Your tank is cool. Good decoration. I give you 8.5/10. Neons are pretty cheap. Don't worry. When you fully cycled your tank. You can get NEONS from Big Al's for only $1 each (check their weekly special and go).
I give you some recommandations for algae problem. Get 2-3 otto's. They are not expensive. They are great for small tanks and they will eat algae. Otts will grow to at most 1.5 inchs. Do not put regular pleco into your tank. They do not eat algae + they grow really big.
The other way is to put some mollies into your tank. Molly is like PIG, they will eat anything (include algae, also your plants, lol).