The way I use my pond for nature, the Curly Leaf Pond Weed is about the perfect plant for my minnow and tadpoles. It gets somewhat thick and then backs off to nearly nothing and the pond does bubble a lot with oxygen rising to the surface that you can see in bright sun reflection off the water. The plant leaves are spread and loose in the water so fish can swim through them as opposed to many other plants that seem chocked together under water.
The last three years I have allowed my cattails to do what they want and boy have they taken off. So be careful with the cattails. The cattails harbor ducks and Redwing black birds in particular and with the brown dead stocks this time of year the tadpoles actually boil the water in them when I walk up close.
