Week 3 on one scoop of minnows!

[th64]

We had a thread on keeping minnows alive and I could not find it-Anyway 3 weeks and those buggers(my minnows) are still alive-does not say much for my fishing ability I know but I catch them on other stuff too. Anyway I almost never use my bubbler. I blast water into a bucket hot and cold from my wash basin then add declor from the pet store and let that water get to room temp. Pour the water into a cooler from a foot up and that gets even more 0-2 into the water-put the cooler into a cool dark part of the basement and change out the water maybe on wed.

When I fish I will pour them into this cylindrical watercooler I bought at a big box store the cooler does not spill and the water will not freeze-otherwise strike master makes a nice one-saves me a trip to the baitstore, now if I could only keep my spikes alive! Oh also adding a tbs. of kosher salt to the water helps keep your minnows tough (pet stores do this) BTW if you leave the water bucket out for 24hrs you can skip the declor step.

[leech~~]

Wow, great. Most Pet store fish are from salt water, it's funny their still alive putting salt in there? Crappie minnows right? Try some Shiners with your setup and give a report!

[Mr.Seaguar]

I would guess all water has some salt. Look at your boots after a day on a shallow perch lake, just white from salt. Sea water has 4 oz of salt per gallon. I keep my minnows very cold and that makes them tougher too.

[leech~~]

I would guess all water has some salt. Look at your boots after a day on a shallow perch lake, just white from salt. Sea water has 4 oz of salt per gallon. I keep my minnows very cold and that makes them tougher too.

Sorry, but the salt line you see on your boots comes from the salt they put on the streets and roads.

[th64]

My minnows get cool temps. and xtra salt,

My minnows are tougher than yours!

[grasshopper]

Mine last at least a Month by changing the water. cold water and leave them in cool place.

[th64]

Leech-Shiners are very sensitive, salt, cool temps, vitamins, therapy, encouraging words, all that and a prayer for shiners!

[th64]

Now my minnows need to go more than a month to be tougher than grasshopper's

(uuuugh thought 3 weeks was pretty good)

[Great Outdoors]

Wow, great. Most Pet store fish are from salt water, it's funny their still alive putting salt in there? Crappie minnows right? Try some Shiners with your setup and give a report!

We always use salt when transporting minnows on the bait truck, and when taking them from ponds.

Greatly increases the life of your bait.

[leech~~]

We always use salt when transporting minnows on the bait truck, and when taking them from ponds.

Greatly increases the life of your bait.

Well, I'll be darned. Learn something every day! I will have to start bring the salt shaker with me when I head to the lake! What is your suggested salt to water % we should go for?

Hope they don't end up with high blood pressure now! Last thing I want is a ton of little mini heart attacks happening on the end of my hook, Thanks!

[Great Outdoors]

Non iodized salt (agricultural salt) works fine. Can go as high as 4 lbs. per 100 gallons, but about 2 lbs. per 100 gallons works well.

Just make the ratio comparable to whatever size container you're using.

Make sure the water temps are equal when adding new water or transferring them to a new tank.

Avoid using chlorinated tap water whenever possible.

A charcoal filter will remove chlorine if you absolutely need to use it.

[redneckdan]

I went six weeks on my last batch of rainbows. I run about 6 gallons of well water in a large marine cooler and I add a frozen gallon jug every day. I use a dual line bubbler with large air stones.

Went back to same bait store for another scoop yesterday. They must have had a jail break because my scoop turned out to be 1/3 rainbows, 1/3 crappie minnows and the rest large shiners. I usually flush with lake water when I get out on the ice and did so before I relied what I had. Killed about half the shiners but they still worked for tipping jigs. Brought the left overs home, we will see how long they last.

[gunner55]

Never heard about adding salt before either, will have to try it.

[Tom7227]

Buy some of the flake fish feed from a pet store and the minnows will last forever. It takes a bit for them to learn to eat it but they will after about the third time you put it in.

[wormdunker]

Catch more fish? that'll kill em

[pikestabber]

I seine my own shiners in the spring, and I know they get a bad rap for being one of the weakest minnows, but this is only partially true... Most people think they can't handle any temp changes. Now, you cannot just take them from 65 degree water and dump them in 33 degree well water and expect good results, but that will shock out ANY species. The main culprit of shiner fatality is not having enough O2. I find that to be roughly 100x more important than water temp. They can survive a relatively extreme change in temp as long as they can breathe (I've had them tip over due to adding them to cold water and had them all come back after introducing a 110 aerator). The reason to change out the water, however, is actually more about reducing by-products and less about 02. Their natural waste is toxic (ammonia) when it's allowed to concentrate in a container, and that will kill them regardless of temp and O2. Changing water is the best way to ensure healthy minnows. Exposure to ammonia over time, even if it doesn't kill them, weakens your bait and makes them more susceptible to fungal growth, etc.

So, that long rant to say this: You can successfully hold ANY species of minnow if you keep your water oxygenated and waste-free. Cool to cold water is better as a slower metabolism means they generate less waste and use less oxygen. Sounds like the simplest formula in the world, and it is, but you can't double up on one and expect it to compensate for ignoring another. As stated by others, feeding your minnows will keep them healthier and longer, but be aware that they will create more waste, as well. It's all a balancing act, but I have kept shiners in a stock tank for over 6 weeks successfully (until they were used up, not until they died!). Chubs, suckers and crappie minnows are that much more forgiving and can be kept nearly indefinitely if well maintained.

[Musky hunter 82]

Ok you guys might laugh at me but a couple years ago, I bought a scoop of shiners I ended up using half of them. The other half I put in a 55 gallon fish tank with my aquarium fish, I had those half dozen shiners in their for close to a year before I ended up taking the tank down. I think the biggest one was close to 5" - 6" long. I just feed them the same fish food the other fish were eating.

[pikestabber]

Ok you guys might laugh at me but a couple years ago, I bought a scoop of shiners I ended up using half of them. The other half I put in a 55 gallon fish tank with my aquarium fish, I had those half dozen shiners in their for close to a year before I ended up taking the tank down. I think the biggest one was close to 5" - 6" long. I just feed them the same fish food the other fish were eating.

I won't laugh at all. I had a couple "pet" shiners for a year, too. They actually make pretty cool aquarium additions They are amazingly fast swimmers and are unbelievably accurate when targeting flakes of fish food (zig-zagging around with precision and they never miss their mark). Pretty neat, actually!

[biff]

I remember seeing a fishing show where they where fishing down south with (freshwater) shad for bait...they were hard to keep alive and they added salt to the tanks to help. Never thought about adding it...might be worth a shot.

I also had a couple pet shiners in a 55 gallon tank. My "real" fish died and I was tired of cleaning the tank/filter so I just dumped a couple leftover shiners in there. I ended up having those things for years and never cleaned the tank or had a filter and the water was always clean. Maybe that's the key to keeping them alive...just have about 25 gallons per shiner They were actually pretty cute little buggers...every time I came near the tank they would get all excited waiting for food.

[Fowlmouth]

I use a product called the bottom bucket, keeps my minnows alive for weeks on weeks, it's paid for itself multiple times over.

[shortfatguy]

I used to put shiners in my fish tank too. They never lived very long. Might have had something to do with the 10" muskie I had in there! Sure was neat to watch him eat them though! The shiner scales created a real dramatic effect!