Oxydoras niger VS Megalodoras irwini, pls help!

[jiapei]

planning to add another bottom cleaner, Oxydoras niger VS Megalodoras irwini , which one is better at doing that cleaning work?
any experience/info would be appreciated!!

[grokefish]

How big is your tank?
Oxydoras and megladoras like to be kept in at least pairs.
By the way, neither are "Bottom cleaners" they both eat an extraordinary amount of food, if enough of which does not reach the bottom, they will come to the surface and take it from there, they will out compete everything for food once they are 6" and above.
Your message isn't clear as to whether you have already one of these in your aquarium, so I don't mean to patronize, but I , along with a few other regulars on this site have a lot of experience with both of these fish and they are not something to get based on a decision of which is the "Best cleaner".
However if you have a tank that is 6.5' and above long, at least 2' high, preferably 3', and at least 3' wide (bigger is obviously better) they are both really cool and fab fish to keep. Once they get over about 9"-10" they will come out all day and rootle around in the substrate.
I am telling you this because I didn't gain my experience and knowledge of these fish from an alien abduction and brain washing event, I learned it the hard way from keeping them, without knowing how big they would grow and having to upgrade tank sizes and buy loads of food at a time of my life when that money could have been better spent on something else, like food for myself.
Some tips for making life easier on the pocket:-
They both eat aquatic snails
They both eat garden worms
They both love to eat peas
They both eat and in fact love frozen prawns (from the supermarket not the LFS)

So grow some snails in a pond/ large bucket out the back garden/ window sill
Dig up your garden for worms (if you have one) dig up someone else's if you don't, put them in a tub of dry cut grass to remove all the slime
Plant some peas in the hole you dug.
Go to the supermarket and pick up some cheap frozen prawns.

Supplement this diet with lots of catfish tabs or floating sticks (I have found they like Tetra Doromin and it doesn't foul up the water much) when they are fully grown expect to feed them at least a tub of this a week (I don't know where you are based but that is about £10 a week). I tried using a food developed for feeding up farm fish which I could get tax free but it fouled the water in double quick time.

When they are big run two big, huge filters on the tank/pond in case one goes down.
Don't expect any shops or aquariums to take them back when they are big, it's not going to happen.

I really worry for these particular species as a Local fish store in my area has recently sold about 20 of each of these species (at 2" long) and I Know there are not that many huge tanks in the catchment area of that shop, there are going to be lots of abused and unwanted big catfish around in about two years.

Oxydoras Niger grow alot faster than megladoras if that helps in any way and are better "cleaners" as they really dig in and turn over the substrate (use silver sand) exactly like giant corydoras
Which brings me to another point, decor.
When they are big, neither really need any decor in the tank, and will just knock it around the place which is bad news if there are rocks/bogwood in a glass tank, invest in an acrylic one, a sandy substrate and a shaded area is suitable. Expect to clean your filter more often than normal as it will be full of sand kicked up by them. Use pond filters with solids handing pumps or a sump in combination with a weir section in your tank for best results. Forget plants unless they are floating and be prepared to be kept awake with their rumbling ~(they are giant talking cats after all), it's worth all the effort/ money just to hear this, it is amazing.

Please don't take this as an attack on your knowledge and experience, because I don't know you from Adam, you could have a tank the size of my house for all I know, but if you don't, consider carefully whether you have the resources and commitment to keep either of these giant species and if the answer to both isn't immediately "yes" then leave it until you can.
Thank you for reading my rant. Good Luck! if you put the effort in they are fab fish to keep, just watch out for the spines, on a fully grown megladoras they are formidable defence weapons.
Matt

[Bas Pels]

An alternative which worked for me are Platydoras - or fish looking that way

I don't see them every day, dut they eat nicely, I have them some 13 years by now, and they have always sheared theit tank with Central American cichlids. I never saw any evidence of any fish bothering them, or the other way around

I only, once missed some 30 male pltyfish one morning

they are near 20 cm, or 8 inches, and now in a 270 cm tank, that is 9 feet

[jiapei]

wow, very thorough info, bro!
well, guessing i didnt make it clear, i want a "bottom cleaner" who will eat those surplus food left by my asian arowana, not those algae eaters (pleco) that i already have.
i am now keeping a pair of Synodontis eupterus as bottom cleaners, but they cant grow big enough to survive in my tank, as i am keeping bichirs with arowana also, those bottom dwelling monsters grow really large, and the synodontis eupterus will finally become feeder fish..
the tank is big enough, so could you tell me which one would do that cleaning job better?

How big is your tank?
Oxydoras and megladoras like to be kept in at least pairs.
By the way, neither are "Bottom cleaners" they both eat an extraordinary amount of food, if enough of which does not reach the bottom, they will come to the surface and take it from there, they will out compete everything for food once they are 6" and above.
Your message isn't clear as to whether you have already one of these in your aquarium, so I don't mean to patronize, but I , along with a few other regulars on this site have a lot of experience with both of these fish and they are not something to get based on a decision of which is the "Best cleaner".
However if you have a tank that is 6.5' and above long, at least 2' high, preferably 3', and at least 3' wide (bigger is obviously better) they are both really cool and fab fish to keep. Once they get over about 9"-10" they will come out all day and rootle around in the substrate.
I am telling you this because I didn't gain my experience and knowledge of these fish from an alien abduction and brain washing event, I learned it the hard way from keeping them, without knowing how big they would grow and having to upgrade tank sizes and buy loads of food at a time of my life when that money could have been better spent on something else, like food for myself.
Some tips for making life easier on the pocket:-
They both eat aquatic snails
They both eat garden worms
They both love to eat peas
They both eat and in fact love frozen prawns (from the supermarket not the LFS)

So grow some snails in a pond/ large bucket out the back garden/ window sill
Dig up your garden for worms (if you have one) dig up someone else's if you don't, put them in a tub of dry cut grass to remove all the slime
Plant some peas in the hole you dug.
Go to the supermarket and pick up some cheap frozen prawns.

