Grass Carp- Warrior of Underwater Vegetation

In the submerged vegetation war going on in lakes and ponds in the Southeastern United States there is one silent warrior that stands alone, willing to fight (well, eat) their way through to manage and control aquatic vegetation.

This pond weed killer is none other than the grass carp. Grass carp feed on submersed vegetation such as hydrilla, Eurasian watermilfoil, pondweeds, and a variety of others– consuming up to three times their body weight in vegetation a day. While grass carp excel in controlling many submersed aquatic weeds, unfortunately they do not prefer the floating aquatic plants such as water hyacinth, duckweed, and cattails. They also do not love the taste of various forms of algae. But if you have any aquatic vegetation that is rooted to the lake bottom and growing up through the water, the grass carp will consume it.

Grass carp will provide long term control of submersed vegetation and are most effective for the first five years. Though they can live up to twenty years, their metabolism slows as they grow older and they simply do not consume as much vegetation. Because of this, we recommend re-stocking grass carp every 3-5 years or as needed to continue to provide effective control of submersed vegetation.

In many states, including Georgia, it is only legal to stock grass carp that are triploids which are incapable of reproducing. Triploids are created by “shocking” the eggs with pressure and more commonly shocking them with either hot or cold water. This shock results in the retention of an extra chromosome resulting in an infertile fish. Even if you live in a state where diploid grass carp are legal to sell, they are still unfortunately not going to reproduce in your lake or pond because they require 48-81 miles of uninterrupted flowing river water for the eggs to mature and hatch.

Grass carp are an exceptionally effective tool for lake and pond management, pond treatment, and vegetation management and Aquatic Environmental Services (AES) is your supplier to stock grass carp in your lake or pond in the southeast. The grass carp’s insatiable appetite and grazing habits make them invaluable assets in submersed weed growth. However, though AES does have grass carp for sale, grass carp cannot be stocked haphazardly and several factors should be considered prior to buying grass carp, such as legality for your location (diploids, triploids, special permitting), species of weed growth, water flow and type of drainage system, lake size, amount of weed growth, goals for the lake, etc. Feel free to contact AES today to speak to a biologist to determine if stocking grass carp is right for you. We are your source in the southeast to find the right fish to stock your pond.