#stocking ideas

Scape ideas for a tall tank? I normally work with long tanks, but I'm setting up a tank for my mom and her husband. It's a 45 gallon (weird, right?), about 3 feet long, 2 tall, 1 deep. I'm lighting it with a Finnex Planted+ 24/7. I'm thinking crypts and anubius are a no brainer towards the bottom (also because crypts are my favorite) but beyond that I'm not really sure where to go. Unfortunately manzanita is beyond budget, so I'm probably going with a small stump that I've had sitting around, but don't really have much in mind for hardscape. Fish are going to be hardy, colorful, and peaceful. Probably going with a few small schools of tetras, danios, rasboras, not really sure yet. Clean up crew (to be added later) will be otos, cories, and probably ghost shrimp because my mom likes shrimp and they're nice and easy. My mom was a fan of blue rams (I think for the color) but I'm hesitant about them. I'm going to be the primary person maintaining the tank, but that's still a big step up from what I was planning. After having endless guppies in the past I'm pretty sure we're staying away from livebearers. If you have any ideas let me know!

so unfortunately I lost a gorgeous betta because I never covered the opening on his filter :( I have since remedied this with nylons. My question now though, is what should I put in the tank? It's a 10g with gravel and java fern. I can do another betta of course, but I want other ideas too. Dwarf frogs? Shrimp? Teeny tiny community fish? Inspire me!