# Help picking plants for a hot, wet Water Dragon enclosure



## corsair75 (Dec 21, 2011)

I am in the process of building a large enclosure for Chinese Water dragons, based on a 125g tank. I have most of the hardscape in place and as I get the lights installed, I would like to start adding the plants. I'd like the flora to be more or less settled in before I add lizards. If you're not familiar with Water Dragons, they are large semi-aquatic lizards. This enclosure is being designed as a 'forever home' for a pair of babies.

Here's a quick picture of the tank. It's drilled, with a 20L sump, a waterfall return in the big rock to the right, and a 900gph closed loop to produce a rough riverbank flow.










A plywood ring adds another foot of height, then a screen top that keeps the lizard away from the electrical equipment. Large doors will be added to the front.










You may have noticed the halides. It's a pair of 250W enclosures, though I doubt I'll use both at once. There is likely to be around 75-100W of various florescent lights as well for low light viewing. Temps are going to be in the upper 80s/lower 90s by day, and dripping wet humidity.

So I need to grow a jungle. The plan was to colonize the pool with Val for quick cover to keep the lights off the black substrate (and not cook the water). I know I want to plant anubias varieties pretty liberally growing emersed in and around the pool. Is that light going to be too much for them? Would a crypt be a better choice?

I am reading that Java Fern can be convinced to grow emersed. Does it need proper substrate, or does it grow as more of an air plant on rocks and wood? Given it's underwater behavior, it seems like you could stick it anywhere.

I'd like to use moss pretty liberally. I understand Java Moss can grow on the wetter areas like the waterfall. Any species that can periodically dry off in a humid environment? Something like frog moss?

Any other ideas on medium/large plants that would be happy in a swamp? Robust growers are a plus. Water Dragons don't tread lightly. They might even eat things like orchids.

Thanks!


----------



## asukawashere (Mar 11, 2009)

I know nothing about water dragons, so it's hard to say what they will or won't damage, but:

Most of the moss species in the hobby can be grown emersed and submersed alike, so those would be excellent choices. Certainly you can have your pick of the Vesicularia and Taxiphyllum species. Only a few moss genera, like Fontinalis, are obligate aquatics. Planting them in a well-drained but moist area isn't a problem.

I'd go for Crypts over Anubias, but that's a personal preference. Crypts will grow a little faster, but Anubias have tougher leaves. Both will thrive in a warm, humid environment, and unless you're putting them right next to the light fixtures, overexposure isn't likely to be a problem. Java fern is indeed also an option—it will attach to rocks and needs its rhizomes exposed wherever you grow it. In its native habitat, it's often found crawling up the sides of a waterfall, where the spray keeps the humidity high and it can attach itself to places where other plants have a hard time reaching. You might try the same in your setup.

If you're not particularly fixed on Asian species, sword plants are a good option. They're pretty sturdy, get big, and tend to have pretty big root systems, which goes a long way in anchoring them. Bog aroids like Spathiphyllum and the smaller varieties of Colocasia/Alocasia would be good large-foliage background fillers. You might want to go to a pond store sometime and look through their selection of marginal plants—most are fair game. Any of the non-hardy ones are likely to be from tropical swamps, and even temperate species have to tolerate 80- and 90-degree waters in the summer, though some are more likely to burn out without a cool season.

Actually, regardless of the lizards, orchids would present some difficulty—very few are tolerant of heat approaching the 90s.


----------



## corsair75 (Dec 21, 2011)

Thanks for the reply!

Water Dragons are not terribly destructive, though as omnivores they may sample anything particularly tasty. Flowers may be short lived. They're mostly just kind of clumsy and would dislodge smaller plants without strong roots. It will take the thing a year to get really big, but it will happen. I'll try some swords, I have a couple of spots that size.

I do have a lighting question. I was worried about both halides being too much, but is that a realistic concern? The fixtures are two feet above the water line, roughly. Should I just run them both? I have read about anubias et al withering under too intense of lighting, but I'm not familiar with the math on this large scale. I know with different bulbs these would grow a nice reef


----------



## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

Interesting project!

I think you are likely to need both metal halides, if only for even illumination over the length of the tank. There may be a "hot spot" under each one that is too intense for low-light species.

In my own much smaller, dimmer paludarium, anubias has done very well when planted submerged and allowed to grow above the surface gradually. You might try some of the larger species, like _A. gigantea, A. heterophylla, A. _x 'Fraseri' (The nomenclature on these is hopelessly confused.)

