I love it when what I see in my head actually happens. I added an 8' bald cypress to this brushpile, and the brushpile was loaded with thousands of 1/2" to 1" fry. The summer time combo of the brush piles with hybrid lilies, water primrose, reeds, and variable pond weed seems to have worked extremely well. I found 30-40 CNBG nests immediately adjacent to the outside edge of the hybrid lilies, and the fry can literally head to cover in a matter of a few feet. I saw a few 4-5" tilapia handling the algae from the decaying limbs. The bottom of this area is rock hard red clay, and the CNBG have spawned here for years. If you plan to ever plant a tree 2' deep, I might suggest spending the money to get a mud shovel. It really helps eliminate the vacuum when digging under water. I use it for digging up lilies as well.


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Here's another pile of limbs that are about to get added to this existing brushpile. My little ruminants handle 90-95% of the leaves, so I let them dry out for a few weeks, and the remaining leaves are gone by the time I drag the limbs to the top of the pond. I'm not sure I would add them if they didn't do their part. Just an obsevation, but if you can reach down in the water, and not hit cover by the time you get to your elbow, then the cover is not dense enough.
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