# Plants for Vivarium/Frog tank for my wife



## duzzy (Feb 9, 2008)

Hi there,

I am building my wife a frog vivarium and was wondering what low light plants grow out of the water and will the water mosses live out of the water in a very humid environment? and will anubias live if thier leaves are out of the water? any others would be great

Regards Darren


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## Rob Tetrazona (Jun 21, 2005)

This link might be helpful...

http://www.brianstropicals.com/building.html


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## davemonkey (Mar 29, 2008)

Definitely check out the link NeonRob posted. 

Other plants you can try are most low-light tropicals or sub-tropicals (depending on what lighting you plan on using). These include various Bromeliads, Spathiphylums, or even certain climbing Philodendrons. You could even use Epipremnun (pothos) in a raised area that does not stay too wet (out of the water and only receives moisture when you apply it) as an over-hang.

One main limiting factor on alot of these plants will be space. It would be a good idea to look up some species of these plants that remain small or can be easily trimmed to maintain a certain size.


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## Robert Hudson (Feb 5, 2004)

If it is very humid, Anubias will grow in soil, shallow water, or even on wood. Marsilea, (aquatic fourleaf clover) will grow as well. It is actually a fern. The key to growing plants in soil in a vivarium is soil drainage. If you allow water to simply sit in soil, eventually it will foul and the plants will die. It will smell horrible. To avoid this, you put a few inches of gravel, or ceramic beads, something to that affect underneath the soil. The water runs through the soil and collects under the gravel. The plant roots will reach the gravel and the water. People do the same thing with potted house plants. The pots usually have either rocks, vermiculite or perlite at the bottom and holes in the pot so the water can drain out.

People usually cover the soil in a vivarium with dry moss or lichen to prevent the frogs or whatever other animals from getting soil stuck to their bodies and feet. They will track the soil into the food and water dishes and really create a mess. This bedding is just to protect the animals and keep moisture in the soil. You can still grow live moss in other areas or whatever.

Aquatic mosses in our hobby should grow in a humid terrarium just fine. This malaysian driftwood I have that has a nice dark red color looks great with the moss I have growing on it.


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## marshall02 (Nov 29, 2010)

There are few things which make a vivariums setting look more instantly natural than the addition of a few well chosen plants. Well times have changed and we're so settled down that it was finally time to get back into frogs! No more big snakes, random animals I adopted, etc. This time I am concentrating strictly on frogs.


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