Disclaimer, I have no expertise, just my experience on my 3year old main pond.
I have ordered plants, planted them, had some growth, and them slowly seen them disappear. I though it was deer or raccoons, but game camera didn’t show that type of feeding activity as plants continued to vanish. I assume my paper shell crayfish are to blame. I don’t have any rock habitats, but I do have quite a bit of brush piles with lot of 3 to 4 inch diameter tree stems with corresponding brushy tops. I also see algae vanish on pond bottom. I’m unsure if this is a factor of new pond or crayfish activity. I don’t aerate or feed consistently. Just a cup hand fed once or twice a week. Next spring will be interesting to see how things progress.
