Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Clam and Crawdad ID help

Hey Imoore;

Travis and Bill Cody have commented about the benefits/disadvantages of clams or bivalves in general for ponds and will be along shortly to lead the way.

IMO:

1. If another watershed has abundant crayfish very near yours you will most likely find them in your watershed, too. I have noticed that crayfish shells, as they mature, tend to become more rigid - so you might be dealing with the same species just different ages. My view is - if you can't stop them from coming, and I don't know you want to, then plan to utilize them as forage. Unless your pond has tons of structure I would doubt they could ever become a serious issue with the existence of some predator fish population [LMB/SMB].

2. I've learned that bivalves can benefit a pond in two ways - maybe more. 1 - they serve as preferred forage for species like RES and PS.
2 - they could also help improve water clarity.

The negative effect of clam or any bivalve population would be their removal of many nutrients from your pond. Guess this would include plankton and zooplankton which are the building blocks of the food chain.

I hope some of this helps - experts will be along shortly I'd wager.