Managing the plant life within a pond, or any body of water is quite critical. Why you say? Simple, since for whatever reason, you’ve chosen that you do not desire it there. No matter if these plants have create a type of hindrance for swimming children, or have have simply stopped up the motor on a favorite boat, you want them to be gone, and there’s several ways of doing this.

Naturally you could use chemicals, plastic lining, freezing, manually pulling them up, or perhaps even dye, however those are fairly inconvenient, and there is no promise that your pond, or fish, would ever be the same again following such an effort. Therefore it is time to look into different means—methods which won’t break your back OR your pond.

Around nineteen sixty-three, a new fish was introduced in to the United States ecological, and this fish was known as the Grass Carp. It was purposefully introduced into the ecosystem for one reason of eliminating aquatic plant life, and thus far it’s done a great job. Within the United States, the Grass Carp is commonly referred to as the White Amur, probably because of the fact that the phrase Carp holds derogatory meanings here in the U.S., and the word “Amur” refers to the river that the fish originates from, a river that runs the border between China and Russia.

The Grass Carp, is what is known as an invasive species, indicating that it will reproduce and overtake the ecosystem which it’s introduced into (sort of like humans), but fortunately science has progressed a long way, and though it took some time, as well as a lot of gene manipulation, sterilizing a Grass Carp became standard everywhere in the world so that it’s introduction does not harm or destroy the ecosystem.

An additional thing to note, is the fact that the Grass Carp does not consume every kind of grass, of course it enjoys plants, and would consume the vast majority of it, however as with human being, there’s items that it prefers over others. A couple of the things which the Grass Carp does enjoy, are:

Coontail
Spikerush
Smartweed
Bladderwort
Bulrush
Water hyssop
Eelgrass

There are many others, and a quick trip to a library, a web query, or talking with an expert would quickly let you know what the grass carp will consume.

When bought in large amounts, Grass Carp is pretty inexpensive, ranging from about $10-20 for each fish, which is very reasonable considering the years of service it will give you; living for about 10-11 years.

In certain states, you will be required to get a license before you place Grass Carp into any body of water, even if it is owned by you. To discover if that’s required, talk to the game warden near you, or simply check the regulations of your state, since this information is freely available to any person who requires it.

As you can see, Grass Carp are an excellent alternate means to utilizing chemicals, or lining the pond with plastic, since not only are they perfect for getting rid of undesired plants, you must also remember that it’s a symbiotic relationship, you provide something that they desire, and then they give their services to you, preventing you from needing to do it yourself. All in all, that’s a great deal.