Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Grass Carp and Chara

Let me help. I think Scott meant that Chara is not a rooted plant, aka macrophyte or aquatic vascular plant. Technically Chara is an alga. Algae to me are plants. Some define plant in various ways. For me if it has chlorophyll and makes its own food, it is a plant versus an animal that does not make its own food and has to eat/consume usually plants or other animals. There are in-between or combination life forms such as mushrooms and some simple organisms that have chlorophyll and consume solid particles such as bacteria & organic detritus.

I have seen good control of Chara using grass carp. The GC should be young and sometimes higher numbers per acre to get Chara controlled or eliminated. Chara competes against algae, thus it is not good to eliminate all of it. Tilapia will also eat Chara. Proper numbers of them (density) are important for algae/Chara control.