One week later and it is 80 degrees. We had such a huge fish kill in the near by bays that all the scavengers have quit cleaning up at my pond. I was able to manually remove and bury about 100 lbs of TP ( interestingly none under 6"). Also now the FA has started to grow. I am hoping that there will be some TP to purchase soon
When there is sufficient FA to provide limited cover, you might try adding 50 lbs/acre of red swamp crays (for your South Texas location). This may control the FA well enough to prevent it from being excessive. There is a balance between cover and predation and so this could hold the FA at an acceptable level.
Without cover they have no refuge as they will not be able to build successful burrows in your sandy soiled sand pit pond. It may be worth a shot. Crays are energy dense according to at least one reference (better than BG) so it is more affordable as a supplemental forage than other options on an energy basis. Just saying, if you don't observe them controlling the FA, they would at the minimum provide food for the LMB.
Its probably good that the TP succumbed. This will probably be beneficial to your goal of large BG long term.
