Planned and unplanned… need advice!

[KBBaeBee]

So, I have a 75 gallon tank. My plan is to have a semi-aggressive small community with the Red Tail Shark as the centerpiece fish. The general tank mates I’ve been able to find through research that might work with this are loaches, gourami, a severum, and certain cichlids. I haven’t been able to decide on the exact composition of the tank’s community as the internet has not been straight forward with this one.
My building plan was to cycle the tank for a month without fish as I want it to be planted (that way everything can root in and establish, and I’ll have the water parameters figured out before adding fish). Then add in my smaller, less territorial fish before finally adding in the RTS so that it’s not threatened by new arrivals. Everyone will be there when he claims his territory.

Now, the curveball and my current dilemma.
I just rescued a 55 gallon tank with a single African cichlid and a Pleco. The unplanned. Both were sick with a slime coat bacterial infection but I’ve been medicating them for exactly a week now and they’re looking brighter, more alert, and starting to eat more. I’ve identified the cichlid as a Haplochromis Obliquiden, I’m having a hard time identifying the pleco. I’ll attach pictures of both to see what you all think they are.

The problem is I’m unsure how to proceed with these fish I acquired earlier than planned. Maybe I could stick with my original plan with the 75g and then do an African cichlid community tank in the 55g? The cichlid and pleco seem to be comfortable and even friends so I’m not sure about separating them but at the same time I’m aware that some cichlid species will bully plecos to death which I’m concerned about if I do the Cichlid tank. I’m also concerned about the same issue with the RTS tank, in which case the pleco might need a whole other tank.
Or the new cichlid could be one of the community fish in the 75g with the RTS, although the water parameters are different for both. Internet says RTS can adapt to cichlid parameters but since the RTS would be my centerpiece, I prefer to have the parameters match the RTS. And if I still do end up adding the cichlid to the 75g, it’s not set up yet and would be pushing my original timeline forward. I really wanted to take my time setting everything up but I’m afraid these fish have accelerated things a bit.

TLDR: Help me decide the best options for my available tanks, 75g and 55g. I’m lookin to do at least one planted, semi aggressive, freshwater community tank for sure but I have an extra tank to play with and two fish that might mess with my plans! I’m pretty sure I identified the cichlid correctly but I need help identifying the pleco!

 

[Andy Sager]

For starters, African Cichlids like a much harder and more alkaline water than most S. American and Asian fish so not really a good match. I'd keep the 55 for other Africans and your original plan for the 75.
As for cycling, unless you are seeding the tank and have an ammonia source, the new tank will not cycle in a month, 6 months or a year or longer. Cycling requires the establishment of biological microbe bed to convert ammonia into eventually nitrates. The plants alone won't do that. That means you can set up the tank with the plants so that they establish themselves but the cycling process will begin when you add an ammonia source.
Now for the kicker, some of the fish you mentioned are not good with plants. They either like to eat them or redecorate the tanks with them. I suggest you make a list of the fish and plants you really want then we can go over if they are plant friendly or what is best mixed with which.