anyone had luck with cichlids and live plants in the same tank

Well for what it's worth and having kept and bread many color morphs of tank raised Oscars they do not reach sexual maturity until around two years of age and then they will stake out a territory for themselves and like a Bass they will clear out a large area for any predators not to be able to hide in .

This is the basic instinct of about any Cichlid .

 

Just like to add based on my experience with Oscars that we as humans are going to get beaten in a battle of wits with Oscars in their tanks

they decide what belongs in them and where they belong - aquascaping is the domain of the Oscar and not the aquarist

Steve