10 Gallon Tank Fish Options

[Lawrence]

hi,

I want to buy a new fish tank in the coming days, and i am thinking of including the following combination of fish in my 10 gallon/40 litre tank:
2 moonfish
5 guppies (any sort)
1 cory cat or armano shrimp
2 tiger barbs
1 honey gourami/dwarf gourami
1 platy

is this an good fish combinations or does anyone have a better suggestion + what does the term cycle mean for an aquarium?
also is sand a good choice for the bottom of my fish tank?

thanks