I realize the snails could cause problems but would try to get as close to a balance with snail predators as I could. Some snails of course are better than others.
Most will think I'm crazy
but I actually inoculated my mini-forage pond with snails. And yes I'm aware they have a parasitic stage. The main goal of the pond was to raise FHM's and fingerling RES. So for the RES to successfully spawn and grow it seemed important to me to have a good food source for them. So I took FA laced with snails and snail eggs along with some rocks with snails and eggs on them from my main pond and put it in my forage pond at first fill. My philosophy was all that would eventually end up in the pond anyway via birds or other vectors, so I was not putting anything in there that would not eventually be there anyway. Just giving it a head start to provide a food source before stocking the RES.
I've observed fingernail clams in a aquarium before. At first, not knowing any better, just thought they were "baby" mussels. After observing them a while and doing some research found out I actually likely had adults as they were smaller than the size of a dime. It is amazing how far their mussel comes out of the shell and would probe down in the aquarium gravel to find nutrients to eat. This could be easily observed if one of the clams ended up along the glass wall. Also interesting to watch them move around.
I would be interested to know more about them if you have additional information. They are common in the small seasonal creeks here. They may well be in the main streams also, but never looked there. The first ones I found was while netting crayfish with our grandkids. Some of the fingernail clams would come up in the net with the mud. I would be interested to know if they would be a good forage source in a pond for RES. It seems like they might.
My new pond (couple years old now) has some mussels 3-4" long. Don't know how they got there. A small seasonal creek is on the back side of the dam and I would bet the mussels are in there. So perhaps an animal could have brought them over. I suppose they could have brought there via host birds, but to get to the 4" size in less than two years? I did not think they grew that fast. Maybe tiny ones in water from the fish I stocked? But again, grow to 4" that quick? Found one dead one near the shore that a coon or something had ate. Thought maybe it had drug it from the creek. Then later found one in a few feet of water alive while scuba diving. That one was alive and healthy. Stuff gets "stocked" in ponds in ways I don't fully understand.
