How Does This Sound Re, Stocking My 75l Tank

Panda Cory get a lot of love on this forum - they're brill.

If I might make some suggestions.......

I have platies (well, I've got one left) - don't get them! They're poo machines, they breed like rabbits, and the males fight.

I have Five-band barbs - they're lovely, but they'll be a lot happier if you have 7 rather than 4. Very peaceful and spend all day nosing around the bottom of the tank and swimming in and out of the plants. They do tend to stick together and were noticably happier when I went from 5 to 9 of them.

Peacock gobies, Cory cats and the Barbs all hang around the bottom of the tank, so you might be better off with two out of the three species.

How about Ember Tetras? They're small and look lovely as a shoal of around 9 or so, and will be fine in a 50cm tank.

Other fish you might consider are Checkered Barbs or Cherry Barbs. I have Cherry Barbs and they're peaceful, fun, and the boys look lovely when they're 'dancing' and flaring their fins at each other or the barbie-girls. They don't spend as much time at the bottom as the Five-band Barbs, either.

Hope this helps.

p.s. No Platies!!!!!

I don't know about Ruby Barbs.... except they look lovely. I'm a fan of barbs!

Ok thanks , might just drop the barbs all together from this tank and put them in the new big tank.

It is possible to buy them on-line but the cost of postage is usually more than the actual fish. Some shops will order them in if they are on their wholesaler's list. Just ask and if they say no, you can look somewhere else.
One downside to on-line shops is getting them to select males and females. This is not a problem with shoaling fish but could be with fish like peacock gobies. With fish like this, read up on how to tell the sexes before you go looking in shops as many shop workers won't have a clue.

From the list of fish mentioned so far, you should be able to find ember tetras and panda cories reasonably easily. Galaxy rasboras (which are now called celestial pearl danios or sometimes firework rasboras) are less common. Peacock gobies (also sold as peacock gudgeon) are less common in shops.
Do you have a branch of Maidenhead Aquatics near you? The one near me usually has the tetras, cories and rasboras in stock.

The Galaxy Rasbora's (or Celestial Pearl Danio's as Sue has mentioned) are lovely little fish but can be difficult to find. I managed to acquire some from a fellow fish-keeper but have never seen any in the tropical fish retailers round my area and would like some more (and we don't have a Maidenhead Aquatics nearby). I haven't come across any Peacock Gobies though and would like some of these as well

It is possible to order fish online for delivery but I've never used this type of facility - don't know whether any others could comment on the pros/cons? I think they can be quite expensive ordering online as well, particularly if you go for one of the rarer species.

Cory's are a big thumbs up (of any type really, provided they're a suitable size for your tank) - I have the peppered variety. I also have Platies (all males to avoid the breeding issue) and they do tend to squabble a bit but nothing too bad. They can poo for England though - I often see one with a nice trail which is twice their body length or more!

I don't have any barbs but my folks do have some Cherry Barbs and they can develop a lovely deep cherry colouration once settled (far better than how you see them in the shops) and they are pretty peaceful, although I don't know how they'd get on with the Rasboras.

Is it true I can't use gravel if I get panda corys?

I have rounded 2-3mm gravel and my Cory's are fine; very healthy and happy nosing around the gravel for food. I generally do at least a surface siphon every 2-3 weeks just to make sure nothing bad is left to settle but I'd say this is good practice regardless of the substrate used.

I see some tanks with gravel which is more like stone shards/chippings and this is a definite no-no where Cory's are concerned (and quite a few other types of fish to be honest) and I'd also avoid anything with a gravel size above 2-3mm (although the finer varieties often costs a bit more unfortunately).