40 Gallon Breeder Setup!

[Gawang]

As of so far, I have the silica sand ready to go. I'm planning on a South American styled tank with lots of rocks and driftwood. I'm still trying to figure out plants, but I'm thinking some low level crypts, mosses, swords and maybe some jungle valisernia. The stocking list I mostly have determined with:
2x Bolivian Rams
7x Serpae Tetra
3x Dwarf Panda Cichlid (Apistogramma Nijsseni)
8x Kuhli Loaches
1x Rainbow Shark
(I'm still looking for one more smaller species similar to the Serpae Tetras that would add another facet to the tanks diversity.)

Any suggestions would be grand! As well, the 40 gallon breeder is actually about 45 Gallons and its dimensions are 36x18x16.

 

[nanofish]

Same size tank as my South American styled one so maybe I can help. I'm not fully stocked yet and honestly I'm afraid to add even a pair of cichlids. You might run into a lot of problems with territoral fish since you have a bunch. I have no experience with the dwarf pandas but when I researched them before i had heard people saying they can be nasty. Serpae tetras can also be fin nippers. I went with rosy tetras since they look similar.

 

[Gawang]

I've always loved the Serpae Tetra's. So long as you keep them in groups of 7+ they don't really cause too much hassle, as they nip eachother and not the other fish. I've heard that the Dwarf Panda's are relatively peaceful when it comes to cichlids, but I still need to read up a bit more on them.

 

[nanofish]

The dwarf pandas I didn't research much either. I had read an old discussion about them on The Krib and even there, there seemed to be some disagreement on how aggressive they could be with each other. Might just have been individual personalities being the problem. I can see if I can find you the link if you like. Hopefully someone with some more experience with dwarf cichlids will chime in.
What are you thinking for the other shoal? Sorry what I mean is are you trying to stay just South American? I wasn't sure because you're planning on the rainbow shark and kuhli loaches.
I went with kitty tetras for my tank. They stay a little higher up, have nice coloring, and the typical Hyphessobrycon shape. There's also pencilfish and hatchets, besides other tetras.

 

[Gawang]

It's South American in the sense that I want to style the "look" to be a South American and the centerpiece fish being South Americans. The Rainbow Shark happened to be a fish I picked up from a friend that has been with me awhile, and he needs a slightly larger tank. And I love Kuhli Loaches and have always wanted an alternative to the usual cory catfish.

Side Note, I'm still trying to get my Bolivians to mate, and am hoping that a larger tank might coax them into it!