggressive so I had to skip out on it. It was also large enough it could probably swallow some of the fish I had.

African Knives are nice... That's actually not a bad idea, but I don't know about keeping it with some of the smaller tankmates...

Wasn't I the one that told you that about the Glass Knifefish? I'm letting the LFS see how they do with it; if they start eating the flakes or pellets they're feeding there, they'll almost be irresistable for me to buy!

I am still considering headstanders, actually. I'm looking for the striped ones, though; they're a little different from the spotted ones. Not that there's anything wrong with the spotted headstander, lol. Still kind of nervous they're going to raise hell in my tank.

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The aquarist is one who must learn the ways of the biologist, the chemist, and the veterinarian.