I guess I haven't thought that pleco could be the culprit. It is a true
statement, that there is little algae in the tank, so maybe he is going at
those plants. I should say - there are no algae that the pleco would eat,
because I am fighting a battle with long hair algae. I am picking it and
manage to keep it in control, but it is annoying. I will try to feed the
pleco some green on the side.

On the CO2 - I am curious to understand why that system is not adequate. (I
am new to this and want to understand and rectify). It is giving out several
bubbles a minute and they dissolve before the reach the surface in the
"trap" that came with the system.
How would I figure out how many bubbles are needed?

Thx

Akvaristen

"LeighMo" wrote in message
...
I have a 48" Hellios fixture with 110W (2x55W) White 7100K and Actinic
Blue
12000K. The tank was setup early January 2003. The tank is 48"x19"x14".

A 55 gallon tank with 110 watts over it. That should be enough for the
plants
you have. (But that actinic isn't ideal for a freshwater planted tank.
It's
meant for sal****er reef tanks.)

It does look like your pleco has eaten your Amazon sword plant leaves. If
you
just put the swords in, it may be that the leaves were dying anyway. I
would
try feeding the pleco some veggies, and hoping the plant gets tougher and
less
palatable once it adjust to your tank. (That happened with my miniature
sword.
My evil clown loaches chewed it to pieces. But once it started growing
well,
they stopped eating the leaves.)

Your tank is too large for the CO2 system you have. But you don't have so
much
light that you absolutely need CO2. If your main complaint is the Amazon
sword, it may be best to just bribe the pleco with some zucchini slices.



Leigh

http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/halloween/881/