Post by stevebooth on Sept 4, 2016 9:55:05 GMT
I thought I'd do a spot of pond dipping this morning to see what was lurking in the margins of the weed prior to dragging out and composting a large amount, as the Cabomba caroliniana, or fanwort has spread to cover about a third of the pond area, is growing at a very quick rate and shading large areas.
I was surprised to discover at least three different batches of fish fry, ranging from very recently spawned 5mm ish long to some older fish 20mm or so long. Obviously they are too small to make out what they are but there are a lot more than I expected. This has modified my thoughts on the removal and composting of the weed somewhat, as removing their cover will almost certainly sign their death warrant at the hands of the Orfe (Leuciscus idus) and Rudd
(Scardinius erythrophthalmus), which I can't bring myself to do. I will draw the weed to a deeper part of the pond and stack it in the hope that they will have an equivalent amount of hiding spaces.
Various fry and larvae from a single dip, the picture is poor so you can't see the smaller fry unfortunately.
Cheers
Steve
I was surprised to discover at least three different batches of fish fry, ranging from very recently spawned 5mm ish long to some older fish 20mm or so long. Obviously they are too small to make out what they are but there are a lot more than I expected. This has modified my thoughts on the removal and composting of the weed somewhat, as removing their cover will almost certainly sign their death warrant at the hands of the Orfe (Leuciscus idus) and Rudd
(Scardinius erythrophthalmus), which I can't bring myself to do. I will draw the weed to a deeper part of the pond and stack it in the hope that they will have an equivalent amount of hiding spaces.
Various fry and larvae from a single dip, the picture is poor so you can't see the smaller fry unfortunately.
Cheers
Steve
not here it isn't