For someone fairly new to keeping fish and having a relatively small tank here is a hardy mix of fish that won't eat each other or cost an arm and a leg, they are usually pretty easy to find as well 1 pearl gourami, 3 dwarf gouramies, 3 congo tetras, 3 giant danios, 3 tiger barbs, 3 bandit cory cats, and 1 clown pleco.
Here another dwarf that 'cha might wanna try...Crenicichla compressiceps.......dwarf pike cichlids...here a link to a WHOLE page of pictures of them...