Pond Boss Forums AQUATIC VEGETATION Controlling unwanted plants Wild Carp vs. triploid grass carp?

Rookie question....

Would wild carp you catch in lakes/rivers on dough bait work the same as triploid grass carp as far as vegetation control?

You probably know where I am going with this...
If I caught carp in a local public lake and
transplanted them into my pond would they
do some of the same vegetation control as
triploid grass carp?

and could they over-populate?

differant kind of carp, some disadvantages asociated with them.

They could over populate, it depends as "they" say

Now if you only put one in no worry of over populating. I would try to use a smaller one as they may eat more.

Not sure this is something you want to gamble with or not.

I have always wanted a BOW with at least 1 of each fish that is native to my area.

guys are you saying wild lake or river carp would eat pretty much the same thing as triploid grass carp? I guess putting one large wild carp in a 4 acre pond wouldn't even put a dent in the problem though.

Mark the only advantage I see in doing that is not needing a permit. I would be leery of adding the wild kind. One won't do much, and if you add several, a spawn could create all sorts of issues.

IIRC, you're predator light, so I'm not sure the fry would get eaten and controlled.

You're right AL!!...I've been putting off the carp barrier, but putting in wild carp would be even more trouble and not as effective.

As a kid I used to love going with my older brothers to the Trinity River bottoms in Dallas at night (which were safe back then) and fishing with lanterns all night for carp. We would use Wheaties cereal mixed with some syrup to make a nice dough bait. Those carp would put up a hell of a fight.

NO. Wild Common Carp don't eat the plants like the Triploids do. Plus they spawn and the offspring will grow to a size that the LMB will have a hard time eating within a year....

Unless you like catching or eating common carp, don't do it.

what do wild carp eat?
(besides Breakfast of Champions!)


I do like catching carp but not enough to stock them.
I don't eat any of the fish I catch.

Larval common carp feeds primarily on zooplankton. In its native range, juveniles and adults feed on benthic organisms (e.g., chironomids, gastropods and other larval insects), vegetation, detritus and plankton (e.g., cladocerans, copepods, amphipods, mysids). Feeding habits are similar in the U.S., where the diet is composed of organic detritus (primarily of plant origin), chironomids, small crustaceans, and gastropods (Summerfelt et al. 1971; Eder and Carlson 1977; Panek 1987). The common carp is very active when feeding and its movements often disturb sediments and increase turbidity, causing serious problems in some regions especially where the species is abundant. The species also retards the growth of submerged aquatic vegetation by feeding on and uprooting plants (King and Hunt 1967). Silt resuspension and uprooting of aquatic plants caused by feeding activities can disturb spawning and nursery areas of native fishes (Ross 2001) as well as disrupt feeding of sight-oriented predators, such as bass and sunfish (Panek 1987).

Keep in mind we are talking about completely different species here...

Common carp (Cyprinus carpio) do not have the physiological adaptation(as in an extremely long intestine)to properly digest vegetation like grass carp do. Common carp spawn by broadcasting their eggs over vegetation in backwater areas of rivers, lakes and ponds.

Grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella) Which in most areas are not found in the wild as states only allow them to be stocked as sterile triploid fish. This is the reason they are so expensive to buy. Making triploid fish costs big bucks! Diploid grass carp, as in ones that are capable of reproducing are found in the southern Mississippi and a few scattered other locations. They cannot reproduce in ponds or lakes unless they have access to a large river with heavy current. They lay their eggs in current, much like striped bass and rely on the current to keep them moving and from sinking and dying on the bottom.

Thanks guys. I wonder if Koi are closer to one or the other?

Koi are much closer to Common Carp.

I would not risk this on a body of water I cared about. There have been many horror stories of overpopulations of difficult to remove common carp and koi.