more minnow help

heres what happened. its been about 40 degrees here during the day. and 25 at nite. the other day i bought 3 dozen minnows ,put em in a 5 gal bucket with a bubble box. and after 6 hours there was a dozen in the bottom on there sides getn washd around by the bubbles. so i turnd it off and2 hours later ther was only 2 layin on the bottom. so a coupl hours later i go back out and about a dozen wer layin around(lookin barely alive. so i turnd the box back on and they came back to life. for a few hours then back half dead. why was this happening. iv never had a problem like this before. anybody know why?

Is there chlorine in the water you use? Something sure killed them, maybe something undesireable was in the bucket before you used it for minnows.

Sounds like they suffered severe stress/shock in transit.

I had the same issue and a fellow fisherman told me to keep them in a styrofoam bucket because it breathes and they won't suffocate. It also holds the temp pretty constant. I had to try it to believe it, but right now there are 3 dozen minnows swimming around in my bucket that I bought last Wednesday. Not a one has died. No bubbler, just the water from the holding tank at the bait store. Before I started using styrofoam I had a plastic flowtroll and I could not keep them alive after I got home for more than a day.
Works for me, he must have been right, but I had to see it to believe it.
Searay

i c. i think ima hav to get me one of them. thanks guys

styrofoam keeps them the best,if you can get 1 of the thick coolers they ship omaha steaks or medical supplys in you will be amazed at how long minnows will last i have tried alot of different methods but allways come back to styrofoam

I have a 25 gal plastic barrell been using it for many years .About once a month I change the water in it and only use rainwater that I collect in a 55 gal plastic drum from the gutter on the garage.I riged me uo a filter that i circulate the water from my tank to a 5gal bucket(pickle bucket from McDonalds)full the wifes hose (she still can't figure out what happened to all her hose) and pea gravel.I draw the water from the bottom of the tank pump it thru the filter and back into the tank.In hot summer months sometimes I have to add water once a week or so. I can keep 200 minnys in it and have no problem keeping them alive ,feed them every other day goldfish flakes. Long as you keep the water moving and circulating and out of the sun the water will stay plenty cool. Think of it this way not many creeks have bags of ice in them.