I have been stressing over a GN Pleco for months now. 3 months maybe? I got mine over the I-Net, he was 4 inches long, from freshwater aquatics--a vendor here. Mine was bigger than every fish in my tank (125 gal) when I got him, which is a big factor in success with these fish. I got him from a reputable dealer, which is also a big factor in success with these fish. I spent weeks emailing back and forth with the people I got mine from about how the fish acts, what conditions it wants, what it eats. Kinda like stingrays, you HAVE to get one that's eating. FWA assured me that mine was eating when they shipped it to me. I got mine, he didn't eat at all in my sight for 3 months. People here said "don't worry". I put out lettuce and New Age Pleco Pellets stuck to rocks and driftwood after lights out so the other fish in the tank wouldn't eat it all. I THINK mine was eating at night, but I can't be sure. Mine has just started to come out and eat zucchini with the lights on, it is NO help with algae/scum on the glass/rocks/driftwood, and it still doesn't eat algae tabs on the bottom. I have easily put more time, worry, stress into this fish than all the others in my tank combined. By comparison, I bought a sailfin gibbiceps, dropped him in the tank, and it was eating algae tabs in broad daylight 2 days later. GN Pleco's are just a complete different animal. I have mine in a tank with 6 inch Synspillum, 5 inch Lyonsi, 5 clown loaches, 3 pictus cat's, 2 Green Terrors, and a Jack Dempsey. I would advise against that, too. A GN Pleco will NOT go out and compete with other fish for food, at least not with the lights on. If you want to be really sure a GN Pleco will eat and live in your tank, don't try to put one in a "community" tank with a bunch of big hungry fish like I have. And if you want to have one, be ready to leave food out after lights out. And although everything you read about Baryancistrus says they like "meaty snacks", they like zucchini and lettuce, too. So, I put out, after lights out, lettuce, zucchini, and Pleco pellets stuck to driftwood, every night or two. That's been my experience with them. I'm sure mine will keel over unexpectedly for no reason. I will never get another one. BUT--mine is the coolest fish in my tank. And mine does not hide. He doesn't move around much, but he's always in plain sight.
