Glad to see my emperors aren't the only crazy fish. Ever since I put up the block legs, they love to hang under it. I think they like the shade it gives.
I had mostly goldfish, a few community tanks and cichlids. I really love goldfish, but they are so messy and so are the South American Cichlids now that I think about it. I stopped raising them after I started college, I didn't have the time. After graduating, I had a huge school of black widow/skirt tetras until about a year ago. They were an awesome schooling fish. Long story short - quarantine!
I got into planted tanks actually by stumbling on this site. I saw dewalltheway's 55 gallon and fell in love. I had to essentially buy all my plants online due to the lack of decent aquatic plants sold here. I buy all my plants through the S&S now. I guess that is why I give out so many plants for just shipping or trade. Okay, enough rambling...
I still can't believe you have only been in the hobby since January of last year. You have done a fantastic job. Especially with the fish selection. They are beautiful.