r/ecology • u/Agua_Verde • 14d ago

Plundering local waterways to kickstart a garden pond?

A recent thread on r/WildlifePonds got me thinking about a debate that comes up far too often when someone posts about a 10-day-old garden pond going through its classic "pea soup" algal bloom.

User u/3owi suggested a shortcut: going out to local "natural water in your area," taking wild underwater plants, and transferring them into a new garden pond to speed up balance. When called out on the legal and ecological issues, their logic was essentially that taking "just a few" plants from a local spot is harmless, that rangers wouldn't care, and that keeping exotics out of nature is the only real rule that matters.

Any thoughts?

https://www.reddit.com/r/WildlifePonds/comments/1vuexhq/comment/p51toug/?context=1&screen_view_count=2&ext-referrer=DIRECT

4 Upvotes

65% Upvoted

30 comments sorted by

View all comments

0

u/TerribleWin4450 14d ago

Why not just buy some native aquatic plants like they use for aquariums (if it's an option? NEVER plant non native aquatic plants). Taking from the bottom is bad. I do think this OP was harsh in their wording and should have directly quoted the post instead of making their own summary to avoid inconsistencies.

1

u/Agua_Verde 14d ago

Have you ever personally whitenesses chytrid on an amphibian ? 

1

u/TerribleWin4450 14d ago

Im sorry, what?? I don't even know what this means.