Ripsaw catfish

Oxydoras niger

Also known as Black doradid, Ripsaw doradid, Niger catfish

FreshwaterFish

Ripsaw catfish (Oxydoras niger) — Cangadoba · CC BY-SA 4.0

Care at a glance

Temperature: 72–82°F (22–28°C)
pH: 6.0–7.5
Adult size: 39.4 in (100 cm)
Minimum tank: 396 gal (1,500 L)
Temperament: Peaceful
Social behavior: Social
Swim level: Bottom
Difficulty: Difficult
Breeding: No record
Rarity: Rare
Origin: Native to the Amazon and Orinoco river basins of South America.
Family: Doradidae

Overview

This is a true gentle giant: it reaches a meter but is peaceful and will happily share a tank with other large fish, since it does not hunt tankmates it cannot easily swallow. The catch is the size, so it needs a tank of at least 1500 liters, really a pond or a very large custom build, and it lives for decades. Feed sinking pellets, frozen foods, vegetables, and the occasional meaty treat over a sandy bottom it can root through. Handle only with great care because of the razor-edged scutes.

In the wild

The ripsaw catfish is a giant Amazon and Orinoco doradid that roams the bottom of large rivers and flooded areas, sifting sand and detritus for food. Despite its size and armor it is a gentle, slow-moving forager. Give it a very large tank with a soft sandy floor it can sift, driftwood, and open space, with soft to neutral water at 22 to 28 degrees C.

Good to know

Oxydoras niger grows to about 100 cm and up to 13 kg, making it one of the largest thorny catfish, protected by a row of sharp bony scutes down each flank that give it the ripsaw name. It is largely a detritivore and micro-predator, sifting the substrate rather than hunting fish. Like other doradids it can produce audible sounds with its fins and swim bladder.

Did you know

For all its bulk and armor, the ripsaw is a mild-mannered sand-sifter that gets along with almost anything too big to fit in its mouth, which is rare among meter-long catfish.