Plants so far:
Cryptocoryne parva (although I think it melted and died, none of it has regrown yet)
Bolbitis heudelotii
Rotala rotundifolia
Anubias 'Petite'
Nymphaea lotus potted
Eleocharis acicularis
Phyllanthus Fluitans - Floating plants (I think)

Found the little guy in my tank just an hour ago and thought I'd put together a small collage now that I have some progress made. My goal is a relaxed freshwater tank, mostly self sustaining. I'm definitely getting one snail (might go mystery this time instead of nerite) and a halfmoon betta. They were my first fish so I'm a bit of a sucker when it comes to them. I would love to have different colored cherry shrimp but alas, finding them out here in this part of Canada is impossible to find. In the past I had bottom feeders like albino cory catfish and loaches but I found they liked to tear up the bottom of the tank too much. Especially the loaches. They would often uproot some of the plants because of their wiggly movement. Definitely not touching tetras again. They were too nippy with each other.

I do not use CO2. The aquarium size itself, I'm not entirely sure on. I know it's 40 inches L and 17 ish tall? They said it was 40 gallons but with how many buckets I filled, I feel like it's more than that. Maybe 50-55. No CO2. I was able to get my plants to turn red without it in the past so I've turned off the bubbler to see if the biofilm helps trap in the stuff again. My setup plans were kinda altered when I added water for the first time. I had a nice clean gravel layer with bare soil under the piece of wood in the middle, but that got all blown around so now it's all speckled. I plan to add some leaf litter and maybe that'll make it nice and dark. My first betta liked to sleep in shelters. The betta I had last year liked to guard his bubble nest 24/7 and never slept on the floor.

Detritus worms are plentiful and Daphnia have made their presence known along the biofilm and decaying leaves.

Disappointed to learn that the Bolbitis heudelotii will take probably a year to grow out again. They melt when they acclimate to new water parameters so I trimmed away the mostly-rotted leaves. When it was new and lush it was super nice. It created a sort of 'mysterious' feel. The color of my poopoo cameras doesn't do it justice.

I love it because you can have something tiny and easy or big and complex. The plants never need to be watered and you can grow non-aquatic plants out from the top- which I plan to grow veggies soon, once I've figured out a better setup. My first attempt didn't go so well. I had sprouts and everything, but with the rising and falling water levels, it didn't seem like the roots were stretching out towards the water. Then, when I filled it up, I went too high and forgot about them so they drowned. :(

Feel free to nerd out about your own tanks or ask questions. I only have experience with freshwater and limited fish, but maybe I can convince you into giving it a try if you have any doubts.

Recommended videos:

https://www.youtube.com/@tanksfornothin <- everything by this guy

Aquarium CO-OP: https://www.youtube.com/@AquariumCoop < - kinda has a lot of videos that are more like vlogs/talking with no footage, but they're one of the most reliable companies for the hobby
A good video of their mascot: https://youtube.com/shorts/NmIm8Alx.....wM3qeqrZqmeakH