A couple suggestions from topics earlier in this thread...
No problem with the 10 Paracheirodon innesi here. having the plants makes a big difference, and this is not an active species. You could consider a group of one of the "dwarf" cory species, but not the larger ones. Corydoras pygmaeus or Corydoras habrosus would work, a group of 9-10 (no fewer). The C. pygmaeus will likely shoal around with the neons too, which is rather nice to see in small tanks. C. habrosus perhaps less likely to do this.
Sword plants. It will be interesting to see how large they do grow, as there is considerable variation. The species is Echinodorus griesbachii. It was probably sold as Echinodorus bleherae, but phylogenetic analysis (Lehtonen 2006, Lehtonen 2008, Lehtonen & Myllys 2008) determined that this is not a distinct species, and the DNA is E. griesbachii. The plants in this genus can attain vastly different sizes. This takes us to botanical nomenclature.
Echinodorus amazonicus, Echinodorus amazonicus var. parviflorus, Echinodorus amphibius, Echinodorus bleherae, Echinodorus eglandulosus, Echinodorus gracilis, Echinodorus grisebachii var. minor and Echinodorus parviflorus were considered distinct species (Rataj 1975, 2004) but are now deemed to be within the one polymorphic species E. grisebachii. Differences in appearance between these plants are apparent--"E. amazonicus" for exampple is much smaller in size than "E. bleherae"--and seem dependent on the specific environment in the aquarium; this seems likely to also occur in nature, what can be termed transitional forms of the species. But the limited genetic variation within the complex is insufficient to establish reasonable groupings (Lehtonen & Falck, 2011).
I bought what was considered "E. bleherae" some 12 years ago. This genus of plants do extremely well in my tanks, the green-leaf ones that is, so I have stayed with them. From the initial plant, I removed adventitious plants, and some of these went into different tanks, and produced adventitious plants, etc, etc. I noted that in some tanks they never grew beyond 5-6 inches in leaf length, while in other tanks I had leaves that were 24 inches in length. Light and nutrient conditions do seem to influence the growth habit of this plant. Substrate tabs most definitely improve plant growth.
I recently had a similar experience with another species in this genus. Labelled Echinodorus osiris when purchased, it grew into a nice busy plant with wavy leaves that were 7 to 9 inches in length. It was in my 70g tank for some six or seven years. Last year I moved and downsized, so the larger tanks were given away. This plant had done fairly well over the years, so I kept it, and planted it in my 40g tank which is primarily for my 41 cories. That was last May (2019). During the late summer into the autumn, the new leaves emerging from the centre of the crown grew to 24-25 inches. In the photo below, this plant is on the right; you can also see two E. griesbachii on the far left, and one is considerably larger than the other, yet these were both off the same inflorescence of the parent plant.
No problem with the 10 Paracheirodon innesi here. having the plants makes a big difference, and this is not an active species. You could consider a group of one of the "dwarf" cory species, but not the larger ones. Corydoras pygmaeus or Corydoras habrosus would work, a group of 9-10 (no fewer). The C. pygmaeus will likely shoal around with the neons too, which is rather nice to see in small tanks. C. habrosus perhaps less likely to do this.
Sword plants. It will be interesting to see how large they do grow, as there is considerable variation. The species is Echinodorus griesbachii. It was probably sold as Echinodorus bleherae, but phylogenetic analysis (Lehtonen 2006, Lehtonen 2008, Lehtonen & Myllys 2008) determined that this is not a distinct species, and the DNA is E. griesbachii. The plants in this genus can attain vastly different sizes. This takes us to botanical nomenclature.
Echinodorus amazonicus, Echinodorus amazonicus var. parviflorus, Echinodorus amphibius, Echinodorus bleherae, Echinodorus eglandulosus, Echinodorus gracilis, Echinodorus grisebachii var. minor and Echinodorus parviflorus were considered distinct species (Rataj 1975, 2004) but are now deemed to be within the one polymorphic species E. grisebachii. Differences in appearance between these plants are apparent--"E. amazonicus" for exampple is much smaller in size than "E. bleherae"--and seem dependent on the specific environment in the aquarium; this seems likely to also occur in nature, what can be termed transitional forms of the species. But the limited genetic variation within the complex is insufficient to establish reasonable groupings (Lehtonen & Falck, 2011).
I bought what was considered "E. bleherae" some 12 years ago. This genus of plants do extremely well in my tanks, the green-leaf ones that is, so I have stayed with them. From the initial plant, I removed adventitious plants, and some of these went into different tanks, and produced adventitious plants, etc, etc. I noted that in some tanks they never grew beyond 5-6 inches in leaf length, while in other tanks I had leaves that were 24 inches in length. Light and nutrient conditions do seem to influence the growth habit of this plant. Substrate tabs most definitely improve plant growth.
I recently had a similar experience with another species in this genus. Labelled Echinodorus osiris when purchased, it grew into a nice busy plant with wavy leaves that were 7 to 9 inches in length. It was in my 70g tank for some six or seven years. Last year I moved and downsized, so the larger tanks were given away. This plant had done fairly well over the years, so I kept it, and planted it in my 40g tank which is primarily for my 41 cories. That was last May (2019). During the late summer into the autumn, the new leaves emerging from the centre of the crown grew to 24-25 inches. In the photo below, this plant is on the right; you can also see two E. griesbachii on the far left, and one is considerably larger than the other, yet these were both off the same inflorescence of the parent plant.
