# Golden Tegu enclosure with fish aquarium?



## TokingLizard (May 7, 2012)

Hi all, 
so im kinda new to this forum, but ive checked everywhere and there doesnt seem to be much info when it comes to golden tegus and fish coexisting in one tank. I have seen quite a number of CWD (chinese water dragon) enclosures where they fill the bottom of the tank with water, fishes, snails, etc and have the 'lizard area' above the water. So basically, i want to know if it is possible to do the same with my pair of golden tegus.

So i should probably give yall some info on my lizards/existing enclosure, plus explain my 'new' tank idea.

I have 2 golden tegus, male and female, the male is about 2 1/2 feet long now and the female is much smaller, about 1 3/4-2 feet long. I have them in a 125 gallon tank right now (6'Lx2'Hx18"W) and looks like this;


















Now the pond they have now is about 12gallons large, has a heater, a submersible turtle filter (rated to 15g) and now has fish (platys) and live grasses living in it. The female loves to swim in it, and although he tries, the male is too large to swim around in it. So, i want to fill the bottom 8-10" of my tank with water and construct cedar deck-like platforms for the lizards to live on, and a 2' wooden extension for the top of the cage with acrylic sliding doors, etc. This would give them a 6'x18" 40-50gallon 'river' to swim in without any major obstacles. I figure it'll look something like this;










It'll have 3 Lights for the lizards (2x 160W ExoTerra Solar Glos and a 100W basking bulb for the top platform), 2 lights for the aquarium (2x 24" florescent bulbs), 2 large platforms with ramps for the tegus to walk on and 1 smaller/higher platform for basking, 1 big hide (17"x12"x6-7") and 1 small hide (17"x10"x4-5") and filters/heaters/hides for the aquarium

Now i've done research on the web and found that GTs come from the amazon (which houses the longest freshwater river in the world) and they're long/large tails allow them to move easily through water, my female will even hold her breathe for 5+ minutes underwater in her pond sometimes. This leads me to believe that they would embrace having such a large body of water and use it daily. Although, i have a few issues i need to work out in order to make this idea come to life, they are;

*Substrate*
-my GTs are on a cyprus substrate right now and enjoy burying in it, but i do not want to use the cyprus in the new tank because it will fall into the water, is it healthy for my tegus to be solely on platforms constructed of cedar wood? will they're hides be enough to please their want to bury? 
-i see most full-grown tegus (B&W, red and golden) do not bury themselves anymore, do they grow out of this phase as they grow older?

*Filtration*
-should i use a canister filter, multiple turtle filters?
-how do i control ammonia+nitrate level fluctuations in the tank due to lizard poop?

*Fish Aquarium Maintenance*
-will any of the chemicals needed to keep the aquarium healthy be harmful to the tegus?
-will the tank be able to cycle with the lizards pooping in it?

*Fish Aquarium Lighting*
-Where to install the lights? I was thinking either attach them to the back of the tank facing inwards or to the bottom of the 2 lower platforms (2x 24" florescent lights)
-Would side-mounted lights be harmfull or unhealthy for the fish? and will they glow the live plants

*Fish Aquarium Inhabitants*
-What species of fish are hearty enough to live in the tank?
-What kind of live plants are suitable?
-would snails, plecos or shrimp help deal the larger waste matter from lizards?

*Temperature/Humitity*
-with such a large body of water underneith them, will i be able to maintain proper temperature for the tegus as well as the fish at the same time?
-Will it be humid enough in the tank without a substrate to hold it in?

*Any help, advice or caution yall can give me would be much appreciated!
Thanks!
*
*Ben*


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## TokingLizard (May 7, 2012)

anyone?..


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## my_shed (Jan 5, 2011)

Its a bit of a specialized question mate, you may struggle for an answer as few people have anything that elaborate. A few things I've picked up from other places.......

Fish and reps, individually easy, together difficult. As you noted, keeping the water healthy is a nightmare, finding hardy enough fish is equally difficult.

Lighting, you will need to prevent the lizards from being able to look horizontally at the lights, as it's not great for their eyes. 

Substrate, if they're exhibiting burrowing behaviour you will ideally need to continue to provide an area they can fulfil this. It would be doable by putting in a shelf across the whole width of the tank and having a deep layer on it, with a deep edge and spot cleaning bits that fall in the water.

Humidity will be high with such a large area of open water, higher than if it was covered in substrate.

Temperature should be manageable provided correct basking spots, ventilation, etc is in place.

Filtration will require a canister filter as a minimum.

For more info you may want to look at some of the American sites.....I've read a few that were written and they really push the boat out and it goes into a helluva lot of detail about the fishkeeping side of it.

The way to look at it is that you're trying to bring together three different habitats in one place, i.e. fish, tegu, and underwater plants. Alll have different requirements and different problems. 

However, I imagine that if you can bring all these elements together successfully it would be an amazing achievement

Dave


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## TokingLizard (May 7, 2012)

Thanks Dave, 

i was thinking about making the middle level the substrate level, as you described, maybe have a 2" lip that can hold some substrate for them to burrow in at night, etc. 

And as for the lights, they would be below the water line, so would that be okay? or will it shine in the lizards eyes when they swim underwater?

BTW thanks for all the advice!


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## my_shed (Jan 5, 2011)

If they're below the waterline then i'd imagine the water would reduce the effects, and short exposure is probably not much of a problem. However, it may magnify it, i'm really not sure  

2" doesn't sound thick enough, would you not need a bit deeper?


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## TokingLizard (May 7, 2012)

possibly, i was also thinking of building the hides to hold some substrate so they can bury when they want to sleep


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