Well, back here at camp swampy things are getting a little odd. While I was on vacation, the plecos were given just 2 algae wafers a day - that's one apiece - except that the big one (the one with the big belly) eats both of them as soon as they hit the floor of the tank, leaving the smaller one to forage for what little algae there is.
By cell phone, everything sounded just fine - but here it is two very busy weeks later and Mr. Big Belly's belly hasn't really changed. They ARE starving to death, slowly though, so I increased the algae tablets to 4 a day, changed the filters, added some distilled water, and prayed over them. They're swimming in holy water now. But that belly hasn't changed. Not a bit.
Could it be that the pleco is just shaped that way? I mean, after all, he's a BIG fish. We're way past Guppy and getting into Trout! I'm going to continue the 4 tablets a day for another few days and see if the pleco's don't look as ... spiney. They looked like they were all bones a couple of days ago. This afternoon, they're looking a little more satisfied and just a bit less like consentration camp victims.
Plecos can live 20 years. I highly suggest that if you are setting up a tank - you don't start with plecos. They just grow and grow and grow... Give me a fish like a beta that just sort of hangs out and makes frownie faces at you for two or three years... or a swordfish that will hang out for a while and then one day just sort of disappear once it's great grandfishes are born.