snrub, this is the beauty of the folks who instead of one 5 acre pond have 5 smaller ponds. You can do all kinds of experiments in real time, and it is easier to drain, nuke, and start over with a new experiment.
Do GSH root in the bottom? My pond water is very brown and I always blamed goldfish first (down to about 30 or less), crayfish second (never can trap a one so there can't be that many), and now maybe the GSH?
When I had very few GSH I had lots of vegetation and FA, Tilapia were OK but not that spectacular. Once the GSH adults were 6-8" and several years of young GSH no vegetation and no FA. Hmm... now it looks like I might need a predator
One question, you said GSH decimated FHM? I can't see how that works. THe GSH mouth is small even on a 6+ inch size adult. How do they eat FHM? I stocked FHM in a couple of occasions and they never survived but I always assumed that my YP were chowing on the FHM. My goal was to try to get vegetation going again so the FHM had a place to hide and then try to stock again. Or, try to have a grow out area in the pond or a grow out tank or pond to make stocking cheaper by raising them on site.
Check prices at the fish farm, otherwise the local bait shop may be able to put in a order for you of a large bag of adult GSH and you might get them at just a fuzz above the bait shop price if you can be a good customer to the bait shop too
