Looking For Low-maintenance, Good On The Energy Bill Fish For My Dayhome.

I am interested in getting some fish for my day home. I have a tank that measures 2 ft by 1 ft by 16 inches (15 gallons I believe). Based on info I've found on your site I am considering getting white cloud mountain minnows and or zebra danios because they seem to not require a heated tank and look to be relatively easy maintenance. Is my tank large enough? How many fish would you suggest I keep? Also can I put in snails in an unheated tank? What about ghost shrimp? Or would these be too cold in an unheated aquarium? Also are there any plants you would suggest i get?
> Thanks in advance for sharing your expertise!
> Jo

Firstly.... hello, and welcome to the forum. 

Secondly.... the Golden Barb is a lovely fish and very suitable to a smaller, unheated tank.

A couple of things to add. By 'unheated' it is generally meant 'temperate' and that would really be no lower than 18ºC. So if your room temp does fall below 18ºC then a heater set to 18º is a good idea.

Also, many fish that are not labelled as 'temperate' can be kept in a tank as long as it doesn't fall below 18º. So another couple of lovely fish that could be kept are the Checkered Barb and the Cherry Barb.

You could use the 'fish search' on this site and tick the box which says 'suitable for an unheated tank' and then browse through the responce.

Zebra Danios are very active and a 2ft tank would really cramp their style.