numbers of fishes

hi guys im new here.. and i just got my 40 gallon tank... i was wondering wat size fish can i go with and how big.. like for instance.. i was thikning maybe 1 fish taht is about 6 inches... then 2 fishes are about 2-3 inches.. and the rest small.. and some cleaners... what do you guys think...

 

Hello and welcome to 3reef first of all!!!
Do you plan on creating a reef tank? Or is this going to be a fish only tank? The reason I am asking this is that a reef tank requires more precise water quality levels-usually resulting in less fish.
Alot is also dependent on the type of fish you plan on keeping. Is this fish going to get much larger? Does the fishes habitat require grazing and covering alot of territory? Is this fish very territorial? You see you have to answer a few question before deciding on the type of fish for your 40 gallon tank! Basically less is better with regards to saltwater fish(don't overcrowd). Tropical fish tanks enable you to have more fish(inches) per gallon of water than do saltwater tanks.

 

A general rule of thumb is about 1 inch of adult fish for every 5 gallons in a reef tank. So that can give you an idea of what and how many fish you can put in there.