Containing the plant life in a pond, or any other body of water is quite critical. Why is this you say? Simple, because for some reason or another, you have decided that you don’t want it to be there. No matter if these plants have create a type of nuisance for swimmers, or have just simply stopped up the motor on your favorite motorboat, you wish them gone, and there are several methods of doing it.
Naturally you can utilize chemicals, plastic lining, freezing, manual pulling, or perhaps even dye, but all of those are fairly inconvenient, and there’s no promise that your pond, or fish, would actually be the same again following such an effort. So it is time to look into different means—methods which won’t damage you OR the pond.
In 1963, a brand new fish was placed in the U.S. ecological, and this fish was called the Grass Carp. It was deliberately integrated into our ecosystem for the simple purpose of eradicating aquatic plant life, and thus far it’s lived up to it’s reputation. Within the United States, the Grass Carp is commonly referred to as the White Amur, presumably because the word Carp has negative interpretations here in the U.S., and the name “Amur” is a reference to the river which the fish originates from, the river which runs the border between China and Russia.
The Grass Carp, is what’s known as an invasive species, meaning that it will reproduce and take over any ecosystem that it is introduced in (similar to humans), but fortunately science has come a long way, and though it took some time, as well as a lot of gene manipulation, sterilizing the Grass Carp finally became standard everywhere in the world so that it’s integration doesn’t harm or eradicate the ecosystem.
An additional detail to take into account, is that the Grass Carp does not eat every kind of grass, of course it enjoys plants, and would eat the vast majority of it, but as humans, there are things that it prefers more than others. A few of the things which the Grass Carp does enjoy, are:
Coontail
Spikerush
Smartweed
Bladderwort
Bulrush
Water hyssop
Eelgrass
There’s several additional grasses, and a quick trip to the library, a web search, or a consultation with an expert would immediately reveal the things a grass carp will eat.
When bought in bulk, Grass Carp is fairly inexpensive, at about $10-20 per fish, which is perfectly reasonable when you consider how long it will last; surviving for about 10-11 years.
In certain states, you’ll need to get a license before you place Grass Carp into any sort of water, even if it is your water. To find out if that’s necessary, speak with a game warden in your area, or just examine the regulations of the state, since this info is freely accessible to any person who needs it.
Clearly, Grass Carp are a great alternate means to using chemicals, or even lining the pond with a plastic cover, because not only are these great for ridding you of unwanted plant life, you should also remember that this is a symbiotic relationship, you give the thing that they want, and in return they give their services to you, preventing you from having to do it yourself. All in all, that’s a great trade.
