How to keep minnows

[Lights]

I am trying to keep minnows from trip to trip. Tired of buying them every time i go only to throw most of them away. I have an aquarium pump and stone bubbler. Question being what do I feed them?

[Kylersk]

I'm no expert, but from what I've been told (and what I'm doing)... If you keep them somewhere cold, but not freezing, change HALF the water from time to time, they should last a couple weeks. The minnows I bought thursday are kicking around just fine, so far.

[CJC]

You can easily covert a large cooler into a small minnow keeper. The minnows will live without food for several weeks without the aid of an aerator. An areator will allow you to have the same minnows all season long (just add some comericial fish food).

I typically just keep 'em in my minow bucket and change the water when it gets too cloudy. Good luck and best fishes!

[ScottND]

I give them a ride around the lakes only using one of them while the others watch me drill hole after hole after hole. Then I let the hooked one join them back in the bucket. While in there I think the one I intended to be bait tells his buddies "Don't worry about the Putz hooking you, it doesn't hurt that much and he couldn't find a fish if his life depended on it! Like always he'll give us a ride back home, say he's never doing this again, only to pig out, fall asleep, then give us another ride just before sunset. Our chances of making it are much beter with him!"

[Wables]

I keep them in a 5 gallon bucket in my 50 degree basement. I put a fish tank aerator in there and don't have any problems.

[The Chemist]

I do the 5 gallon bit in the basement. I have left minnows at the cabin for almost the entire ice fishing season and only had minimal dead ones. I have never fed them due to the fact that if you don't check them and clean out constantly the un eaten food will rot and then the fish will start to croak left and right. Your best bet for food would be go to a store that sells fish/fish food(best bet would be Walmart). Get food for guppies or for baby fish. Whatever you use only put in small quantities so that all the food is eaten up. Also make sure it is finely ground if it's flakes you can grind it up in the palm of your hand. As for where to store if your basement is heated and put the bucket near in a cool place I put in at the porch door behind the curtains so they get some light.

Good Luck

[Guest]

I put them in a big cooler with two bubbler stones and change water, one half of the water and put a drop of stuff from wall-mart to help with city water. There in a unheated garage and have next to no death. I use the minnows fast enough that I dont need to feed.

[notanibble]

We should fish together then we could lug to minnow buckets around the lakes. That was funny.......but true.

[Lights]

ScottND, That was funny.

Thanks for the reply's

Lights

[Cheers]

If you can keep them at 50 deg. or less you should not feed them as the food will contaminate there water . Old food and excreetments produce amonia that is the major cause of death in aquariums. Fish can go for weeks with no food especialy as the water temp is lowered.

[arbuck]

Do they need light? I just bought a cheep aquarium and built a shelf in the basment against the concrete wall and put a box around it to keep cold in / warm out and it stays about 50 degrees but I don't know if I should re-build the box out of plexi-glass to let in light.

Thanks

arbuck

[psegriz]

The only thing light would do/not do is temporarily lighten or darken thier color. When you go fishin they'll be right back to where they'd be otherwise.

[gonefishin11]

All I do to store minnows is leave them right in the pail and usually change about 4 or 5 pop cans worth when I go out and then leave them in the insulated garage. I only take them in if it gets really cold and then they go down in the basement. The only dead ones are usually the recycled minnows from the previous outing. No food or anything too fancy. They stay alive over a week in just stryofoam bait bucket.

[Baldy's Baits]

Got a 50 gallon tub in the garage for keeping minnows. A couple aerators for oxygen and small aquarium heater to keep the ice off, and you are all set. These minnows also serve as food for my aquarium fish so I have a bunch at a time.