After a few years of somewhat neglecting my 60 gal. planted tank, I've gotten the itch to fill it with fish again. I definitely want active, colorful fish. I'd love to have a cichlid tank (my water is fairly alkaline and hard) but I really don't want to sacrifice my plants (some very well established Java fern and amazon swords). Alternately, I'm open to creating a lively community tank. Right now, all I have in it are 3 very geriatric fish: 1 flying fox, 1 khuli loach, and 1 poor lemon tetra. Any suggestions?

Rainbowfish. They do thrive in hard, alkaline water. They won't eat your plants. They are very active and fun to watch. Sometimes rainbow fish are overlooked at the pet store because they don't show their full coloration until they mature. Often, just getting them home into a clean, stable environment will improve their color.

Some of my favorites are the turquoise rainbow, the red rainbow, and the boesmani rainbow. I also really like m. splendida australis, sold under the common name "australian rainbow". Unfortunately several species are sold under this name and m. spledidas are a little bit harder to find. Here's a photo of one: http://www.loumarks.com/melanotaenia_sp ... tralis.jpg