bullhead up-keep

[blakeb]

Ok so just as many of you do i keep a bully bait tank in the garage,

its 30 gallon and i will keep up to 30 bullys in it, it is kept cool, its unfiltered and has lots of oxygen.

when i catch them i let them puke themselves in a holding tank for two days so they dont scum the water up.

And i never feed them anything.

I do put em back in the tank after they have been hooked on a cirlce hook for cats. ( is this dumb)???

I do a 80% water swap every two or three days, at which time i re-fill my swap water also to evap. all the chemical outta the water. i had my first crud killed bully today, which is alright seeing as my stock is down to four bullys. and them four will be fished tommorrow evening!

After crud has been detected should the tank be washed?

I have notced that i have a slimy substance on the walls of the tank, should i be wipeing this up during all water changes?

I also noticed my water getting frothy (bubbly) any cures out there for this issue?

[MinnesnowtaWild]

Man oh man all I have to say is...good luck!

I had this problem a lot last year in a similar setup to yours. Once one gets it they all get it immediately. I'm going to try and keep the temps regulated this year, as my tank is sitting outside.

[Alagnak]

I DON'T think it has to do with putting back hooked bait to reuse- however I still don't know about the 'crud' and what to do about that. Luckily I only had that happen once last summer but that was when i was working a lot and wasn't out much in a two week span. I know when our family owned a bait shop we would drain and scrub the tank walls with a stiff brush once a month and rinsed- I'm sure it didn't hurt.

[MinnesnowtaWild]

Usually when my tank gets those intense bubbles popping up, that's when things go bad and the fish get sick. My guess is those bubbles are some chemical that shouldn't be in there.

[Alagnak]

Usually when my tank gets those intense bubbles popping up, that's when things go bad and the fish get sick. My guess is those bubbles are some chemical that shouldn't be in there.

Yeah, the chemical technical term is bullhead farts.

[StillwaterAaron]

It is very simple to make a filter and that would help you very much. If you were to buy a fountain pond pump and have the water pump into a 5 gallon bucket with filter material and some activated carbon with holes in the bottom of the bucket you could have the water fall into your tank and you would then have filtered water. It is much easier than most think.

I also add ick treatment 2 or 3 times a week and I have no trouble with ick.

[Alagnak]

What's ick??? Thanks for the suggestions man

[MinnesnowtaWild]

I think he is referring to the crud.

[twon]

ick is a white cottony fish disorder ( I believe it is a fungus )that is highly contagious between tankmates. for treatment chemicals check your local pet store or drain clean (without heavy chemicals) and start over with a new batch

[WAG416]

Ive never used bullheads for catfishing before, im assuming you all use them for Flatheads. Would bullheads work for channel cats too?

from what ive heard about flatheads v. channel cat bait, i would assume no

I keep a bullhead in my goldfish tank at home, just wondering if he would make good channel cat bait one day

[harvey lee]

I do not use a filter but I change my water out every 3 days. I do add some chemical for the city water and I have yet to have an issue with my bullies.

I do get a bit of a crud ring on the side of the tank but I wipe that out wash time I change water,

I only keep say 60-80 on hand so that may make it a bit easier for me also.

[MinnesnowtaWild]

Ive never used bullheads for catfishing before, im assuming you all use them for Flatheads. Would bullheads work for channel cats too?

from what ive heard about flatheads v. channel cat bait, i would assume no

I keep a bullhead in my goldfish tank at home, just wondering if he would make good channel cat bait one day

Using live Bullheads for Channel Cats is definitely not the way to go, even though it can and does catch them very occasionally.

However, I have had great success using Bullheads for cutbait. I cut the head off and then the tail and then I cut whats left in half leaving two pieces plus the head.

[Larry FlatCaster]

There are a couple of issues affecting your bullies.

The first one being is you should remove and quarantine any bullies that you see that have the crude, (save them for the next trip away from the others) they will start to contaminate the others.

When you drop a hooked bait in the tank, since it has a wound it will probably get infected relatively quick... you should quarantine these.

2nd. your bait is getting stressed out, handling is a part of this, when bullies are netted and handled in containers they are getting scratched and poked by each other this is what makes them susceptible to infection.

Along with this..... you need to get the water temps lowered if possible and reduce the amount of waste chemicals. If Ammonia levels get to high it will burn the bullies, (the excess bubbles and slime are symptoms) after that its a matter of time before their resistance is compromised and they will get the crud at an accelerated rate.

Water changes will do this, but you need to treat the water when you do the changes.

As for the filter item mentioned earlier. That is a good cost effective way to do. You can do with out the carbon though. Carbon only reduces smell, it really has no other effect on water filtration.

