thanks, bill. I agree its not a Freshwater pearl. mine are not that round. I think I will find the answer in the link I posted. I just need some in my hand to examine. Too bad I have a job and all I can do is talk about it until tomorrow.

bc no dentist, in his right mind, would work on fridays.

agreed on being careful with transferring plants...but, with all the troubles we have had, i am ALMOST ready to risk it. I have a fabulous fishing pond down the road in which to examine some plants. that pond has grass carp, so my thoughts would be, IF IF IF the transferred plants become a problem, i have carp as an option before a complete overhaul? Am i correct in assuming that in some cases? all-in-all, this pond is very "fishable" for members and kids but I am certain we aren't going to grow BIG bass in our current state, although I would absolutely hate to kill the nice bream we have.....