algae

What type of light bulb do you have? How long is the light on for? Is the tank in direct sunlight a long portion of the day? How hot is the tank? How often do you feed?

I would imagine that your pleco knows they're fake plants and just doesn't want to deal with them I know my pleco never went near any of my fake plants ever. Then as soon as I got real ones he was all over them.

I think the only way to get rid of the algae on the plants would be to take them out and rinse them off w/ some bleach and water. Definately if the tank has too much light, is too hot, and you feed too often, that will all contribute to the algae... i'd venture to guess that since the only part of the plants that's getting algae is up near the light, then that's the culprit... but not 100%. let us know more...

~Tara

Perhaps this may be a useful link? Credit to the sticky in plant forums.
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/pic/article.cfm?dept_id=0&siteid=6&acatid=328&aid=714

But to be more precise, we definitely need more info.

Get an oto. Not sure if he'll get along with your plants, but wow, what a worker. See my post on otos. If he's okay with your plants, that's the trick, but get one at a time. They chow!!

Otos are diligent little workers, fun to watch and particularly fond of brown algae.

Start with your lights on for 6 hours. You can stagger the timing if you want so that the lights are on when you get up, then again when you return from work. Or however you want to organise it. Get a timer if you don't already have one, they're cheap and an invaluable tool.

You'll probably have to get rid of the pleco. If it is a common pleco, it will get way too big for your tank. And they produce copious quantities of waste.