6 Best Blanket Weed Eating Fish

Blanket weed is a filamentous Algae. It is common in garden ponds and lakes. There are a number of fish that eats Blanket weeds in pond. You can stock the suitable one in your garden pond for effective blanket weed control

Blanket Weed Eating Fish

Grass Carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella)

Grass Carp is excellent algae and pondweed eater. An adult Grass Carp can grow up to 25 kgs. They can live up to 2o years if the pond environment is good. Grass carp can eat u to 3 times their body weight. Thus it is the best fish to eat blanket weed in the pond.

Pond Loach (Misgurnus anguillicaudatus)

Pond Loach is native to East Asia. It is also a common aquarium fish. Although they aren’t social, they make good companions to Koi and Goldfish. It can survive at low temperature. So, it is a good option to keep the blanket weed in control in winter. Pond loach can reach up to 6 inches and live for 10 years in the pond.

Facing Pondweed Problem? Our Complete Complete Pond Weed Removal and Control Guide Will Help You.

Koi Fish (Cyprinus carpio)

Koi’s are all time favorite of pond owners for their colorful body. A garden pond without Koi is incomplete. So if you don’t have some of them in your garden pond, get some quickly. Koi fish is omnivorous and eats anything from insects to aquatic plants. They also like to eat blanket weeds when the floats around the pond. The lifespan of Koi is up to 35 years. It has also a record of growing up to 42kg.

Although some Koi’s are very costly, you can buy them at a low price. Koi’s are also very human-friendly and considered the best pet fish.

Tips: If you have Koi fish in your garden pond and they aren’t eating blanket weed, cut their daily food to two third. They will surely start eating algae.

Common Pleco (Hypostomus plecostomus)

Common Pleco or Suckermouth Catfish is a tropical fish. This catfish is omnivorous. that means it eats both plant and animal origin. The can grow up to 24 inches and live up to 15 years. Common pleco is an excellent filamentous algae eater. It is also a peaceful fish. You can stock it with other fish to control blanket weeds in your pond

Siamese Algae Eater (Gyrinocheilus aymonieri)

Siamese Algae Eater is a herbivorous fish that is native to Asia. As the name suggests, this fish complete feeds on algae. It can grow up to 6 inches. They can live up to 10 years. You have to be careful when you stock this with other small fishes because this fish is territorial.

Goldfish (Carassius auratus)

Goldfish eats both plants and animals. In fact, if they got enough blanket weed, they won’t eat anything else.

Control Blanket Weed In Other Methods

• Use UV Clarifiers to kill algae and stop their reproduction
• Use pond Vaccum to collect dirt the bottom.
• Barley Straw gives long term result in blanket weed control by absorbing excess nutrients.
• There are some pond plants that are useful to control blanket weed
• Use Safe Blanket Weed Treatment like Cloverleaf Blanket Answer

However, if you have excess blanket weed in your pond, stocking blanket weed eating fishes isn’t enough to control them. In such a situation, you have to use algaecides to kill the algae.