Water Hog/ Louse/ Slaters

[James_Pond]

My pond is absolutely full of them. Literally 1000s of them. I've been reading that they're nothing to worry about, all part of the ecosystem and that they eat all the dead stuff in the pond. All good, but they have taken over my pond. I don't seem to have any snails left. They are eating all of my pond plants. The 3 stalks in the picture sticking out of the water was a brand new plant. I only put it in last week.

I don't have any fish in the pond, but I'm considering putting some in, just to get some control back.

Any ideas of what to do? How can I control them and why are they eating all of my brand new plants.

 

[Lisak1]

Hmmm... I'm not familiar with these so I did a bit of reading. Seems they thrive in stagnant water. Maybe add some aeration or a waterfall to get the water moving.