Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Grass Carp

For those who may be wondering how many of these wonderful fish you should use per acre I want to share my expierence quick just to let you all know how they did for me. That's not to say your expierence will be exactly the same but just putting it out here for you to know. When I first bought my land mid May of last year the pond looked great! Then all of a sudden it happend! 2 or 3 weeks later when it started to get real hot I went to the pond and WOW I had pond weeds everywhere! I had them all around my pond about 20 feet out from shore. You see my pond is quite clear and is pretty shallow as well. Hence all the weeds. I would have to say 40 to 50 percent of my pond was covered with weeds. Well of course I started asking around about these fish called GC? Wasn't really sure what they were at first. How many I needed or anything. Of course you have to make sure you can use them in your state and what type you can use first if at all. As far as numbers go I got answers from "It All Depends" to 5 per acre to 20 per acre?? So I guess with those difference in numbers it really does all depend on your situation. So last July I went ahead and put 7 GC in my pond about 8 inches long and hoped for the best. Well I can tell you this. We are well into our hot season here in Arkansas and this time last year I was full of top water pond weeds. And now I might have about 10 percent weeds showing on top of the water. The pond weed is almost all gone!! So just in case your wondering how many GC you may need in your 1 acre pond my expierence can tell you that 7 to 8 GC will do the job if you don't want all your weeds gone which I dont, but wanted enough gone to be able to fish in the summer months which I believe I have accomplished. I hope this helps another new guy out maybe that might have questions about this fish. They really do work if you give them the time to do there job. It's not a quick fix but it's a natural fix.

You may have to remove some of them as they grow larger or you could end up with the no weed situation that you don't want.

Hey Dwight,

Yeah I guess I will have to wait and see on that. They say though the older they get the less they eat at least that's what I have been told. But if I have to get a hook and a ball of bread and catch 1 or 2 of them that sounds like a great time to me!!!

Hey, RC, refresh me on this, but your pond is about an acre, isn't it?

Hey Todd yes my pond is right at 1 acre.

SWEET!!! Now that's what I am talking about! FISH ON BABY!!!!!

Thanks, RC. I've been toying with the idea in my 1/2 acre pond, but I don't want a huge impact on the vegetation, so I've been considering maybe adding just 1, or possibly 2. Not sure yet if I'll go that route.

One is a lonely number, so I suggest two if you decide to go that route.

I put 7 in a 3/4 acre pond that was absolutely filled with pond weed. After the first year, there was very little weed. A year later, I bought the land. There is now, 4 years later, very little vegetation and two 4 ft carp.

Dave

Tell us what % of the pond had pondweed prior to stocking, and now the % with 2 GC keeping it mowed down. I'm trying to get an idea on how many to stock without completely eliminating the vegetation.

About 1/2 covered. Now, I seldom see any but the last 2 years it has gotten more turbid.

They aren't that hard to get rid of if you can shoot.

Ok I was thinking about adding 1 to each of our ponds which they range probably 1/8 - 1/2 acres.

Do you think 1 would work or should each pond have at least 2 in them?

I have heard they do better in pairs, or maybe just not alone.

Also once all the vegetation is gone, what will they tend to eat on?

Any ideas or suggestions?

Thanks

You know, Dwight, I've heard that one is the loneliest number you could ever do. And that has gotten me a little torn up about my whole GC stocking situation!

I actually don't want to see all of the vegetation wiped out and so my thinking with one is to just have that slow and steady level of maintenance that will take some time, but then I also see merit to dropping maybe even three in there and once they get some of the plants under control, remove one or two and get back to my original thought of having just one in there for general upkeep.

Todd, I agree, get two.

Do you think that two would still have a gradual impact, yet still not be able to quite keep up with all the vegetation (which is the balance I'd actually like to achieve - I want some green growing)?

My plants are, at least for now, primarily chara (lots), FA (a pretty good bit), WM (more than I want to see), A sparse but nice looking spread of American Pondweed in spots, and a very small amount of curly leaf pondweed (which I really dislike). I also just yesterday caught a pile of something I need to still identify. A small LMB hit my topwater lure, dove, and I thought I lost it because the feel changed. When I finally got the pile of stuff reeled in, I dug into it and sure enough there was a small LMB in the middle! Anyway, this stuff was in a pretty big clump, so there's obviously a bit of it growing. ID yet to come.

Where GC really come into to play is when they are already in the pond before the weeds take off; not when weeds are already a problem.

The real question is if you get "double" the productivity with two GC as opposed to one. It may be more like a union situation where if there is more than one GC, the second one has to be a supervisor. As such, you might see an increase in coffee and doughnut consumption.

LOL! Nice comparison!

What about stocking them in the fall so they're nice and comfy in their new home so when spring rolls around they're ready to do their supervisor/laborer thing?

BTW, I think in reading another thread under the aquatic vegetation topic that I may have determined the stuff I caught yesterday is sago. I'll have to look again today to see if I can find some more.

Are any of these varieties I've mentioned unpalatable to GC? I think the consensus here has been that FA is not high on their appetite list at all, but other than than, how about any of the others?

GC love pondweed and chara. I stocked mine in the fall so they were ready for the this summer. And it's worked great for me. Did I stock to many??? I don't think so for my situation. I had a lot of pondweed and the chara will come rolling in here in July like a out of control fire. The thing is, is you can always add another. Like Sunil said get them in there and then hold tight till next year as you won't see any difference when you first put them in there. I still have clumps of pondweed here and there and I have reeds they seem to not be messing with which is ok with me. As long as they control the majority of the pondweed and chara!!! It's nice to be able to see the entire surface of my pond in June!!

I'm definitely looking for gradual here, for sure, RC. Honestly, my two biggest concerns are the FA and watermeal, and I'm not sure how the GC would impact those other than thinking most folks here seem to see little impact on FA with grass carp. Do you have/have you had any issues with FA and, if so, have you noticed your GC doing anything about it?


Just saw that this was post number 1000! Woohoo! A milestone! Towards what, I'm not so sure, but, hey, a milestone is a milestone! This has been a great place to learn, share, and make some new friends since I joined last July. Looking forward to the years to come!

Happy 1K !

Todd,

Congrats on the 1000th post! You are right about the FA and the watermeal GC don't much care for that as far as I know it's not on there best things to eat list! I don't have much trouble with either one of those so I guess I am not the guy to ask. Maybe some talapia would better serve you? I have noticed I have some algae clumps here and there now and I figure that may be from not having so many weeds in my pond now. We'll see how things go in the next month. It's 96 degrees here now and I see no end to the heat. I wish I had my air running already in my pond but haven't quite got there yet.

Thanks Dave - this helps me try to achieve the balancing act in my main pond. Sounds like 2/acre would provide some management over time, but not too much management.

Todd - don't count on your GC controlling FA. TP, herbicides or aeration are your only options IIRC. I have no clue on watermeal. Your pondweed, however, is a preferred forage item according to my RESEARCH - not EXPERIENCE. Remember though, removing your pondweed will free up a ton of nutrients which could lead to additional FA, Watermeal, Cattails etc. that the GC won't manage. Think about your options carefully before you put a plan in place. I was about to zap my pondweed when Condello warned me they are actually serving a great purpose of tying up a significant amount of nutrients that keep FA and Cattails limited. Something to consider....