Sometimes it comes down to the individual fish. I am not exactly sure what
type of "Whiptail" cat fish you may have. If its the type I cited in an
earlier post, you should watch him carefully (at night especially). Check
out George Booth's site (http://aquaticconcepts.thekrib.com/), where he
advises

"Plecostomus is the generic name for a wide range of sucker-mouth fish. Only
the smaller types are useful in a planted tank, since the larger varieties
tend to eat the plant right along with the algae. Two common types that are
useful are the "bristle-nose plecostomus" and the "clown plecostomus" or
Pekoltia. Both stay under 4" long and don't seem to cause too much plant
damage. Sometimes broad-leafed plants like Amazon swords will be scraped a
little too closely by the plecos, so they bear watching.

Their diet can be supplemented by blanched zucchini and bottom feeder
tablets. They also appreciate a chunk of driftwood in the aquarium to
satisfy their need for cellulose. "
-Bruce

"SlimFlem" wrote in message
news:lnJT9.13962$%n.3432@sccrnsc02...
Hi.

Can Whiptail catfish be verified to be plant tank safe? I've had one in
my
plant tank for at least 8 months. He (I call him he.) has gotten quite
large...probably like 5 inches. I am starting to wonder if he is putting
some of the holes in my Sword leaves and munching on the new tender leaves
that are coming up from the middle of the plant.

Does anyone have experience with this catfish in a planted tank?

thanks.