I've also had good luck with several varieties of Java fern, _Bolbitis heteroclita_, and the ever popular _Ficus pumila_. A plant that really surprised me is _Hydrocotyle tripartita_. This is a delicate-looking, viny little thing that started out as a floating mat. Like yours, my paludarium has lots of emersed wood. _H. tripartita _climbed right to the top of the wood, then started up the glass! I pull it out by the handfuls to keep it from smothering everything else.


----------



## asukawashere (Mar 11, 2009)

The only time Anubias are bothered by excessive light is if they're also in a lower humidity environment. I've exposed them to July sun and temps in the 100s in my greenhouse—which, while UV shielded, does nothing to stop any other spectrum of light. There was some initial damage around the edges of the leaves, but they bounced back quickly and thrived after they adjusted. Unless your MH bulbs are putting out a ton of UV light (in which case I'd worry more about that than whether your plants will be okay), your Anubias shouldn't have any problems.

I don't know what lizards find tasty, but many aroids are toxic to varying degrees, and they all contain mouth-irritating raphide crystals specifically to deter consumption. Most animals don't get poisoned because just a nibble or two is enough for them to learn to stay away.

I don't think I've ever heard of a toxic Echinodorus, but I've never heard of anyone/anything finding them particularly appetizing (except slugs. Slugs love swords).


----------



## Cavan Allen (Jul 22, 2004)

_Hydrocotyle leococephala_ would be good. I'd think it would grow fast enough to keep ahead of any munching.


----------



## corsair75 (Dec 21, 2011)

Single ended halides like these do produce UV radiation, but it is blocked by the glass on the bottom of the fixture. Double ended bulbs are internally shielded. fwiw, the enclosure will have UVB bulbs running. These are low intensity fluorescent lamps, however, needed by the lizard for calcium absorption.

As far as swords and palatability, I've seen otherwise well behaved plecos munch on them. I wasn't going on much more than that. I know that Anubias is thick and waxy enough that even cichlids don't like it. Java Fern seems equally immune to everything. Toxicity is a major concern. It rules out ornamental "bamboo" for instance. Too bad since I have some big nice ones in the sump.

As far as predation by the lizard, it's usually a challenge getting these guys to eat enough veggies anyway. As long as it's a fast grower, it would be great if he eats something. I think hydrocotyle varieties would be a great start. Even people eat that stuff. I know we have a native variety around here. A field expedition may be called for soon!

I should be able to finish the top this weekend. Then I can start blasting the halides and experimenting with strategies for heating and humidifying the enclosure. I want to use a float switch on the sump and top off the tank by making it rain inside the enclosure. I lose a little over a gallon a day, and I can think of a few fun ways to add it back in. I have horrible well water here, and this is my excuse to finally get a small RO. Even without the rain system, the front glass gets calcium deposits like nobody's business. There's also the matter of ducting the heat from the lights outside. I'm going to start a pool for how long it takes the cops to kick in my door over the lizard tank :mod:


----------



## asukawashere (Mar 11, 2009)

Plecos and swords are a bit of an oddity-it's _because_ swords are so sturdy that plecos munch on them. As we all know, plecos stick to things when they're rasping. In the case of most plants, the foliage is too delicate to hold the weight of the pleco, and the plec gets "dumped" off the leaf-and thus doesn't stay around around to eat it. A sword leaf, on the other hand, is strong enough to hold the weight of a pleco, which means that they've got a nice stable platform to sit on while they apply those wood-rasping jaws to whatever biofilm attracted them in the first place...and the leaf underneath. If Anubias didn't have those raphides, I've no doubt the plecos would use them as a launching platform as well (and cichlids would be all over them if it didn't make their mouths sting).

...I doubt, however, that that will be the case for your lizards.

Anyway, a little bit of UV exposure isn't going to do in any plants-they certainly get it in the wild-I was thinking more along the lines of intense, mid-day UVB levels that cause bad sunburns in people and plants alike.

If you're looking for safe, edible plants, Bacopa species are also worth considering. Seeing as they're known to enhance cognition and prevent mental degradation in humans, you may also end up with very smart lizards! The other benefit of Bacopa is that it thrives in full sunlight in the summer in Florida... meaning it's a good candidate for placing up top, closest to the lights. Limnophila is also edible.... and duckweed, can't forget duckweed. It'd have to be on the other side of the tank from the waterfall, though-duckweed hates flowing water. Persicaria species are either edible or at least non-toxic. Certain Hygrophila species are also edible, but others are very toxic, so I'd tend to shy away from that genus as a whole.

FWIW, I'm thoroughly convinced that the narc squad is going to show up on my doorstep one day trying to find my nonexistent pot farm.


----------

