banjo catfish

[calichai]

Nice setup there Mr. It's good you changed out the gravel. I have a fee eel tail banjos that I've had over the last year and a half and I also made the mistake of dumping him in a tank with rough gravel. Til now, his barbel hasn't grown back, and I already accepted the fact that it probably won't. I noticed you have quite alot of deco in there, do you target feed them? Are there any tankmates? Very cool fish. Cheers.



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[Mr. Mom]

Nice setup there Mr. It's good you changed out the gravel. I have a fee eel tail banjos that I've had over the last year and a half and I also made the mistake of dumping him in a tank with rough gravel. Til now, his barbel hasn't grown back, and I already accepted the fact that it probably won't. I noticed you have quite alot of deco in there, do you target feed them? Are there any tankmates? Very cool fish. Cheers.



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thanks .... I had quite the skittle tank of bottom dwellers when I joined this site. So those guys have had to compete in the past. Then I finally started in a proper direction, thanks to input just like yours. As of late they only have 1 Neon Dwarf Rainbow, 2 Serpae, 3 Black Skirt Tetras, 1 Bronze Corydora, 1 Albino Long-fin Bristlenose pleco, 4 Algae Eatting Shrimp, 3 Zebra Snails and 1 Orange Mexican Dwarf Lobster. But I did a tank rescue so to speak (the thing was coated in algae everywhere ... long story the guy had a failed back-surgery and couldn't take care of his fish ... I've got 2 rods 5 pins holding my back together = I understand) ... so tank now has a few temporary new additions. 1 Red Tailed Shark 3" (already had one .. my setups don't work yet ... looking for new home) 1 Black Molly and 2 Cory-type Catfish ... don't know nothing about them, one has a tall fin .. try to get pics later. That way my son got the swords and guppies for his tank.
As for feeding ... I got into the practise of every 2-3 days placing a half-thawed cube of bloodworms on the substrate, then placing my banjos at either end of said cube. After 5 minutes or so they have their fill and swim off. I monitor to make sure no tries to interupt their meal. They're my only fish I give special care to feeding ... although they used to have to compete.

By the way, I really like those Eel Tail Banjos you've got.

Almost forgot there's 2 African Dwarf Frogs in there as well.

 

[Siddons11]

^ Dang how long did it take yours to get that big?!

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[Akuma]

very cool looking fish. I consider to buy 2 myself.

 

[calichai]

Hey Mr. It's good to hear that you give special attention to your banjos. Mine always hid. You can train them to stay out in the open though. I used a old clear pipe and dropped the bloodworm inside and towards the front. Once they smell it they will rush over and I would release the worms. Now they pretty much hang out there when their hungry, so we can view them better. The four eat 3 cubes of blood worms a day.


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[Mr. Mom]

^ Dang how long did it take yours to get that big?!

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I've had these guys for almost a year now ...

very cool looking fish. I consider to buy 2 myself.

do it ... cool oddball for a small tank. But they do like to hide.

Hey Mr. It's good to hear that you give special attention to your banjos. Mine always hid. You can train them to stay out in the open though. I used a old clear pipe and dropped the bloodworm inside and towards the front. Once they smell it they will rush over and I would release the worms. Now they pretty much hang out there when their hungry, so we can view them better. The four eat 3 cubes of blood worms a day.


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I might try the pipe once the shark is gone ... but thanks for the idea. I don't mind these guys hiding ... they're kinda my fish that way. My wife hasn't seen them since the day I got them, and my one son has watched them at times swimming around at first light. (The tank is in their bedroom) Otherwise no one but me seems to know where they are ... they can't spot the tail. Although lately I've noticed they aren't burrowing as deep.
Here's a pic of them eating
View attachment 921803
and here's a pic of the one with the damaged barbs. I had already accepted it would stay this way, but still kinda holding out hope.
View attachment 921804
These guys are troopers though ... before I started to learn a little, they've had a few things to compete with ie: featherfin hybrid syno, 2 striped raphael catfish, 3 dojo loaches, 1 albino rainbow shark with 1 red tailed shark ... not all at the same time now ... but definetely in mixed combinations. These guys earned the right to be the center piece of this tank ... now there main competition would be the 2 african dwarf frogs or the orange mexican dwarf lobster ... but to be honest those 3 are wimps ... I've watched my 4 algae eating shrimp gang-up on any one of the three ... its actually quite funny. That's probably the only reason I've given them the special treatment.
But if you're 4 go through 3 cubes a day ... I should be giving more I think. I know they eat flake as well ... I've watched them, everything in my tanks except for my bichir in my 55G I've seen eat flake numerous times. I just use my frozen blood worms, and frozen shrimp brine for treats for my tanks every 2 or 3 days usually. I don't think I'm hurting anything considering they have grown ... just wondering if they're lacking something I guess. You've got me thinking.

 

[Mr. Mom]

Well my son and I have been making some changes so figured I'd try to re-vamp my Banjo tank as well .... Picked up another form of sand that wasn't so cloudy (like the stuff I purchased before) and three new pieces of driftwood/roots.

Once I got things back up and cycled ... figured I'd take a couple pics of my banjos before went back to their remodeled home.

I'll always get a kick out of these guys ... so easy to handle. I find it easiest to just gently grab their tale and ease them into the net when removing them. They've always just kinda gone with the flow.

I do find with the new sand mixture ... these guys blend in so much more

I've allowed my son usage of the top part of the tank for his swords (5 - 1 male, 4 female). We were in debates about plants. I didn't want to much in the substrate. But thinking of letting him add some to the wood ... just need to get a new light first.

 

[Mr. Mom]

Well went to one of the fish stores today to pick up a new light for this tank .... broke down and bought my first LED ... at the same time picked up 2 more Banjo's. Now just need to get a new lid and some plants for this tank.

 

[Pole]

nice fish.

 

[Mr. Mom]

nice fish.

Thanks Pole, I really like these guys.

Couldn't resist when I got the new ones to take a pic .... Didn't realize just how much my original 2 have grown

Knew I wouldn't get a decent shot with all 4 in the tank .... so out they came for the introductions. When I got my first 2 Banjo's they weren't much bigger than these new guys, now they're almost full grown I believe.