Governing the aquatic plants in a pond, or any body of water is very important. Why is this you say? Simple, since for some reason or another, you have chosen that you don’t want it to be there. No matter if these plants have create a sort of nuisance for swimming children, or have have clogged up the engine on your favorite motorboat, you want them gone, and there’s many ways of doing this.

Of course you could use chemical substances, plastic lining, freezing, manually pulling, or perhaps even dye, however all of those are mighty strenuous, and there is no guarantee that the pond, or even the fish, will actually be anywhere near what it was following such an effort. So it is about time to look into different means—techniques that will not damage you OR the pond.

Around 1963, a new fish was placed in the U.S. ecology, and that fish was known as the Grass Carp. It was purposefully introduced into our ecosystem for one purpose of eradicating aquatic plant life, and thus far it’s done a great job. Within the United States, A Grass Carp is commonly referred to as the White Amur, presumably because of the fact that the word Carp holds derogatory interpretations here in the U.S., and the word “Amur” refers to the river that the fish comes from, the river that borders China and Russia.

The Grass Carp, is what is known as an invasive species, meaning that it will reproduce and overtake the ecosystem that it is placed into (similar to humans), however science has come a long way, and though it required some time, and lots of gene manipulation, sterilizing the Grass Carp finally became standard procedure all over the world so that it’s integration doesn’t hurt or eradicate the local ecology.

An additional thing to note, is that the Grass Carp doesn’t consume every kind of grass, of course it enjoys plant life, and will consume the vast majority of it, however as humans, there’s items that it prefers over others. A few of the items that the Grass Carp does enjoy, are:

Coontail
Spikerush
Smartweed
Bladderwort
Bulrush
Water hyssop
Eelgrass

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

When bought in large amounts, Grass Carp is pretty inexpensive, at about $10-20 for each fish, and that is very reasonable considering how long it will last; surviving for about ten to eleven years.

In certain states, you will need to acquire a license prior to putting Grass Carp in any body of water, whether it is owned by you. To discover if that’s necessary, talk to the game warden in your area, or just check the laws of the state, as that info is readily available to anyone that needs it.

Clearly, Grass Carp are an excellent alternate means from using chemical compounds, or lining the pond with a plastic cover, since not just are they perfect for ridding you of undesired plant life, you should also keep in mind that this is an interdependent relationship, you give something that they want, and in return they give their services to you, keeping you from needing to do this on your own. Overall, that’s a great trade.