Flower spike

[John Stark <starkj at pacbell_net>]

Hi All,

I have a sword plant (unidentified) that has been growing rapidly in my
tank (new leaf every 4 days) and has recently sent up a flower spike.
This spike grew 2-3" a day until it is now well out of the water.  My
tank is not open air, so the spike is going to fry nestled in among the
CF bulbs.  Now, onto the questions:

1) Can I simply cut off the flower spike with impunity?
2) Can I cut sword leaves that are older (the plant is dominating my
tank at this point).

The plant itself has long and broad leaves that start out with a number
of red flecks (almost geometric in shape) that fade over the life of the
leaf.  Old leaves are almost entirely green.  The plant is about 12"
tall and easily 12-14" in diameter at this point.

Thanks for input, as I am going to remove the spike if it is deemed to
be safe to the plant.  Either way, it will not survive where it is now
:-)

John Stark

John at starkreality dot net