Cichlids are notorious for uprooting plants. Depends on what kind of cichlids you will be keeping. I have kept cichlids for my whole life and they will not eat annubias or java fern, but that is about it. The stuff they do not eat, they will dig out and send floating into the filter. They are little pigs.

Let me know what kind of cichlids you plan to keep. Most cichlids do not need the pH to be in the extremely high range. Usually a good amount of holey rock will keep the pH sufficiently high.

If you need help picking out some good cichlids, I can help out.