PlanetCatfish.com

Hi,
I have a Oxydoras niger or Common Name(s), Mother of Snails Catfish, Black Talking Catfish, Ripsaw Catfish ...

He is aprox. 6 years old. His name is Sylvestor (the cat fish). When I bought him, he was just a tiny litty guy of about 2". He is now aprx. 2ft. I have just recently taught him to eat out of my hand and it is the neatest thing!!!

I also have 2 placo's. They are both aprx 6" and about the same age as Sylvestor. They all get along great... 1 is a red eyed (named Casper) and the other is a "common" named George (he just looks like a George... no offense to people named George... lol).

I am a animal lover and have had many different "critters". I also have a Albino Indian/Burmese Python who's name is Lightnin and he is 13 years old and a sweetheart! I had an Iguana who lived to be 12 (he died 2 years ago and was a fantastic friend). And I have a cute funny looking, itty bitty cat named Gabrielle who is my guardian angel.

Hello Lizzardlaydee
And Welcome to Planet Catfish..

I used to look after 2
and I used to feed these by hand too, I have to admit they are my favorite large catfish. I would always leave their feeding until every thing else had been fed, then spend some small amount of time relaxing whilst I fed them.


I used to call mine Jay & Edgar

Hi Medaka,

I'm currently feeding Slyvestor shrimp pellets. I've offered him lettuce (attached to a rock), but he really didn't want anything to do with it. He really likes the shrimp pellets would like to be able to offer him a varity of food. What sort of food did you offer Jay & Edgar? This is my first Oxydoras niger and would like him to stay as healthy as possible. I've currently got him in a 55gal but have been told he will still get much bigger and will need to move him to a larger tank. Do you know how long (aprx) they live? (or anyone out there) I've read they can grow to aprx 6ft also. He (or she...not sure), is a wonderful little guy who now will swim back and forth then go to the area in which I feed him, to tell me he's hungry. I've also noticed a problem with my tank turning green very quickly now... aside from frequent partial water changes, any suggestions? I have 2 power filters in the tank that are each in their own capable of cleaning 1 55gal tank, but still the water turns green. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

lettuce is more suited for a big Pleco or Panaque (wich accidentically make excellent tankmates for a niger; cleaning up after this messy fish)

if the water's green, you should do more waterexchanges! it's the nutrients (read: niger poop) that gives the unicellular algae (aka green water) a foothold. it also means the filtration and bacterial culture in your tank is doing fine, because those algae thrive on nitrate wich is the final product of a smooth running bioload/biofilter (the endproduct of nitrite and ammonia, wich you don't want in your tank).

good food for a niger is messy food. think about mysis, bloodworms, white mosquitolarvae, tubifex, small earthworms, gammarus, daphnia etc.
and ofcourse: snails! nigers really like snails, if you know a fellow fishkeeper with a snail-plague on his hands, you're homefree.

granulated food wich sinks but doesn't swell much is also excellent! there are several brands of food wich look like 'coffee powder' and sink. food like that is excellent for catfish. my large Syno's for example go out of their way on Sturgeon-food......

if it gets bigger (what's the size now?) chopped unpeeled shrimp, earthworms etc can be added to the diet. and ofcourse several brands of granules, pellets etc.
you might want to check out food suited for Koi Carps and Sturgeons, readily available in shops wich sell pond-stuff.

still, the niger is more a 'vacuumcleaner' than a true carnivore, so food should be small in size and large in portions.

hence the messy feeding.

Thank you so much for all the info!!! Appreciate any/all tips I can get. Lizzardlaydee

What sort of food did you offer Jay & Edgar?

Sidguppy has about covered everything, and I havnt got anything to add about what to feed, only my two loved floating koi foodsticks.
to answer a couple of the points you have raised

Do you know how long (aprx) they live?

The two I looked after had previously been about 4 years of age prior to that, after a year they were moved on to Edinburgh aquarium, that was about 6/7 years ago..I believe they still have them. So they may be 12 years of age or so. But it is hard to say what a fish's natural life span is.
(off topic slightly, but coelacanth feel free to correct me on this, Didnt your aquarium have a piranha that died recently aged 20)?

I've read they can grow to aprx 6ft also.

The ones I looked after were about 30 inches SL. I have heard that 3 foot ones can be found, but I havnt seen any bigger.

I have 2 power filters in the tank that are each in their own capable of cleaning 1 55gal tank, but still the water turns green. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Very Happy

Sidguppy has also covered this, but there's a nice article in shanes world on , Filtration

I'd just like to send out a thanx to all re: my Catfish... I'm a big animal lover and just want the best care for him/her. Thanks again!
Liz