Re: NANFA-- NANFA -- Pond algae
R. W. Wolff (choupiqu_at_wctc.net)
Tue, 23 Jul 2002 10:34:00 -0500
I have tried this bacterial soup you can buy that is supposed to digest
sludge and such, and I am not convinced it works. Depending on your pond,
the best is snails and crustaceans. They provide food for the fish, and
also eat decaying plant materials. You still have to get the muck deposit
out of your deepest part of the pond , usually fall is the best time. Dwarf
crawfish are super hardy, I have some in my killi pond that shrimp and other
fish do not survive the winter ( only snails and smaller crustaceans make
it- along with aquatic insects) and they do a good job. It takes awhile to
build up a population though. In fact my gar river pond has a great
population of dwarfs that all started with around a dozen animals - in three
years I was comfortable that they were established. This is with hungry
sunfish, bowfin and gar feeding on any adults, and smaller species of
elassoma, darters, cyrpinids, killis , livebearers and umbrids eating the
tiny babies. There are also some large species of crawfish that have shown
up on their own that have not wiped them out. I was really worried when I
seen them that they would take out their smaller relatives.
Ray
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