Hi Spiky.
Is the tank cycled? If not, I would strongly advise to cycle the tank 'fish less'. There is loads of info on the Net about how to do it. Then you can stock your tank with more than just a few fish, not 100% stocking, but many more than you could if doing a fish in tank cycle.
As for fish, I would first imagine how you want the tank to look. Real plants/fake plants/no plants. Sand/gravel/soil substrate. Wood and/or rocks decoration. Then think what type of fish would look good and interest you. Some fish shoal, but you need larger numbers. Some grow large, smaller numbers, but destroy plants.
In my current main display tank I wanting an underwater garden, really heavily planted, and that led me to keeping mainly Tetras and Red Cherry Shrimp. In the past I have had sparsely decorated tanks and larger fish like Oscars and in another tank, mainly tall plants like Amazon swords for my Discus.
You asked what are good starter fish, but if your tank is fully cycled you don't have to stock with starter fish, just start stocking with the fish you intend to keep.
If you really want to do a fish in cycle then I would say that Harlequin Rasbora are fairly hardy. Buffalochip says he started with 6 cardinals, I hope he succeeds, but they wouldn't be my first choice to cycle a tank.
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