googled fingers raw, now begging for advice

[Chris430]

this is my first post, so i apologize if im in the wrong section or is ridiculous.

the tank is a 40 gallon long
the stocking plan is
6-10 kuhli loaches
5-7 blind cave tetras
5-7 glass catfish
15-20 ghost shrimp

the tank has a theme. sunken pirate ship. two different ghostly schools of fish. a bunch of mini eels roaming the bottom, along with some ghost shrimp crawling corners, caves and walls.

the problem- i have no captain. i would really like to have a singular, more showy, centerpiece fish; a captain to the motley crew. something very colorful.

things i dont think i want-
-betta fish- i have a couple, and had such a problem with getting any movement in the water that they could swim with. if im going betta, i want huge fins captain of the captains of a betta. im afraid he wont make it with any filter ill put on there
-dwarf chichlid- everything i read says they would rather school and can be aggressive
-gourami- i have heard that it is extremely common to get a sickly one.
-angelfish- pretty obvious reasons

i would be willing to do a pair of something, but i do not want to go three or more. id rather bulk up schools i have than add a whole extra one. because my colors are non-existent, i dont need an exotic, big, active showpiece fish. anything with some color, maybe some shape, would do. i could be swayed on something i said i dont want. i havent found as much out there as i'd like. if a few people here strongly agreed, my arm could twist

i know this is wordsy, but i would really appreciate any suggestions anyone can think of

[Chris430]

(thanks for moving)

[Cliff]

I am not very familiar with all of the fish that you have listed so I can not offer a lot of help there. But I would be a little cautious adding a batta to a community tank as they sometimes can be too aggressive.

I have also moved your thread for you

[ScottishFish]

Dwarf cichlids could be an option, they do fine being single, they aren't schoolers. You could look for Bolivian rams, GBR's, Apistos etc

Or look at a medium sized cichlid? Firemouth?

[William]

Gouramis can be an option. It is true that the risk of getting a sickly one is high if you get a dwarf gourami or honey gourami but there are plenty of other gouramis that would do well in there. Stay away from Yellow, blue, gold gouramis (same species) due to their aggression. banded gourami could be a good colorful option that seldom is sickly when you get.

If you want to stay away from the species you mention completely than maybe something like a sailfinmolly could be a good option for you.