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I am new to tending to a fish tank. I have a 20 gallon tall tank. At the moment I have 8 neon tetras, 3 brilliant rasboras, 3 cory cats, and a snail. I have a gravel bottum and have planted some live plants... and they r grow very fast. I have had my tank set up for about 2 or 3 weeks now. My filtration consists of a TetraTec PF150 and a Penguin 660 reverse flow power head (170gph). I just put the TetraTec filter in today due to some excess debri in the tank. the power head is used more as a bubbler than anything... but the sponge filter is in use. I know my tank is still developing, but might anyone have any advise to offer making my a better fish owner?

The corys sound fine, but there should be more rasboras and neons are probably cramped. The problem is that it is a 20 tall. Since they are schooling, they prefer long tanks. So we went from one extreme to another. I suggest downsizing your schools. Get less neons and totally get rid of the rasboras. U may want something small that doesnt school like platys, or swordtails.

Since you have a tall tank, you may want to try Hatchetfish, the come all silver or marbled or a single male guppy - they all like the middle to upper levels of the tank.

Welcome to the wonderful world of fishkeeping

Your tank is going through the Nitrogen cycle right now...you posted somewhere else where I think it was explained.

Anyway, becuase of the cycle, some nasty things (ammonia and nitrite) will be detectable, possibly killing some fish. I recommend getting a product called New and Improved Cycle. It will help the tank cycle faster and you could save some fish.

About the stocking, I disagree with RoboFish, cories really should have a proper school (at least 6).

Since all your fish are schooling, you really need to decide on the neons or the rasboras. Both have pros and cons. The neons would look amazing in your planted tank, but they are really delicate. Rasboras are very hardy but IMO aren't as pretty as neons.

So after the cycle, your tank could have:
A school of neons or rasboras
A school of cories

k i went and got a brand new test kit today and ran all the tests on my tank's water.

Ammonia is about 0ppm
Nitrite is about 5ppm
Nitrate is about 5ppm as well
and my pH is about 7.4 - 7.6

todays date is the 17 so that means i have had fish in it for 12 days.
so the cycle should be about 2 weeks into it right?

any words of wisdom at this time?

Leave the tank alone as best you can. The water will get murky, that's normal. You'll probably end up losing fish, as they're not all that hardy. Do not change water nor your filter cartridges, this will only serve to lengthen the cycle. If the fish look REALLY desperate, then do a little one, but dont' go crazy and dont' touch the gravel.

Best of luck...

Hope you enjoy the hobby.