Ripsaw Catfish "Oxydoras Niger"
- Thread starter Tuda
- Start date
Hi.
I'm planning on getting a 180 gallon tank so now I want to know if a ripsaw will be OK in there - if I buy it at about 15 inches. I know it grows to a large size but....
I'm planning on getting a 180 gallon tank so now I want to know if a ripsaw will be OK in there - if I buy it at about 15 inches. I know it grows to a large size but....
Welcome to the MFK!
IMHO, 15" niger should not be housed in any tank that's 1.5' wide, nor 2' wide. 2' tank would be barely ok for a 1' niger for a few months.
IMHO, 15" niger should not be housed in any tank that's 1.5' wide, nor 2' wide. 2' tank would be barely ok for a 1' niger for a few months.
As a pharmacist, I store my oxy in the tank of course...
I’ve had oxy since he was about 6-7” when I ordered him from a fish place in NJ along with 2 silver Arowana. He cost $39 (plus shipping with the Aros) but was advertised as 4-5”
Both Aros reached 2ft each eventually but each perished shortly after reaching 2 ft.
Oxy on the other hand is just over 2years old now and is about 2.5ft.
I’ve got a 8x2.5x2.5 (375gal) tank and we noticed that oxy could touch front to back, nose to tail a few months ago.
He’s a wonderful guy, very docile, doesn’t chase anybody in the tank. Golden Algae eater ticks him off when he goes after his slime coat, but he gets along with the Siamese algae eaters who often hide under his left fin.
He’s mostly active at night and hangs out in front of the return nozzle, slowly swimming into the current, usually starting late afternoon. Sometimes you’ll see him doing the same during the day, but rarely for more than 15min.
He gets fed once daily, usually around 9-10pm and gets about an ounce of Hikari wheat germ pellets and sometimes some algae waters too. He used to get fed twice daily about 3x that amount, but got fat and lazy and the water parameters were hard to keep under control, so I dialed it back at the suggestion of the LFS. He’ll swim to the top to intercept the pellets, but they’re too small and he never catches them, so he immediately dives to the bottom to vacuum them up.
Lighting: used to have a lot of blue/white lighting to keep the plants alive when I had the aros, but after they passed, the plants slowly seemed to go as well. After the last of the plants died, the algae got problematic so I killed the lights for awhile. Tried growing water lettuce under red horticulture lights, but could never quite dial in the intensity/time correctly and they eventually went as well so back to keeping the tank unlit. Oxy didn’t seem to mind the lights, actually seeming to enjoy the blue lights only during the night. He has a cave large enough to hide in, but doesn’t stick his head in, but rather rests his head on the top of the cave entrance, except when the sun is setting as it cuts right through that spot and it’s pretty intense here in Phoenix.
Water parameters don’t seem to bother him much. High nitrates? Whatever, back to sleep. Missed water change? Meh. Acidic? Sure, why not.
Still, there’s just something awesome about him. Most people that visit are fascinated, especially if the get a close look at his face — the patterns look almost like tribal tattoos.
I’ve had oxy since he was about 6-7” when I ordered him from a fish place in NJ along with 2 silver Arowana. He cost $39 (plus shipping with the Aros) but was advertised as 4-5”
Both Aros reached 2ft each eventually but each perished shortly after reaching 2 ft.
Oxy on the other hand is just over 2years old now and is about 2.5ft.
I’ve got a 8x2.5x2.5 (375gal) tank and we noticed that oxy could touch front to back, nose to tail a few months ago.
He’s a wonderful guy, very docile, doesn’t chase anybody in the tank. Golden Algae eater ticks him off when he goes after his slime coat, but he gets along with the Siamese algae eaters who often hide under his left fin.
He’s mostly active at night and hangs out in front of the return nozzle, slowly swimming into the current, usually starting late afternoon. Sometimes you’ll see him doing the same during the day, but rarely for more than 15min.
He gets fed once daily, usually around 9-10pm and gets about an ounce of Hikari wheat germ pellets and sometimes some algae waters too. He used to get fed twice daily about 3x that amount, but got fat and lazy and the water parameters were hard to keep under control, so I dialed it back at the suggestion of the LFS. He’ll swim to the top to intercept the pellets, but they’re too small and he never catches them, so he immediately dives to the bottom to vacuum them up.
Lighting: used to have a lot of blue/white lighting to keep the plants alive when I had the aros, but after they passed, the plants slowly seemed to go as well. After the last of the plants died, the algae got problematic so I killed the lights for awhile. Tried growing water lettuce under red horticulture lights, but could never quite dial in the intensity/time correctly and they eventually went as well so back to keeping the tank unlit. Oxy didn’t seem to mind the lights, actually seeming to enjoy the blue lights only during the night. He has a cave large enough to hide in, but doesn’t stick his head in, but rather rests his head on the top of the cave entrance, except when the sun is setting as it cuts right through that spot and it’s pretty intense here in Phoenix.
Water parameters don’t seem to bother him much. High nitrates? Whatever, back to sleep. Missed water change? Meh. Acidic? Sure, why not.
Still, there’s just something awesome about him. Most people that visit are fascinated, especially if the get a close look at his face — the patterns look almost like tribal tattoos.
