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JG Pasterjak
JG Pasterjak Production/Art Director
12/13/22 11:07 p.m.

Well, I wil be soon, anyway.

We have a 10,000-ish sq/ft pond on our property that has an issue with hydrilla. Hydrilla is an invasive, hearty, fast growing aquatic grass that can take over an aquatic biome in a very short time, and when our pond drops to a certain level the ducks can practically walk across the thick underwater floes of grass. 

Basically, there's three ways to deal with hydrilla. Way 1 is chemical. You spray a bunch of stuff on the surface of the pond, it sinks and settles on the hydrilla and kills it. "They" say it doesn't harm the fish or other creatures that depend on the biome of the pond to sustain themselves (we have a LOT of turtles, too), but that's kind of misleading because while the chemical itself doesn't harm the animals, killing a huge part of the pond biome all at once can change things for the worse for the creatures. Then you have all that dead and biodegrading material in there to deal with. So chemical was out.

Way 2 is dredging. Basically a giant claw goes in and rips the hydrilla out. Again, problematic. That claw does not discriminate what it scoops out, and even the tiniest shred of remaining hydrilla can easily multiply and take over the pond again. so, another nope.

Way 3: This guy

That's a triploid grass carp, and he just love him some hydrilla.

Triploid grass carp adoption in Florida is a somewhat involved process, as you first have to obtain a license. These are classified as invasive species and apparently you;re better off getting caught running an illegal kangaroo fight club than having an unlicensed grass carp. The license in Florida is free, though, and only requires you to fill out some paperwork, have a site survey (mine was done via google earth) and chat with someone from the Florida carp bureau, which is a governmental department I did not know existed until recently. Once armed with your license, you are free to place an order with a licensed carp farm, of which one exists in Florida.

The folks at the State carp department were actually amazing and interesting. I ended up having a long chat with a State biologist who just seemed thrilled that his biology degree led to a job that didn't involve wanking priceless racehorses into a customized horse fleshlight for $12/hr while his parents expressed their disappointment at his life choices. 

The folks at the carp farm were also super cool, and they've put up with all my excited calls to see if my TWO carp were ready yet when they usually deal with municipalities or huge landowning businesses (like, say, Disney), ordering dozens or even hundreds at a time to manage multi-acre wetlands.

If all goes well, I'll pick up the carps Saturday near Ocala and have three hours to return them to our pond, where I have to match the temperature of their transportation water to our pond water very slowly so they don't go into shock before introducing them to our pond. They're both dudes (owning females is illegal) and being a triploid fish (a process is enacted during fertilization where a third set of chromosomes that are usually kicked out of the egg during development is retained) they are sterile. Once released, provided they survive, the biologist dude said they should clean the pond up within a year or so, and be able to survive after that on other aquatic flora and the hydrilla which will still be present, just not dominant.

Suggestions for names are always welcome. I will update when the young fellas come home.

Robbie (Forum Supporter)
Robbie (Forum Supporter) MegaDork
12/13/22 11:10 p.m.

Fishy mcfishface carpy mccarpface swimmy mcswimface

 

 

 

dyintorace
dyintorace GRM+ Memberand PowerDork
12/13/22 11:13 p.m.

Just two can clear the pond? That's both amazing and awesome!

jimbob_racing
jimbob_racing SuperDork
12/13/22 11:17 p.m.

In honor of the WKRP carp mascot, Dr Johnny Fever and Venus Flytrap.

Run_Away
Run_Away GRM+ Memberand Dork
12/13/22 11:19 p.m.

Cory and Trevor

Tom Suddard
Tom Suddard GRM+ Memberand Director of Marketing & Digital Assets
12/13/22 11:22 p.m.

Ok, that's pretty cool.

How do you keep the carp from getting eaten?

JG Pasterjak
JG Pasterjak Production/Art Director
12/13/22 11:27 p.m.
jimbob_racing said:

In honor of the WKRP carp mascot, Dr Johnny Fever and Venus Flytrap.

Okay this is rock solid

JG Pasterjak
JG Pasterjak Production/Art Director
12/13/22 11:30 p.m.
dyintorace said:

Just two can clear the pond? That's both amazing and awesome!

