what to do with 40g?

so having lost my little rescue goldfish, I have a spare 40g and no plans as for how to fill it! goldfish are still an option, but I'd like to explore some other ideas before I commit to anything 100%.

tank is a 40g breeder- 36" by 18" by 16"- so really is 45 gallons. filtration is from two penguin biowheel filters- a 200 and a 350.

all I know that will for sure be in the tank are 2 piece of driftwood, one of which has a bunch of java ferns on it. lighting is a 2 bulb 24" T5HO which I'm planning to elevate off the top to make the spread a little wider; lighting should be upper low to lower medium.

so, for stocking, I don't really want a typical cookie cutter community with a bunch of random fish. I want a tank that is going to make people go "whoa!" when they see it. I'm not quite sure how I'd like to achieve that, yet, but I'm thinking. the only thing I've thought of that I like are angels- some may say 16" is to shallow, I would disagree.

pretty much, what would you do with this tank if you had it? (its still fishless cycling so I have a lot of time)

I'm not crazy about plecos. IMO they produce more waste than they're worth. plus, they dont do much. they just kinda rasp on wood and glass and stuff.

I'm sort of looking for something more plant-y than african cichlids; I have a reef tank of the same size in the same room with this 40g, so I was kinda hoping to go for an opposite kind of tank. either lots of driftwood, or lots of plants.

I would love discus, but I think they may be too much to handle in terms of water changes- once I got to college water changes will fall to my parents, and I dont think they're gonna want to deal 50% water changes every week. if they would be willing to keep up on water changes, I may just go with 4 adult discus; there is little more stunning than a planted discus tank, I must admit.

right now I'm thinking maybe a group of angels (4-5), some rams (probably a pair), some larger tetras (one or two schools; black skirt and/or serpae, probably), and maybe a gourami or two (pearls, probably) with plants, plants, and plants galore.

if anybody has any other ideas, though, please share!!

also, I should have added; I dont have a great deal of money to spend on livestock, so super rare fish aren't exactly something that would be easy for me to get; my parents are funding this tank, as they fund all my others, so that has to be taken into account.