About Banjo Catfish... Please hurry!

[captmicha]

I'm going to a 50% off sale tomorrow! I'm so excited... I can get 4 pygmy Corys for $5 and a Banjo for $5.

So since it's tomorrow, I need to know before I go and buy one, should Banjos live in groups? Or is alone okay? Is a twenty gallon tall aquarium okay?

[Marc van Arc]

So since it's tomorrow, I need to know before I go and buy one, should Banjos live in groups? Or is alone okay? Is a twenty gallon tall aquarium okay?

Banjos are perfectly okay by themselves, but if you have the opportunity (and the money) why don't you buy some more?
20G is okay for a few/one Banjo and some dwarf cories, no problem.
Have fun tomorrow!

[captmicha]

Thanks I will. I just home I don't come home with 20 new fish...

[Richard B]

The pygmy cories will look great in a shoal

[darkwolf29a]

Honestly, I have 3 banjos and some zebra danios in a 20 gallon tank. They seem to get along well.

The one thing to be sure of...make sure that you are feeding your banjos, and that they are eating. They are an ambush predator, so they won't get food unless you make sure they do.

I feed mine sinking carnivore pellets. I just make sure that they get a couple every day.

[captmicha]

So do you think they'll try to eat my glass shrimp or my bumblebee goby? I'm feeding with a bunch of things right now. Plants, spiralina, sinking shrimp pellets, crushed Tetramin flakes and betta pellets.

They look really great! And the shoal of corys looks awesome. They're all over the aquarium instead of just lurching in the corner like the larger corys. I'm really holding out hope that they'll breed.

Do banjos breed easily in captivity? I don't have a project planned but a few more would be nice.

[captmicha]

I just found some new info. Do they really get to be 6 inches???? The person at the store said 4 inches max!

[apistomaster]

I don't think the Banjos will pose a threat unless one of the animals touches it's mout.
I like to keep more than one Banjo in a tank but they don't really interact much with each other. I have also used them as "vacuum cleaners" in my Discus tanks and when I do that I just add one per tank.

If the fish are going to be a bargain, you should get at least 10 or 12 of the Pygmy Corydoras because they are much happier and more interesting when kept in larger groups.

[darkwolf29a]

One thing I would recommend is getting some sinking catfish food. They don't need a lot of plant matter in their diet, so I just use the sinking carnivore pellets. They suck those up!!!

I haven't had any issues with predation. Like I said, I have zebra danios in there with them. They swim all over the place, and don't end up as food. In fact, I've pulled a couple of dead ones out, and they don't have any signs of being eaten or bitten by a banjo.