lichens in the tank: good or bad?

[mellowvision]

I collected a lichen sample off a tree stump... took a piece of bark with lichens attached. I was thinking of using them in a few spots in my paludarium, above the water line of course, but have reservations and haven't seen them in a paludarium before.

does anyone have any experience?

I found a good primer on wikipedia...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lichen

and here is a picture of the type I found, along with the link it's from:

http://dereila.ca/woods/page3.html

 

[mellowvision]

my primary concerns are toxicity and spore droppings in the water. I already know it doesn't do well when kept wet, so it would be used in the air, away from water... but it would be impossible to avoid some contamination.

 

[Siren]

I don't think the spores would be an issue any worse than pollen from a flowering plant in your viv. Since lichens are an algae/fungi symbiotic species, I don't think you need to worry about them hurting much of anything other than the medium that they are growing on. Remember that they are decomposers, so eventually, if the tank is up for a long time, the wood may become eaten away and need to be replaced.

If grown on the right medium, I think lichens would add some texture. Especially since it isn't bright green, it will stand out a little more dramatically.

I use bearded lichens in my skink tank and it seems to be doing fine growing on the coconut husk I have in there. It grows REALLY Slow, though

 

[mellowvision]

skink tank?

guess the spore issue: haven't seen any info about how lichens act once they find themselves submerged. if spores did become active in the water, and I had a lot of algae, it seems possible the lichens could spread rapidly, if inclined to do so in water. also then, would the fish eat the lichens? would this make them ill? less likely to eat the algae they are meant to eat?

also, not all lichens, including the ones I sampled, are decomposers, it seems that some simple rest on the host, without taking anything from it. these get their nutrients in other ways.... not sure if I know the ways, lol, but the link I read last night had more info.

then I also came across photos of lichens in natural habitats, and they don't seem to form near waterways as much as in pine forest type environments, deserts etc... and I found my sample inland as well... making me wonder if it will just slowly die and rot in the always humid enviornment.

 

[Siren]

Five lined skink: http://www.shawnolson.net/a/1295/five-lined-skink.html

Just got him this spring. He's going to eventually be part of my 75g viv in my living room.

 

[mellowvision]

cool. does he swim?

 

[Siren]

He doesn't have a pool yet, so I am not sure if he will. I know that most lizards can swim but, whether he does it voluntarily or not, I don't know

 

[mellowvision]

gotcha. they're pretty big! what do they eat?

 

[Siren]

He's only about the size of my hand. He's long and skinny with little bitty arms and legs. Eats crickets and other small bugs. Mine is still a juvenile, so he's still got a blue tail. When he's an adult, he'll only be a little bigger than a common anole.