Should You Use Grass Carp For Aquatic Weed Control?

Mastering the plant life within a pond, or any body of water is quite critical. Why you say? Simple, since for whatever reason, you have chosen that you do not desire it to be there. No matter if these plants have create a type of hindrance for swimming children, or have just clogged up the motor on your favorite boat, you wish them to be gone, and there are many ways of doing this.

Naturally you could utilize chemicals, plastic lining, freezing, manually pulling them up, or even dye, however all of those are mighty strenuous, and there’s no promise that the pond, or fish, would actually be anywhere near what it was after these actions. So it is time to look into different means—methods that will not damage you OR your pond.

Around 1963, a brand new fish was introduced in to the United States ecological, and that fish was known as the Grass Carp. It was deliberately integrated into our ecosystem for the simple purpose of eradicating aquatic plants, and thus far it’s lived up to it’s reputation. Here in the United States, A Grass Carp is often referred to as the White Amur, probably because the word Carp has derogatory meanings here in the U.S., and the name “Amur” refers to the river which the fish originates from, the river that borders China and Russia.

The Grass Carp, is what is referred to as an invasive species, indicating that it’ll reproduce and take over the ecosystem which it’s introduced into (similar to humans), however science has come a long way, and while it took a lot of time, and a lot of gene manipulation, sterilizing a Grass Carp became standard procedure everywhere in the world so that it’s integration doesn’t harm or eradicate the ecosystem.

Another detail to note, is that the Grass Carp doesn’t consume everything, of course it enjoys plant life, and will eat the vast majority of it, but just like humans, there’s things which it prefers more than others. A couple of the things that the Grass Carp does like, are:

Coontail
Spikerush
Smartweed
Bladderwort
Bulrush
Water hyssop
Eelgrass

There’s several others, and a quick trip to a library, a web query, or a consultation with an expert will immediately let you know what the grass carp will eat.

When bought in large amounts, Grass Carp is fairly cheap, ranging from about $10-20 per fish, which is very reasonable when you consider the years of service it will give you; surviving for around ten to eleven years.

In some states, you’ll be required to acquire a license before you place Grass Carp into any sort of water, even if it is your water. To find out if that’s required, speak with a game warden near you, or just examine the laws of the state, since that information is freely available to any person who requires it.

As you can see, Grass Carp are an excellent alternative from using chemicals, or lining your pond with a plastic cover, since not just are these perfect for getting rid of undesired plants, you should also remember that it’s an interdependent relationship, you provide the thing that they desire, and in return they give their services to you, preventing you from needing to do it on your own. All in all, this is a great trade.