I'll take some pictures of my 55g planted tank at home today, but I while I was settup up my USB port for my digital camera, I snapped a few pictures of my grungy looking nano planted tank here at work.

It's a 2.5 gallon with a swing-arm 13W compact flourescent light. Whisper mini filter, non-thermostatic heater, mixed kitty litter/standard gravel.
Living contents are just a few small Amazons, a dwarf sword and a piece of my Anubias Nana from my 55g tank. Three Glowlight Tetras, three Ottos and three Amano Shrimp round out the living contents.

May I offer a few suggestion?? Just a thought, but, with that much lighting, co2, would really give the plants a nice head start. You also might want to look into some sort of liquid fertilizer. I use leaf zone with great results, for such a small tank, you could also try Florish Excel. It's more expensive, but it'll go a long way in such a small tank. As for the otos, you might have a bit of an over kill, but, if you really have that bad of an algae problem, maybe it's not such a bad thing. Anyway, all around, I think your tank an tons of potential. Good luck!

yup. co2 AND flourish excel + your massive wattage will do it good. i have a similar 2.5 gallon aquarium.

Did you say kitty littter ??

There is no need to use both products. Both are source of carbon and give the same result.

The suggestions are well taken. I've seen the effects of CO2 on my planted tank at home and Flourish Excel would be a fantastic addition to this tank. None of my local shops carry it and I don't want to pay shipping that costs more than the product so I'm waiting to put together a bigger order from www.petwarehouse.com

Kitty Litter? Yep - it's crushed clay that is effective as a plant substrate. Just make sure to get a no name brand plain kitty litter without fragrance or any other additives.

I think three Ottos is definitely overkill. I'm taking one home to my 55g tank. I might add a guppy, though. I've always liked them, but they tend to get dwarfed in a community tank. Looks good in your tank, Backdraft!

so you'd use kitty liter instead of flourite ?