I have always heard that once grass carp get a certain size "they should be removed because their consumption of plants slows down". Why remove them? What are they hurting? Even if they just eat a small percent of what they did when they were young, they are still eating that small percent.
I couldn't agree more. I have two monsters left in my pond. I love them. The kids and guests love them. They are acrobatic, and at more than 3-foot long, they really make a splash when they jettison out of the water, at about a 45-dgree angle, for a pellet at feeding time. I can't tell the two of them apart. We just refer to them them both SSN-688 (in reference to the Los Angeles class nuclear submarines).
They might eat a few pellets, but that is OK. They don't eat a lot of weeds anymore, but that is good. I need a little more cover in my pond.
I just wouldn't want a whole bunch of them in the pond.
We've also got our friend with who is bright orange, with black tiger stripes. We refer to this critter as Koi George. Every spring I wonder if he is still alive -- and every spring he is bigger than he was when the pond iced over. He has at least doubled in length (and probably girth) in the last 6-7 years. He is now about 3-foot long, and looks like a bright orange torpedo. I don't know what he eats. He comes around at feeding time, but I've never seen him take pellets. This time of year he always pals up with one of the big catfish. Where you see one, you'll see the other -- until we bring the catfish in for dinner.
