Some TLC minnow care

I usually buy my minnows on Friday and fish Saturday and Sunday. Our local marinas run out if you wait to get to the dock and by minnows usually. I usually buy 200 at a time and put them in a decent size cooler that fits in my fridge. I also connect a 110v aerator. I change the water every 48 hours and use better bait minnow formula to help reduce chlorine and minnows seem to do better.

Do y’all leave your aerator running all the time?
Maybe a myth but I heard I wears the minnows out causing them to swim a lot?

I’ve also heard of people freezing water bottles and putting them in minnow buckets to keep the water cool?

Any other tips or suggestions?


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Originally Posted by Pondbuster

Do y’all leave your aerator running all the time?
Maybe a myth but I heard I wears the minnows out causing them to swim a lot?

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What does it matter if their tired or not and what else would they do if their not swimming. I'd say it builds muscle so they can get away from your crappie! :Rofl

Freezing water bottles does work just don't get them too cold to quickly.

I have kept them in a tank all winter with plenty of aeration and water flow from the filtration. Cool minnows are happy minnows. The water vottles help keep them alive on hot days. Careful not to keep them so cool as to shock them when put on the hook and thrown into the water. I would adjust the water in the cooler to close to the temperature of the lake.

What they said, cool minnows is they key to keeping them alive, I usually keep 2 2 liter bottles frozen in my cooler, the minnows seem to like the temp of water in the 60s, in my opinion.

Make sure to keep a extra cooler with frozen water bottles to keep them fresh, I usually only put about 10-15 minnows in my bucket, and put a frozen 16 ounce bottle in it, and keep my other minnows on the cold cooler. Like I said that’s my own opinion. Works for me.

Cool for sure. My wife would leave me if I put them in the fridge.

I just bought 750 at the hatchery. The tank is 20 feet long and 4 feet wide. It has a current running in one direction all the time. The shiners casually swim just enough to stay in place. The owner says they do better with a little current over static water. My tank is oval with a slight current, keeps lots of shiners for weeks.