Alien Invasion - I want my pond back !

texasjohn · Jun 15, 2015

I hope you are not paying for a gym membership...I think the exercise you are getting is enough to cover your needs in this regard!

rd_macgregor · Jun 15, 2015

If your pond was a bit smaller, you could try chaining it. A long, heavy chain (or cable) between two dozers. (eg. Chaining for Brush and Deer Management | Deer Management at Buck Manager)

I had that same water weed in my fish aquarium for years, but the snails finally overpopulated and ate it all.

zing · Jun 15, 2015

rd_macgregor said:
If your pond was a bit smaller, you could try chaining it. A long, heavy chain (or cable) between two dozers. (eg. Chaining for Brush and Deer Management | Deer Management at Buck Manager)

I had that same water weed in my fish aquarium for years, but the snails finally overpopulated and ate it all.

Snails? What kind of snails? If some alien eating snails got stuck on the legs of a bird and accidentally ended up in his pond, it sure would be a fortunate accident!

Eric Salop · Jun 15, 2015

No Wind in the Willows

It is not quite as much fun playing in water when it gets cold. With a good part of the pond back to clear water, over the winter I felt it was time to give the remaining Crassula a stay of execution while I concentrated on ways to keep it from growing back again.

There are 2 other ponds on this land that have been around for a good number of years.

The first is slightly smaller than the one that got invaded. It has remained clear, without any trace of the dreaded Crassula. This could just be luck, however I feel it may also be that the water and soil here is different as it lies on peaty ground, so it is probably more acidic.

In contrast the other pond is larger, about 3 1/2 acres and quite shallow, ranging from 1 to 3 feet in summer. Crassula has tried to invade this one too and it is present almost all the way around the banks, however it has not spread out into the open water. The question has to be, is it just taking it's time, or is something else happening to prevent it spreading out ?

The big pond is very open and exposed to the prevailing westerly winds. It doesn't take much wind to transform it from flat calm to little waves.

I reckon this may be a key factor in keeping the Crassula in check, although it is only my theory at this stage, I haven't yet come across this being reported on by biologists. If wind and waves does hold it back, then I made things worse when I plated willows down one side of the pond. All the willows are coming out for firewood. I took half out this winter, the rest will follow later in the year. Hopefully the wind will then once again put a good ripple on the water and help chase away any attempts to invade again.

Sorry Mr Vole, no more wind in the willows for Ratty.

.

Wagtail · Jun 15, 2015

I take it that the willow isn't good enough for a home-made bat, then?

Eric Salop · Jun 16, 2015

Wagtail said:
I take it that the willow isn't good enough for a home-made bat, then?

Afraid not. Wrong type of willow for hitting balls, unless you meant

rd_macgregor · Jun 16, 2015

Do any of these ponds have vegetarian fish (eg, any of several UK-native species in the family Cyprinidae), by any chance? [edit] Actually, I see that most of the cyprinids are omnivores with preferences varying quite a bit from species to species. I found this (for example) about Rudd in Wikipedia: "Mature Rudd, which are about 18” in length and weigh about 3 pounds, eat mostly aquatic vegetation. The Rudd can consume up to 40% of their body weight in vegetation per day". Tench, Roach, Crucian Carp or Bream might be other (native) possibilities. I think going this route might put you on a diversification treadmill, since you'd pretty soon need to introduce a predator species to help control the numbers of vegetarians!

Bob

RedNeckGeek · Jun 16, 2015

I'm confused Eric. Are you now caught up with the past and relating current events?

Or can we all look forward to your solution?

:confused3:

zing · Jun 16, 2015

I am also confused. Your last post says a good part of the pond was back to clear water, but the post before that says you had taken a single strip around the outside of one side of the pond and then the wasps stopped you. How did you go from the single strip along one side, to a large part being open? Did it suddenly pull out easily, once you had cut the strip along the edge? How much did you get cleared out?

Eric Salop · Jun 16, 2015

Sorry for the confusion, this is still in the past, but only just. That weed round by the oak tree is still there. The part that has been cleared so far is at the other end of the pond, where it was easier to wade - I'll find or take a picture to make it clearer.

rd_macgregor said:
Do any of these ponds have vegetarian fish (eg, any of several UK-native species in the family Cyprinidae), by any chance? [edit] Actually, I see that most of the cyprinids are omnivores with preferences varying quite a bit from species to species. I found this (for example) about Rudd in Wikipedia: "Mature Rudd, which are about 18 in length and weigh about 3 pounds, eat mostly aquatic vegetation. The Rudd can consume up to 40% of their body weight in vegetation per day". Tench, Roach, Crucian Carp or Bream might be other (native) possibilities. I think going this route might put you on a diversification treadmill, since you'd pretty soon need to introduce a predator species to help control the numbers of vegetarians!
Bob

There are no fish at all in any of the ponds. That wiki piece must have been written by a typical fisherman - exaggerating as usual. 18" Rudd ! More likely to be 6-8". A 2lb Roach or Rudd is a rare fish on most waters unless someone is feeding them every day.