Should You Use Grass Carp For Aquatic Plant Control?

Controlling the aquatic plants in a pond, or any body of water is very important. Why you say? Well, since for whatever reason, you have decided that you don’t want it there. Whether those plants have generated a type of hindrance for swimming children, or have have simply stopped up the engine on a favorite motorboat, you wish them to be gone, and there’s many ways to do it.

Of course you could use chemical substances, plastic lining, freezing, manually pulling, or even dye, but all of those are fairly inconvenient, and there’s no guarantee that the pond, or fish, will ever be the same again after these actions. Therefore it’s time to have a look at different methods—techniques that will not break your back OR your pond.

Around 1963, a brand new fish was introduced in to the U.S. ecological, and this fish was known as the Grass Carp. This fish was purposefully introduced into our ecosystem for the simple purpose of eradicating aquatic plant life, and thus far it has lived up to it’s reputation. In the United States, A Grass Carp is commonly called a White Amur, probably because of the fact that the word Carp has negative interpretations here in the U.S., and the word “Amur” is a reference to the river which this fish comes from, a river which runs the border between China and Russia.

The Grass Carp, is what’s known as an aggressive species, meaning that it’ll reproduce and overtake the ecosystem which it’s introduced in (sort of like humans), but fortunately science has come far, and while it took a lot of time, and lots of gene manipulation, sterilizing a Grass Carp became standard all over the world so that the introduction does not harm or destroy the ecosystem.

Another detail to note, is that the Grass Carp doesn’t consume every kind of grass, naturally it loves plants, and would consume most of it, but just like with human being, there are things which it prefers more than others. A couple of the items which the Grass Carp will like, are:

Coontail
Spikerush
Smartweed
Bladderwort
Bulrush
Water hyssop
Eelgrass

There are several additional grasses, and a quick trip to a library, an Internet query, or a consultation with a professional will immediately let you know what the grass carp would consume.

When purchased in bulk, Grass Carp is pretty cheap, at about $10-20 per fish, which is perfectly reasonable considering the years of service it will give you; surviving for about ten to eleven years.

In certain states, you will be required to acquire a license prior to putting Grass Carp into any body of water, whether it is owned by you. To discover if that’s necessary, speak with a game warden near you, or simply check the laws of the state, as this info is readily accessible to any person who requires it.

Clearly, Grass Carp are an excellent alternative from utilizing chemicals, or lining the pond with a plastic cover, because not just are these great for ridding you of unwanted plant life, you must also remember that it’s a symbiotic relationship, you provide the thing they want, and then they give a service to you, preventing you from needing to do it yourself. Overall, that’s a great deal.