The biologist was like "How much of a hurry are you in?" and the real answer is I'm not, I just need a long term solution. So he basically said if we didn't mind it taking a year that two should be sufficient. After spring we can see how they're doing and bring in a friend to help or just let them keep going at their pace. A year is a long time for a fish that is pretty much constantly grazing.

JG Pasterjak
JG Pasterjak Production/Art Director
12/13/22 11:32 p.m.
Tom Suddard said:

Ok, that's pretty cool.

How do you keep the carp from getting eaten?

Well, that's why i don't have them already. The state guy said their best defense against predators would be size, so I needed to get the biggest ones I could. The carp farm had two sizes: medium (10-12 inches, $14 each) or large (13-15 inches, $17 each). We opted for the large, which means we needed to wait until they got big enough to justify the extra $3.

VolvoHeretic
VolvoHeretic GRM+ Memberand HalfDork
12/14/22 12:42 a.m.

"Nature Always Finds A Way" smiley How long do the carp live?

Rons
Rons GRM+ Memberand HalfDork
12/14/22 12:44 a.m.

For names; Yu and Nick?

dculberson
dculberson MegaDork
12/14/22 6:49 a.m.

I put two in my brothers pond that I think is quite a bit bigger, maybe 2-3 years ago. I haven't seen them since and the hydrilla is still there. I'm worried they died. I didn't name mine maybe that's why?

TheRyGuy
TheRyGuy New Reader
12/14/22 6:54 a.m.

My parents have had grass carp in their 1/4 acre pond for the past 20 years. Started with two, and one of them died a few years back. The other one seems to be doing fine. Neat to see such a large fish in such a small pond.

Names, hmm... Gleaner and Hoover?

TJL (Forum Supporter)
TJL (Forum Supporter) Dork
12/14/22 7:46 a.m.

Awesome. I love aquatics. What fish are currently in the pond? 
 

as for names, I suggest "bitey".


 

 

Toyman!
Toyman! GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
12/14/22 7:54 a.m.

This thread seems kind of fishy.

My vote for names. Idikiukup and Bob. 

 

 

Woody (Forum Supportum)
Woody (Forum Supportum) GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
12/14/22 7:59 a.m.

Ace and Gary.

 

Ian F (Forum Supporter)
Ian F (Forum Supporter) MegaDork
12/14/22 8:00 a.m.

Darrel and his other brother Darrel. 

Is there any concern about them becoming heron meals?

Stampie
Stampie GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
12/14/22 8:28 a.m.

In reply to JG Pasterjak :

Is it possible to do a time lapse showing it slowly going away?

Woody (Forum Supportum)
Woody (Forum Supportum) GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
12/14/22 8:45 a.m.
Stampie said:

In reply to JG Pasterjak :

Is it possible to do a time lapse showing it slowly going away?

^CarpCam24

Colin Wood
Colin Wood Associate Editor
12/14/22 9:29 a.m.

I'd just like to throw in a name idea:

  • Carpe and Diem
wawazat
wawazat SuperDork
12/14/22 9:32 a.m.

Woody beat me to it and earned hisself an upvote!

JG Pasterjak
JG Pasterjak Production/Art Director
12/14/22 9:42 a.m.
TJL (Forum Supporter) said:

Awesome. I love aquatics. What fish are currently in the pond?

Palm sized stripey guys. Oscars maybe? 

JG Pasterjak
JG Pasterjak Production/Art Director
12/14/22 9:44 a.m.
Ian F (Forum Supporter) said:

Darrel and his other brother Darrel. 

Is there any concern about them becoming heron meals?

Yeah and that's why the statie suggested getting the biggest fish we could. Not that anything short of Jaws II would stop a hungry heron, but the larger they are the les likely they'll hang out at the waterline where they're easy targets.

AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter)
AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
12/14/22 10:43 a.m.
Colin Wood said:

I'd just like to throw in a name idea:

  • Carpe and Diem

Carpe and Carpbee

1988RedT2
1988RedT2 MegaDork
12/14/22 10:47 a.m.
JG Pasterjak said:
These are classified as invasive species and apparently you're better off getting caught running an illegal kangaroo fight club than having an unlicensed grass carp.
 

These words are strung together in a most artful and humorous way.  You should consider making a career in writing.

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