Advice needed - Fish species that don't work together

A friend is looking to set up her first 3ft tank. She is looking at a low tech planted setup but wants to know what fish species she can and cant keep together. I have only kept Livebearers so not really in a position to give advice. She wants to keep 2-3 different species as the tank is in her living room.

Also what good but not too pricey substrate could she use.

I saw this online but don't know if its any good


PS She wants beautiful fish

 

I have never seen the Aqua EL gravel, but I have their LED`s and 1 of their powerheads. I do rate their products and get good results from it, I think its from Switzerland if my memory serves me corectly.

So for the price I think its worth a shot, as they seem to know what they are doing.

Does she want large fish or small fish? Live bearers or some schooling fish?

I always think the following is a great combo...

Some corries (6), bronze are not so expensive, a pair of german blue rams. Cardinal tetras (15) and about 15 xray tetras (not expensive) but great for schooling. Some ottos and some pond snails to clean up excess food and waste.

This will be my choice

 

Thanks for the feedback @HennieRoux and @Reedfish. She had emperor tetras in mind so small schooling fish would be her preference. She is also looking at Zebra Danios and lemon tetras. I will tell her to do some research on the Aqua EL gravel to see if it would work for a low tech planted setup.

 

Tell her to look @ the Xray tetras, they really are exciting to watch and one of the best schooling fish IMO. But that combination will work.

 

A handy guide is the Compatibility Chart:

http://aquariuminfo.org/compatibility.html