Should You Use Grass Carp For Aquatic Weed Control?
Containing the aquatic plants in a pond, or in any other body of water is quite critical. Why you say? Simple, because for some reason or another, you’ve decided that you don’t want it there. Whether those plants have create a sort of hindrance for swimming children, or have just simply stopped up the motor on a favorite motorboat, you wish them to be gone, and there’s several methods of doing it.
Of course you can use chemical substances, plastic lining, freezing, manually pulling, or even dye, however those are fairly strenuous, and there’s no guarantee that your pond, or fish, would ever be the same again after these actions. So it’s about time to have a look at different methods—techniques which will not damage you OR your pond.
Around nineteen sixty-three, a brand new fish was introduced in to the U.S. ecological, and this fish was called the Grass Carp. It was purposefully integrated into our ecosystem for one reason of eliminating aquatic plants, and thus far it’s lived up to it’s reputation. Here in the US, A Grass Carp is commonly referred to as a White Amur, probably because of the fact that the word Carp holds negative meanings here in the U.S., and the name “Amur” refers to the river which this fish originates from, the river that borders China and Russia.
The Grass Carp, is what is known as an intrusive species, meaning that it’ll reproduce and take over the ecosystem which it’s introduced into (sort of like humans), however science has progressed a long way, and though it took a lot of time, and lots of gene manipulation, sterilizing the Grass Carp became standard everywhere in the world so that the introduction does not harm or destroy the ecosystem.
Another thing to take into account, is the fact that the Grass Carp does not consume everything, naturally it enjoys plants, and will eat most of it, but as with human being, there’s items that it prefers over others. A few of the things which the Grass Carp will enjoy, are:
Coontail
Spikerush
Smartweed
Bladderwort
Bulrush
Water hyssop
Eelgrass
There are many others, and a visit to the library, a web search, or talking with an expert would quickly reveal the things a grass carp would consume.
When bought in large amounts, Grass Carp is fairly cheap, at about $10-20 for each fish, which is very reasonable when you consider the years of service it will give you; surviving for around 10-11 years.
In some states, you’ll be required to acquire a license prior to putting Grass Carp into any sort of water, whether it is your water. To find out if this is required, talk to a game warden in your area, or simply examine the regulations of the state, as that info is freely available to any person that requires it.
As you can see, Grass Carp are a great alternative from using chemicals, or lining the pond with a plastic cover, since not only are they perfect for getting rid of undesired plant life, you should additionally keep in mind that it’s a symbiotic relationship, you provide something they desire, and then they give their services to you, keeping you from needing to do it on your own. All in all, that’s a good deal.
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