Feeding bullies?

[sanka]

So I've just gotten into catfishing. I went out and caught a half dozen bullies for bait this week. I meant to go tonight, but with 3+ inches of rain here, and even more south toward Mankato, I'm thinking I don't even want to bother with the Minnesota for at least a week. It was already high, and by now it's gotta be nuts.

My question is, what do I do with the bullies I have? Can I just keep them cool in my basement, aerated in a 30 gallon tank? Do I have to feed them? If so, what? I'm planning on waiting at least a week, maybe two, depending on the weather. I'd like some lively bullies for a first chance at a flathead hookup.

[MinnesnowtaWild]

I think you're fine with what you have going on. As long as the water is kept cool in your basement and you change the water every few days you should be fine. Keep the aerator on them 24/7 and they should be alive and well in a week or two when you want to use them.

No need feeding them in my opinion.

[aanderud]

No need to feed them, they'll make a mess if you do and make your water all dirty, and there's no benefit, unless you're talking about keeping them for months. If you have a 1/2 dozen in a 30 gallon tank, you can easily go a 5 days or more (a week or better probably) between water changes.

I have about 40 bullies downstairs in my 50 gallon sheep-size stock tank, and I go 5-6 days between water changes. This is without a filter, just a dual-stone aerator of the $10 walmart variety. My basement stays cool, since I keep my main floor air conditioned to roughly 72 degrees. I just checked the temp of my water using a thermometer, it is 64 degres.

Here's a couple pics of my simple yet effective setup.

I just ran a hose from the tank to the drain in the floor. I flip the valve when I want to change water, then go somewhere for 5 minutes while the water drains out. That washtub on the right (next to my file server) has a hose that I use to fill it again (you can see the hose there, it's clear). That takes another 5 minutes. Like I said, every 5-6 days or so (a week if I don't have many bullies in there).

[Scott K]

I learned you dont feed them an old ham that was in the fridge for to long

I dont feed mine at all, I will notice at times, they will start to get skinny, I just use them first.

[sanka]

Thanks guys.

I have all this old aquarium equipment around, and it just got handy again. One other thing I noticed. When I caught these guys they were black, black. Now they are getting that yellow/brown color. Any significance to that? Just stressed from their new home or what? They seem active as all get out.

It's been 3 days, and I assume if they were going to croak, they would have already, going by my aquarium experience. Seems to me from the mudholes I've tried out, bullies can pretty much live through anything.

[aanderud]

I haven't noticed that the brown/yellow is bad, it's only really bad if they start getting grayish or almost a translucent look to them. And that will take a while.

I added pics of my setup above.

[Scott K]

Here is a little writeup of mine.

http://www.hotspotoutdoors.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/2291101/My_bait_tank#Post2291101