feed minnows?

[markcl]

when,what and why do you feed minnows,at what point do you dump em and get fresh ones?

[HARDWATER]

only when thay are floting i replace them or run out..and i feed them a hook..

[Fergie2u]

LOL that was so funny (feed them a hook) what a good one. But that's what I feed them also.

[woodyjdh]

Never really fed minnows...only to the fish. Ok, on a serious note...we just make sure to change the water frequently. Lake (river, stream, etc...) water has all the food and nutrients in it already. Although if you are one that brings your minnows onshore during the week, I have heard of using tropical fish food, but never tried it. I just give them what mother nature gives them...fresh water.

[federline]

Nice, home-sweet-home lake water - yes.

Bubble the water, too. Simple fish tank air pump... with a porus stone on a air tube to make real tiny bubbles. Dissolved oxygen levels drop dramatically in a bare bait bucket or tank in just 2 or 3 hours without air churn.

Stinky-fresh lake water + oxygen = happy minnows? I spose. I like feeding them hooks, too.

[Lunker]

Don't bother trying to feed them, they won't eat. They will stay alive a long time with cool water(not tap water!) and an oxygenator thingy. I fyou don't want to buy a bubbler(they arent expensive) you can get by a surprising amount of time with a big hunk of snow or ice every day or fresh water.

[Guest]

this HSOforum is full of too many goofballs

[Guest]

The experiment has been done and I am here
To disolve the myth that minnows wont eat, I have had a rosey red in my fish tank for 3 weeks she is staying orange eating like a normal fish and gets along great with Ed my Coy.

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en kala
(I fish)

[Deitz Dittrich]

A few years ago I had 4 quite small bluegill in an aquarium. After a outing fishing for crappie one evening, I thought it would be fun to put 2 extra small minnows in the tank as FOOD for the bluegill. Both minnows outlived the bluegills and ate whatever you put in the tank.

[loosegoose]

Don't feed them they eat their own entrials anyway. To keep them alive store them in a cool place and add snow to the water every couple of days, I guess that would be tough if you didn't have any snow though. I keep minnows alive for a couple of months in my garage using this technique.

[irvingdog]

I have a second refrigerator (Beermiester ) that I store my minnows in. I keep a pitcher of water in there for water changes if I don't fish for a week (I usually make more trips to the beermiester ). don't bother to feed minnows if you are keeping them cold. Their metabolism drops considerably, they eat less and produce less waste. This results in cleaner water, longer.

[FisherDan]

Hi all I keep my minnows in a fish tank at room temp. feed then fish food from Wal-mart
some live for months even the shiners. I do lose one or two a day or so. I just keep the air and filter going feed then once or twice a day and change the water with my well water when it gets cloudy. Maybe my well water is better suited for fish then people LOL

Good luck Dan

[Northlander]

I keep mine in a 5 gallon pail with lake water. I use my airator and yes I do feed them. 1 time a week I put in fine goldfish food. They will eat it! Keep clean cool water and they last forever. Dont overfeed them or they will eat too much and die. Just a couple pinches is all 1 time a week.

[LocalGuide]

They do eat food and I have tried and tested and found that they will.
I have feed: creek chubs, shiners, fatheads, and suckers. The ones that are hard to get to eat are the fatheads and crappies minnows. Them I just leave alone. But the creek chubs eat the best. They will even eat the small crappie minnows. So I dont put them together anymore. I just keep my minnows in the garage (heated and insulated so it stays above freezing) in a 15 gallon fish tank with a "Double Bubble" brand aerator. Any aerator will help keep minnows alive longer.

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AKA PikeEye 300

[JEFFO]

If you don't have any fresh lake water accessible you can fill up a pitcher of tap water and let it sit out for a day. This way the chlorine can evaporate since that is what is most harmful to the minnows any way. Also a note about the bubbler, just because you are forcing bubbles into the water doesn’t mean you are increasing the dissolved oxygen content. You are just increasing the dissolved air content. I think air only has 20 some odd percent oxygen. I’m just saying that is not the most effective way to boost DO. Sorry to be so technical but I just wanted to add my .02

Jeffo

[LocalGuide]

jeffo, your right but thats what was free so I gotta go with it. I also heard that it only does dissolve like 20% or 30% oxygen.
So far I haven't had any minnows die, just the ones that get attacked by the creek chubs.
Some kind of aeration helps and a change of water, for me, every 2 weeks.

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AKA PikeEye 300

[icemaster]

never fed a minnow before, and never had problems with em.

[Snag]

Try cornmeal. Brought some sorry looking shiners to life for me last week.