In the wild the central Amazonian species as well as those from the upper orinoco drainage inhabi very warm shallow-water zones with a strong current and feed all through the night. In the aquarium, however, they frequently receive food only once a day and are also generally kept at too cool a temperature. Species like the very popular "Golden Nuggets" (Baryancistrus sp. 'Lo18', 'L081', 'L177') for example, usually respond to this by a complete standstill in their growth. Even after years of captive maintenance under these conditions they frequently remain unnaturally small. In the worst case scenario they may also become emaciated and sooner or later die.
For this reason it is important to feed these out-and-out vegetarians several times per day (at least twice) with a diet consisting predominantly of vegetable foods. Suitable foods include many types of vegetable, for example, lettuce, spinach, cucumber, zucchini, sweet peppers, carrot, potato and many more. Even if this food has to be weighted down with pebbles, a piece of non-rusting metal, or similar, it offers the major advantage that it is available to the fishes throughout the day and they can feed on it continuously in accordance with their natural habits.