banjo=super predator?

S

snakeskinner

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Dec 27, 2003
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just wondering if any of you banjo owners have experienced losses of other fish? I started with my banjo in a 36 rock substrate with barbs, danio's, etc. I had a pair of cories and added 2 more soon after getting the banjo. after about a week I had 2 cories spastically swimming and buzzing across the water and died. one person mentioned to me this could be from getting hit by other fish but I never thought the banjo was the culprit. the banjo was moved to my 65 shortly after this so he could have a sand substrate. I had 13 ghost shrimp which all disappeared within a few days. a month or so later I was given a single algae eating shrimp and a pair of small dwarf neon tetras and they all disappeared the next day. then, 1 of my 3 cories in that tank came up tattered and dead and the other two had fins tattered and seemed to hide a lot more. I finally suspected the banjo and moved the cories out of there. one died in the new tank, the other is recovering fine. I moved the banjo out and back into the 36 last night and moved the 2 remaining cories in there to the 65. has anyone had similar experiences? the other tank inhabitants are multiple rainbow species, a 3" angel, 2 panchax, congo tetras and a bushynose pleco that was just added last week. there were also 4 otos which I'm not sure there is more than 1 left (could be hiding in plants). Kyle
 
Dang, man. Is this the banjo you are talking about? click here

If that is the same as yours, it might have picked off your shrimp at night, but I seriously doubt it would get a danio or tetra. I can't imagine it damaging fins of any fish, either. They are slow movers and most of the fish you have are too quick for a banjo cat.

I have had mine for a while and it barely moves except for night when it looks for food. Sometimes, if I fed it well the previous night, it won't move for a day or two. I used to have tons of guppy fry in the same tank as mine and I don't think it got any of those.

good luck
 
My thoughts are the same as Simon's. We stocked his banjos in the picture regularly and never had any aggression problems. How big is the one you have? Must be big after all that good eatin'.
 
that's the one. He's about 4" long. I wasn't losing tetras or barbs, my cories were the ones getting beat up. I did actually find an algae eating shrimp alive the other day in the tank he was in. He must be a darn good hider, it's been a good month or two since I've seen it. the banjo is back in the 36 with the barbs and danio's. I wasn't sure where he went but I spotted him last night behind some rocks so he's still around. I have one Notropis Texanis missing from my school but it could have been gone before I even added him and I havn't lost anymore. I try dropping shrimp pellets in the back of the aquarium where most of the fish avoid so hopefully he's finding food there. the banjo's can move a lot faster than you think when they want to. have you ever annoyed or spooked yours? they are faster than a pleco when they want to move. that jet propulsion works very well in their favor. they just tend to lumbar around most of the time if they move at all but I'm sure once the lights are out they're a different animal. One of the cories from the tank he was in is doing much better (the other died the same day) and his fins have grown back. I moved 2 other cories from the 36 (where he went) into the 65 (where he came from) and they have shown no signs of any damage so I'm almost positive he was the culprit because all the other fish stayed the same. time will tell me for sure but I'm pretty convinced. KYle
 
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