Banjo Catfish Coming Out During The Day?

I've had 2 banjo catfish for a couple months now and never saw them after the first day they went in but the other day they both came out of a cave and were topping eachother and swimming around in circles together is it possible they were mating or just looking for food, could they be sick or stressed out and that's why they were out during the day? Now I've been able to spot one buried in the substrate near the entrance of the cave on a regular basis. Any info is appreciated

 

Kinda sound like mating behavior! Mine never come out of the substrate during the day.

 

Thanks TexasDomer, is there anything I should do at this point invade they have mated

 

Reports of these guys successfully mating are rare. If you do see any eggs, I would pick them up and put them in another tank so they won't be eating.

 

Thank you is there any safe way to see if they've mated or should I let them be and hope for the best

 

My bad didn't see the new posts can I remove the rocks and wood that make up the cave to see or could that disrupt them too much

 

It would be a shame to disturb and stress them.

Why not see if they can do the job themselves this time?

I'd just aI'm to provide whatever help is needed, though I'd need to research to find that out. For example, what will the fry need to feed on?

 

From what I've read, they lay eggs on the substrate, not on the walls of caves.

 

I'll be extremely excited if they did breed but it seems unlikely that they would from what I read it sounds like you should get a lot of them to increase the chance of getting a pair and I only have two and there are so many plants in the tank right now I'm worried I'll pull everything up if I disturb the rocks and wood which would be a pain to replant if it's a false alarm on the other hand if there are eggs it will be worth it. what should I do?!?!

 

I wouldn't do anything unless you actually see eggs. Don't go searching and stressing them out for something that's probably not there It would be awesome if they actually did breed though! I have a group I'm trying to breed, and it's hard haha

 

That's Awesome I wish you luck, when I get my out of my apartment to a place that allows large tanks I want to set up a large species tank for them and dedicate the time to try breeding them, right now the two I have are sharing a 29 gallon with a whiptail catfish and my CPDs. Do you think doing a water change with cooler water to try to replicate the rain season would induce spawning or are you keeping the temp constant?

 

I do water changes with cooler water, yes, but since I don't stay up to watch them at night, I don't know if it's helping. I haven't seen any eggs, but I'm also not super positive I know what they look like haha