PlanetCatfish.com

G'day everyone! My first visit the the 'cat' forum here!

Just got a few quick questions for all the cat lovers!!

6 months ago I was given what I was told a Banjo Catfish ... well I was told he was around 3 yrs old. I just wanted to get your opinion on if indeed he is a banjo cat and whether he seems to be "healthy" or not.

I rarely see him during the daytime except for when the light in the tank is off, and then he might move around a little. I have read through a few posts here regarding Banjos and see this is normal.
He generally hides out somewhere under the plants at the corner of the tank or close to the rocks.

But today when I got home from work as I was watching the tank I noticed he was VERY active for a change! The tank light was on! Well it was then that I noticed he has these unusual white spots on his head/neck.
I managed to get some pics and just wanted to know if the white 'spots' near his head are supposed to be there as Ive not noticed them before. Its like a 'dot' and then a white 'line'.



And just to show un underside pic for you to look at. I dont see any probs here just thought while I can actually get a shot I would. One of the pics shows a sort of 'red line' but that is a shadow from one of his 'whisker' things. Does his skin appear healthy looking?





He is currently in a 26 G tank along with 5 female bettas and 2 platies. I keep the PH at about 7.8 and he gets a few shrimp formula pellets every other day. Any advice or ideas to keep him happy and healthy is much appreciated. Or even a good link to another post so I can read it!

THANX!!!

Do you have a heater in the tank?

Welcome to Planet Catfish!!!

It could be a heater burn as Silurus is hinting at - it doesn't look typical as it is symmetrical but it is on the highest point of the body so is at the point where there would be contact if it was to hide behind a heater.

The excessive & unusual movement might be due to atmospheric pressure - some cats have been seen to be quite active when there has been stormy weather - I think Marc had something like this happen with his Platystacus (same family as your banjo)

If this is a heater burn, it doesn't look serious.
I would make sure it had soft sand and bog wood to hide under so it will stay away from any heaters. I have kept banjos off and on for 40 years and never had one get a heater burn. I count Banjo Cats as my first "odd ball" fish. I bought my first one in 1966.
I bought six about three years ago and they arrived smaller than I have ever seen them, about 1-1/4-inch TL. At the end of three years some were almost 4-inches in TL and others barely 3-inches and those were much slimmer. They may have been the males. They would eat live black worms to the point where they would appear ready to burst, especially the larger fish(females?).
I recently traded them in along with many other non breeding fish to maximize my available space for the fish I breed but they remain one of my favorite catfish. Weirdest fish one can get for the money.

Hi again, and thanx for the replies

Yes I do have a heater in the tank and he does just so happen to hang around below the heater. Ive never seen him up under it but then again hes a night owl

The temp is kept at a constant 80 degrees. Ive recently added extra aeration to the tank, but thats about it.

Here is the other pic I was supposed to post as I just now noticed I accidently posted the same pic twice.



I also noticed he has the white marking close to his eyes. And from this shot I ca see he has torn fins!!! Could this be fin rot? Any advice or a link for me to read as far as keeping him as healthy as possible?

apistomaster wrote:If this is a heater burn, it doesn't look serious.
I would make sure it had soft sand and bog wood to hide under so it will stay away from any heaters. I have kept banjos off and on for 40 years and never had one get a heater burn. I count Banjo Cats as my first "odd ball" fish. I bought my first one in 1966.
I bought six about three years ago and they arrived smaller than I have ever seen them, about 1-1/4-inch TL. At the end of three years some were almost 4-inches in TL and others barely 3-inches and those were much slimmer. They may have been the males. They would eat live black worms to the point where they would appear ready to burst, especially the larger fish(females?).
I recently traded them in along with many other non breeding fish to maximize my available space for the fish I breed but they remain one of my favorite catfish. Weirdest fish one can get for the money.

I must admit I am VERY fond of this little guy! Hes become a very special member of the family here.

I wish I could see him eat though! The bettas beat him to the blood worms much of the time. And I always make a point of poking some food around the area he rests during the lighter hours.
I generally drop the shrimp pellets in after I turn the lights out at night.
I would luv to get another banjo if buddies would make him a happier fish. But from what I have read they seem to do well by themselves. Unless someone here is willing to educate me otherwise.
Appreciate the advice.

I bought 3 myself, and have them housed with some Zebra Danios. Until recently they were hanging out by themselves. But, now I see two of them hanging out together. Honestly, I'm hoping this is mating behavior.

As far as eating goes, I feed mine sinking carnivore pellets. Drop it in front of their noses, and they will go to town for you. It's very cool to watch.

