Grass carp, also known as white amur, are demanding fish that are only partially suitable for keeping ponds in the garden. Those who opt for these animals need a pond that is as deep as possible with intensive vegetation. Since the plants serve as food for the fish, the stocking usually suffers as well. In addition, it usually has to be fed so that the fish can survive.
Table of Contents
General nutrition
White Amurs feed primarily on aquatic plants in a natural environment. In doing so, they concentrate primarily on plants that are as soft as possible, i.e. those with soft stems and leaves, and on young plants. In order to keep ponds, therefore, the greatest possible number of aquatic plants is required. While conventional carp are mainly fed with concentrated feed from the outside, grass carp necessarily need plants in the water as food. If these are not sufficient, they must be fed. However, no concentrated feed may be used, only fresh green fodder from nature or your own garden.
Aquatic plants
The plants in the water are the basis of food for the white Amurs. In a garden pond without plants, they cannot live or live in a species-appropriate manner. When choosing plants for the pond, one should focus on these types of plants:
- Entengrütze
- Hornkraut
- Herbs
- Netzalgen
- Duckweed
These plants are very popular with the water carp. Somewhat less popular, but also possible:
- Binsen
- reed
- Seggen
- Tube flasks
- Waterweed
Incidentally, grass carp also eat the leaves of water lilies. If you have these noble aquatic plants in your garden pond, you can assume that keeping white Amurs will quickly lead to growth problems. Very often the plants also die off completely, as they are seriously injured by the fish.
To feed
In the vast majority of cases, the stocking of aquatic plants in the pond will not be sufficient to provide the grass carp with sufficient food. Then it is imperative to feed them. Ideally, only fresh green fodder is used for this. The animals especially like to eat grass of all kinds. However, these should definitely be fresh. If you want to use grass from your own garden as additional feed, you must be careful not to fertilize the lawn so as not to supply the fish with substances that are harmful to them. The grass is simply thrown into the pond. The animals pick it up from the surface. New grass is only fed back when the old one has been completely eaten away.
Recognize the need
Of course, the question arises as to how you can actually tell that the grass carp in the pond need additional feed from the outside. If there is not enough food in the water, the fish will begin to eat the vegetation on the bank. If you discover traces of feeding on the bank planting, this is a very clear sign that it is now absolutely necessary to feed. If the animals are very hungry, it can also happen in individual cases that the animals try to get out of the pond in search of food. This not only poses a great danger to them, but is also a warning sign.
Food in winter
Grass carp can also remain in the pond in winter – even if the surface of the water is covered with a layer of ice, i.e. frozen over. The fish then simply stay in the deeper water regions, which usually do not freeze here. Due to the cold, the white Amurs automatically reduce their movements. This also reduces your need for calories. Under normal circumstances, the plants in the water are sufficient for them to eat. Additional feeding from outside is not necessary and usually not possible in winter.
Conclusion
Keeping grass carp in a garden pond only makes sense if the pond is one to two meters deep and has sufficient aquatic plants. You can be prepared for the fact that you have to replant regularly. Only fresh green fodder may be used for additional feeding.
