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I'm going to be building a 48x36x24 acrylic tank over the summer. I decided that all good fishkeepers should have one awsomely huge community tank. The fish I'm looking at are:

labrynth:
pearl gouramis
dwarf gouramis

chichlids:
discus
angelfish
rams
festivums

schooling fish:
harlequin rasboras
black widows
black phantoms
congo tetras
diamond tetras

bottom feeders:
panda cories
rhino pleco
ottos

What would be a good combination of these fish? They're all on the smaller side, except for the pleco, which is about a foot and a half. I would like pairs of the chichlids and schools of the smaller fish (including cories)

Wow! That is going to be a magnificent tank alright!
648 Litres, 170 US gallons, 144 UK gallons!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

On what you want..here is a nice setup:
5 Pearl Gouramis 2m/3f (Better in odd numbers)
2 Angelfish 1m/1f (If you can get the right genders)
6 Blue or Bolivian Rams 3m/3f (Provide some caves)
12 Harlequin Rasboras
12 Diamond Tetras (These will look stunning!)
8 Congo Tetras (Lovely fish get to about 8-10cm, 3-4"
12 Panda Corydoras (What a wild tank this will be)
6 Otos (No algae anywhere in this tank)
If you want a Rhino Pleco,I would skip the corys and otos and get it instead.

I think this tank is not overstocked.

my only question is will I have problems with fin-nipping?

As I mentioned in Chat, you may well have trouble with nipping. Angelfish and discus have nice long fins, and tetras are great at exploiting their talents to nip fins. They are fast, travel in groups, and have high energy levels. Congo, diamond, and black widow tetras are all pretty good at nipping, and are some of the larger tetra species. Schools of (for example) ten of any of these tetras can quickly run down several angels or discus if they feel so inclined. For that reason, I feel that at least the discus (or the large, boisterous tetras) should be removed from the list. Them's the breaks.

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

What are some small, non-nipping tetras? I don't want neons or cardinals (angel food ) So far I have harleqiunn rasboras. What other tetras could go in my tank? How about black phantoms? Also, is there any large fish that could take the place of my discus. Maybe some biggish chichlid like a firemouth. Or would a firemouth be too aggressive?

Black phantoms are fine, as are flame tetras, lemons, red phantoms, black neons, rummies, garnet tetras, bloodfins, splash tetras, silvertips, gold tetras, pristellas, and many other not-so-common species. These are all usually compatible with discus and angels temperament-wise, and won’t nip very much if they have plenty of their own kind to interact with.

To replace discus, I wouldn’t go with firemouths. They can be a tad rowdy for community tanks such as the one you’re thinking of. Instead, some (admittedly smaller) replacements include curviceps cichlids, keyholes, and Apistos. If you get lucky and can find them though, uarus would be perfect. Though tough to obtain, they are quite large and are happy in community tanks. If you’d like to do some research on them, check out the uaru forum [link=here]http://www.uaru-forum.com/" style="COLOR: #808080[/link]. Folks at this site should be able to help you out. Maybe you can even find a breeder there willing to ship you fish.

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

also, beware discus! they are absolutley beautiful, charming, personable fish, but they don't like community tanks until they are larger and more settled, they require SUPERB water conditions to be really happy, and they shouldn't be kept with angels, boisterous fish, or nippers. some people get lucky with discus, but a lot of people don't. read up on these fish before you buy them. i gave mine away after a year because they were too much work and too much worry. check out my discus photos in the photo booth if you like.

if it were me I'd go with (just for a beginning):

30 Neon Tetras
30 Harlequin Rasboras
15-20 Agazzis Corydoras
15-20 "Other" Corydoras
2 BN
4 Clown Loaches

I wouldn't go with any of the pygmy size corries, you'll never find them once they are in the tank Not only will it be a peaceful tank, but hilarious to watch heidi michelle

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So it was no surprise the day she learned
That her Texas man would not return

"I've got a great ambition to die of exhaustion rather than boredom." Thomas Carlyle

i would go with a school of atum angels, rams, cories, and saes