I have an empty cycled 45 gallon tank with sand substrate and am tired of buying bigger fish instead of the much smaller fish tetras etc as a pose to my usual paroon sharks, oscars, gt's and so on.

So I would like to make a stunning fish tank to display to whoever comes into my room.

In the tank so far there is;
Silver Gourmai 3"
Common Pleco 8" <- Never had any trouble with it sucking slime coats etc.
BN Pleco 4"

I have been looking at different tetra's. I have looked at Neons, bloodfin, black widow, columbian, flame, emperor, lemon, green neon, head and tail light, x-ray and bentos tetras.

I am looking for suggestions on what to add to make a beautiful display of color and personality.

I would also like to add some Tiger Barbs ( Probably 15+ ) Would these upset/bully any tetras?

Also Some corys.

Would Tetras and Barbs live together?
How many fish should I look at putting in the 45 Gal if there like 3" max?
What fish would you suggest?

Many thanks,
Luke

I think adding Live plants would look very nice...

Tiger barbs are very aggressive and NOT a good option...

I have a question... How is the tank cycled if it is empty?

The tank has some fish in but only 3 atm. Its only just become empty due to upgrade. Its had 2 GT's, Red Oscar, Paroon Shark and Severum in for about a year.

OK, That is great! If you are going to add fish you should go ahead and jump on it so you don't lose any BB from lack of waste!

How many Tetras would fit in a tank of that size? Would the different kinds of Tetras shoal with each other or only thier own kind?

I don't have much experience with Tetra's Hun, but I do know with small community fish, you need 1 gallon for every inch of fish... So that is a LOT of fish! LOL

Which stands for a pretty beautiful display id imagine