Supplement this diet with lots of catfish tabs or floating sticks (I have found they like Tetra Doromin and it doesn't foul up the water much) when they are fully grown expect to feed them at least a tub of this a week (I don't know where you are based but that is about £10 a week). I tried using a food developed for feeding up farm fish which I could get tax free but it fouled the water in double quick time.

When they are big run two big, huge filters on the tank/pond in case one goes down.
Don't expect any shops or aquariums to take them back when they are big, it's not going to happen.

I really worry for these particular species as a Local fish store in my area has recently sold about 20 of each of these species (at 2" long) and I Know there are not that many huge tanks in the catchment area of that shop, there are going to be lots of abused and unwanted big catfish around in about two years.

Oxydoras Niger grow alot faster than megladoras if that helps in any way and are better "cleaners" as they really dig in and turn over the substrate (use silver sand) exactly like giant corydoras
Which brings me to another point, decor.
When they are big, neither really need any decor in the tank, and will just knock it around the place which is bad news if there are rocks/bogwood in a glass tank, invest in an acrylic one, a sandy substrate and a shaded area is suitable. Expect to clean your filter more often than normal as it will be full of sand kicked up by them. Use pond filters with solids handing pumps or a sump in combination with a weir section in your tank for best results. Forget plants unless they are floating and be prepared to be kept awake with their rumbling ~(they are giant talking cats after all), it's worth all the effort/ money just to hear this, it is amazing.

Please don't take this as an attack on your knowledge and experience, because I don't know you from Adam, you could have a tank the size of my house for all I know, but if you don't, consider carefully whether you have the resources and commitment to keep either of these giant species and if the answer to both isn't immediately "yes" then leave it until you can.
Thank you for reading my rant. Good Luck! if you put the effort in they are fab fish to keep, just watch out for the spines, on a fully grown megladoras they are formidable defence weapons.
Matt

[grokefish]

oxydoras keep two of them.
Matt

[TheFishGuy]

I like how the tank size question never really got answered... LOL

[Djthomas]

I have an awesome Ozydoras niger. I have had him almost a year and he is around 10 inches long. This is got to be the laziest fish I have ever seen. he is a vacumme cleaner when it comes to eating, but he sucks the food to him. I rarely see him out and about at night, however he will let me pick him up and hold him. He has a couple of Brown Bullheads whom he is very protective of. Yes I know this fish will grow to 3+ feet, but he is a great addition to any collection.

[Richard B]

What will eat the syno? It is not an easy meal for any fish. You could opt for a bigger syno like acanthomias...

[Jools]

I like how the tank size question never really got answered... LOL

Yeah, I thought that too.

Jools

[sidguppy]

same here

I think adult Megalodoras could be kept properly in a tank that's as large or preferably larger than, say 2,5m x 1m, but that's on the very end of how small you can get away with.

i know of someone who keeps a small number together in a tank that's 3,5m x 1 m.
they grow very very slowly

however, Oxydoras gets twice as large in bulk and 1.5 as large in length and width!
when fully mture it should need a tank of at least 4 x 2m or a huge pond

and unfortunately Oxydoras doesn't grow slow at all; when you buy a 6" youngster you'll face a 2 feet or larger fish with the bulk of a fully grown Koi carp within 2 years.......


i have a very strong suspicion that in this case there's no such tank at all, or the owner would have proudly displayed it here with a few nice pictures.

these days one can even use a telephone (!) to make pictures with.
imagine that......

if someone told me that in in the 80's: i'd retord that he or she needed the head examined and layoff the weed for a while

[Viktor Jarikov]

Matt (grokefish) and others: thank you much for the ed - very, very nice for my benefit anyway!! Your help, care, and expertise you share so freely are both invaluable and admirable. On the down side, I do not have a good feeling about the entitled endeavor either (based on several signs; offering strong Euptera carrying 3 sharp serrated spikes for eating is not the least of them; also Matt clearly answered the initial question in his first post, which apparently was missed by the requester), but maybe we all are just being negative - e.g., we all started somewhere too (BTW this is coming from a greenhorn novice, i.e., me). I like Richard B.'s diplomatic attempt

[robb harriston]

all of the info is clearly on the money.i love my oxy "mr. snuffleupagus" as my grand daughter calls him.he is the center of attention in my biotope tank. he hides in his large sewer pipe until the algae wafers hit the water, then the show begins. he really identifies with us and is a family pet in every sense of the word.he takes prawns,earthworms,and any thing else we offer him right from our hands. he definetly gets a "10" for cool points.wouldnt trade him for anything.highly recommended!!!but dont skimp on the water changes.

[RickE]

he definetly gets a "10" for cool points.wouldnt trade him for anything.highly recommended!!!but dont skimp on the water changes.

Whatever happened to the Planet Catfish Coolwall thread?

[Jools]

Whatever happened to the Planet Catfish Coolwall thread?

It turned out that it wasn't very inclusive and that an awful lot of catfishes are very cool indeed. Feel free to bump it, but I let it fade.

Jools

[grokefish]

I like how the tank size question never really got answered... LOL

Thats why my second post was so short.

[Viktor Jarikov]

Despite Groke's most wonderful and helpful post, I wonder if jiapei found our community not worthy of his/her involvement... I wonder why...

... and I do hope I am wrong.