Filtration will assist in reducing toxins in the water by pulling out the solid waste particles and reducing the chemical reactions in the water its self. It will not eliminate.

as far as cleaning... not really necessary there is some good to the slime.

I guess I'm saying don't go nuts with the bleach and disinfect it will do more harm than good.

[APCfishing]

How do you guys get chlorine free water for your water changes? Local pond? chemical drops? or do you let the tap water sit in a bucket for a day?

[StillwaterAaron]

ick is a white cottony fish disorder ( I believe it is a fungus )that is highly contagious between tankmates. for treatment chemicals check your local pet store or drain clean (without heavy chemicals) and start over with a new batch

Precisely what I was talking about. I add the treatment when I take the fish from the tank also in my bucket I bring to the river. The last better on low oxygen too then. I buy the cheap stuff from walmart and it works out great and costs about 5 bucks a month. Preventative measures are much easier and cheaper than the waiting for the problem.

[StillwaterAaron]

As for the filter item mentioned earlier. That is a good cost effective way to do. You can do with out the carbon though. Carbon only reduces smell, it really has no other effect on water filtration

Larry nice info too!

The carbon also helps make the water slightly clearer but like you said not needed. Somehow I missed what you wrote when I posted earlier. I keep more shiners and fatheads and crappie minnows but some bullies in the same tank and plan to add a divider this weekend.

[Larry FlatCaster]

How do you guys get chlorine free water for your water changes? Local pond? chemical drops? or do you let the tap water sit in a bucket for a day?

Any of the above will work.

[APCfishing]

LArry-

what do you use instead of the carbon bag in your aquaclear?

[Larry FlatCaster]

I use more filter.... I don't buy any of the the refill packs for the aqua clear systems. (I did at first but no longer) I use my own media, with the same or better results at no cost.

As you do this more you start to get creative. Its all trial and error, what works for one... doesn't always completely work for another

You need to start somewhere though.

[blakeb]

what do you use for filter media?

[wastewaterguru]

I use cut up PVC plastic for the biological media and a foam "furnace filter" for a solids filter.

They sell a lot of different stuff on the internet if you look for pond filters....like the bioballs and other similar stuff but they are spendy. Find anything made out of HDPE or PVC and shred it or make strips and you're all set. Larry and I have also used carpet padding but I got away from it because I found a cheap source of plastic and the carpet padding has some glues and other organic solvents that cause foaming and other problems.

I started with a 30 gallon drum for a filter for a couple years and that worked good but I upgraded to more than 100 gallons of filter area this year.....full of shredded PVC "containment boom" material (similar to a PVC raincoat-type plastic). This gives the natural bacteria in the system a place to attach and lots of surface area to grow and reproduce.

The biological portion of a tank filter is just a place to grow bacteria that consume nitrogen. It can be foam, plastic golf balls, shredded 20 ounce plastic bottles, carpet padding, commercial filter media, plastic bottle caps, orange silt fence material, a cut up containment boom, etc., etc., etc.

The trick is the smaller the pieces or the more tiny pores....the higher the available surface area. Just remember that fish tank filters are designed to handle 20 little 1 inch guppies in a 55 gallon tank......

I have 100 to 150 7-inch bullheads in a 100 gallon tank so I have a much larger biological filter than anything you will ever find at an aquarium store.

And to save you all a couple more bucks....

For bait tanks that are aerated well. It only takes 30 minutes to an hour to get all the chlorine "stripped" out of the water. When filling the bait tank, make sure the hose is spraying and not pouring and 30 minutes of sitting after the fill is all it takes.

I have been running my bait tank for several years without ever treating the water with "dechlorinators" or ick treatment. We all get the ick in the bait tank occasionally and I agree with Larry in that the cause is most likely a combination of a compromised slime coat from excessive handling...and nitrate poisoning from inadequate biological filtration.

[APCfishing]

Wow, great info! Thanks WW.

Let me know your thoughts on my new set up:

I have an old mini fridge that holds around 35-40 gallons hooked up to an aerator and an Aqua Clear 70.

Im hoping to keep 10-20 bullheads max and maybe some creek chubs if possible. The tank has been up and running since Saturday, with about 10 bullheads and the water is still clear and odor free.

Do you see me running into any problems with just the aqua clear filter?

[wastewaterguru]

If you keep the water cool (55 to 60) then you should be fine. If the water gets warmer the chubs won't last long mixed with the bullheads. Make sure you clean off the black biofoam pad on the aquaclear occasionally. Just use water....no soap and especially no antibacterial soap.

[APCfishing]

Got it, thanks for help!

If you see red sylvan backtroller with a honda stop by say hi and Ill throw ya cold one.

[Scott K]

On first set up of a bio filter, do you add something to activate, hurry the process?