Should You Use Grass Carp For Aquatic Weed Control?
Containing the plant life within a pond, or any body of water is very critical. Why you say? Simple, because for whatever reason, you have decided that you don’t want it there. Whether these plants have generated some type of hindrance for swimmers, or have just clogged up the motor on a favorite boat, you want them to be gone, and there’s many methods of doing it.
Of course you could utilize chemicals, plastic lining, freezing, manually pulling, or even dye, however all of those are mighty strenuous, and there is no promise that the pond, or even the fish, will actually be anywhere near what it was after these actions. Therefore it is time to look into different methods—methods that will not break your back OR the pond.
In 1963, a new fish was introduced in to the United States ecology, and that fish was known as the Grass Carp. It was deliberately introduced into the ecosystem for one reason of eliminating aquatic plant life, and thus far it has done a great job. In the US, A Grass Carp is often referred to as the White Amur, presumably because of the fact that the phrase Carp has negative interpretations here in the United States., and the word “Amur” refers to the river that this fish originates from, a river which borders China and Russia.
The Grass Carp, is what’s referred to as an invasive species, meaning that it’ll multiply and overtake any ecosystem which it is introduced in (sort of like humans), however science has progressed far, and though it took some time, and lots of gene manipulation, sterilizing the Grass Carp became standard procedure everywhere in the world so that it’s introduction does not hurt or eradicate the ecosystem.
Another thing to note, is the fact that the Grass Carp doesn’t consume every kind of grass, of course it loves plant life, and would consume most of it, however as humans, there’s items which it prefers over 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, an Internet search, or a consultation with a professional will quickly let you know what the grass carp will eat.
When purchased in bulk, Grass Carp is pretty cheap, at about $10-20 for each fish, which is perfectly reasonable considering how long it’ll last; surviving for about 10-11 years.
In certain states, you will be required to acquire a license prior to putting Grass Carp in any sort of water, even if it is your water. To find out if this is required, talk to a game warden near you, or just examine the regulations of the state, as this info is freely available to any person that needs it.
Clearly, Grass Carp are a great alternative to utilizing chemicals, or lining your pond with a plastic cover, because not just are these great for getting rid of undesired plants, you must additionally remember that it’s a symbiotic relationship, you provide the thing that they desire, and then they provide their services to you, preventing you from having to do it yourself. Overall, that’s a great deal.
This entry was posted on Sunday, September 27th, 2009 at 6:07 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.