The torn fin is not finrot, it is a tear - how it became torn though i do not know as the tankmates are quite peaceful.

Banjos can be kept individually or in groups with little or no aggro but unlike some other cats, they don't really need to be kept in small groups.

You could try leaving the lights off for a good while to relax the other fish & carefully feeding the bloodworms towardss the end of the evening while you watch. They do feed in the day with lights on, so it's just a metter of time

Will try that this evening for sure!

Thanx again! Will just keep an eye on him and make certain there is no health issues as far as that 'white spot' goes. And also as far as the torn fin goes.

Keep us posted on the progress

Welcome to Planet Catfish. I'm a "Banjo-phile" too. There are times when I wonder if they're still in the tank. Other times, they come out to play and do all sorts of crazy things your friends will never believe. A suggestion for you, at some point in time, would be to move these loves to a tank with sand as a substrate. Another thing that is natural to them is leaves that have fallen into the water, i.e. leaf litter. If you do a search on this site, you'll find a number of ways to do this(as well as the sand substrate). It's a real treat watching them go under the substrate. Right now, I can see one tail and a snout and a tail. The two tails are overlapping. They've both just shed and the tanks was quite full of their skin hanging off of the plants. Sometimes they can get bubbly things on their skin and their eyes can get milky just before they shed. Sometimes I've noticed an increase of activity and appetite, too.
Amanda

bronzefry wrote:Welcome to Planet Catfish. I'm a "Banjo-phile" too. There are times when I wonder if they're still in the tank. Other times, they come out to play and do all sorts of crazy things your friends will never believe. A suggestion for you, at some point in time, would be to move these loves to a tank with sand as a substrate. Another thing that is natural to them is leaves that have fallen into the water, i.e. leaf litter. If you do a search on this site, you'll find a number of ways to do this(as well as the sand substrate). It's a real treat watching them go under the substrate. Right now, I can see one tail and a snout and a tail. The two tails are overlapping. They've both just shed and the tanks was quite full of their skin hanging off of the plants. Sometimes they can get bubbly things on their skin and their eyes can get milky just before they shed. Sometimes I've noticed an increase of activity and appetite, too.
Amanda

Well hello to you! And thanks again for all the help and info

When I first got Quincy - he had been in a tank for a couple of years that actually had similar gravel to mine and the guy told me he would do fine. Now I feel bad that poor Quincy is probably just 'settling for second best!"
I do have Indian Almond Leaves availbale here already and was putting them in that tank, but they would get all slimy and nasty after a week. I would switch them out each WC and the female bettas LUVED hangin out under them as they float for a few dayas then drop to the bottom. Wouldnt this type of leaf litter polute the tank? If there is a direct link to the article you were referring to Id luv for someone to post it up. Thanx!!

I am afraid I dont have the available room here at home to get another tank running. The only thing would be to switch out my current gravel and change to sand in the 26 G. There is something unusual going on with this tank as my platies have come down with some type of illness and after medicating with all types of treatments for weeks I frankly dont know what else the problem could be with them.
Its not a water quality issue here either. I am at a loss. But thats for another section of the forum Quincy has lived thru it all.

I didnt know they shed!! Well he is noticibly more active then usual. But then again Ive been wathcing him more closely too.
I DID manage to catch him scooping up a shrimp pellet last night. FUN to watch him do that. He actually beat one of the bettas to it.

And one more shot of him as of last night while he was out and about. He seems to hang around this fake plant a LOT.

No worries at all! There is no "second best" when the fish is thriving! I'm sorry if I made it sound that way. I was just referring to their natural habitat(leaf litter in a soft, gushy bottom of the river). As long as they have plenty of places to hide out(they scare quite easily) and clean water, they'll be just fine. What ever way is easiest for you to accomplish this is the best way.
Amanda
(really nice photo)

You should find your banjo cats will do much better with a finer substrate, the gravel shown in the photos looks quite coarse and banjo cats like to bury down amongst substrate iv found sand is best

Soft finer sands are best for Banjos rather than gravel because they will burrow in gravel and can get scrapes.

Want to see them eat? Easy. Just pick one up and move it around like a vacuum cleaner to pieces of food and they will suck them up even while being held. I used to do that all the time with my first Banjo Cat as a kid. It is actually fun thing to do.

apistomaster wrote: Want to see them eat? Easy. Just pick one up and move it around like a vacuum cleaner to pieces of food and they will suck them up even while being held. I used to do that all the time with my first Banjo Cat as a kid. It is actually fun thing to do.

Now thats darn funny.