Java moss, water sprite, duckweed and salvinia rounded out his best bets. Wood makes an important natural addition to the New World cichlid aquarium. It provides shelter, and for some loricariid catfish is a dietary requirement. Shelter allows you to manage fish agression. This is important, because few hobbyists can afford an aquarium so huge that a fish on the run can outrun a determined pursuer for long.
Water quality is an important cichlid aquarium consideration.
Wayne's slides of a flooded South American forest told an important ecological tale. Many of the New World fish don't live in mountain rapids but inhabit the generally slow-moving rivers that seasonally flood adjacent rainforests. The fish literally swim out into the woods to breed amidst brush, branches and fallen leaves, and then they get back to the rivers with or without their young to complete their life cycles. Overfiltering is not necessary and neither is strong water movement. Wayne prefers box and sponge filters.