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I'm tired of dumping money in the lake at the end of the day. The weather is cooling so I want to buy my minnows for the fall/winter by the pound, and have a place to keep them at the end of the day.
Thinking of using a 50 gal. rubber trash can , 30-60gal aquarium filter and an aerator. Will this work fine? How many minnows can I keep with this set up?
I tried converting a 30 qt Gott cooler with a double air line set up but they die over night.
That should keep several hundred alive for a few days.
feelay, I bought one of those BIGGGG styrofoam coolers from walmart (around 20 bucks i think) and a dual line 110v bubbler from BPS (again around 20 bucks I think) and I have kept 2-3 pounds of minners alive all spring and fall with that.
Do you use a filter too?Quote:
Originally Posted by tritonman
I bought the pump/filter set up from sac-a-lait last year and ran it for a while, but to be honest I had a TON of minnows die off. It was probably something I was doing wrong but anyways, I talked to the man I but my minnows from and he told me he doent filter his water at all. He only uses air pumps and bubblers. I quit filtering and would go days without loosing a single one. He told me the best thing to do is a 20-30% water change two times a week. I'll post up some pics of my set up I have now in a bit. My tank is a Rubbermaid 150 water trough and I keep 5-7 lbs alive. I have two of the big aquarium pumps that have 3 air outlets from walmart.
nope, just the cooler and the pump. I was like feelay and got tired of pouring my money back in the lake so I started trying this setup a couple of years ago and it works great
Guess I'll go from the Gotts to Styrofoam.
Watch out for them coons. I'm just saying.
My experiment is going swimingly. Ha! Get it? Anyway. I set up an 18 gallon tote, used a filter rated for 10 gallons and a 110V single bubbler and added about 75 dozen minnows 2 weeks ago this Friday. Of course, the folowing Saturday, they got thinned down to about 25 and I had to redo the water then too, but other than that, I have not fed them, nor changed any water. So far, I've not lost a single one. My wonderment is how many it will support. I'm thinking I could do somewhere sought of 1 lb, but I'd probably have to cycle the water every few days, but I'd probably be safe with 200 to 250. Dunno yet, but I'm gonna keep experimenting with it, but won't buy any minnow specifically to stock it. I'm just gonna keep adding and subtracting as I fish.
Wannabe...
No reason the Gotts shouldn't work Maj. Did you "fix" the water to get the chlorine out?
Wannabe...
1 minner a trip, you ain't gonna have to do much adding and subtracting are you?
That company also has BnM PSTs for $17 each and C&Cs for $21. No, you can't have any of them either. Pffft.
Wannabe...
I';ve got a little peanut shaped decorative pone bout 4 foot long, 2 foot wide and a foot deep I toss mine into at the end each trip and I have very few die. No aerator or anything, just toss them in. For some reason they live
you must be adding a little green cup to them in the evening
nahh, green algea all up in there so they got plenty to eat plus that adds O2 to it
Yes, bought the Tetra stuff and the blue stuff. Think there is a contaminate in the cooler. It's an old one a former GF left at my house, no telling what was in it.Quote:
Originally Posted by Wannabe...
Amazing how sea monkeys work. I've been experimenting with minner/sea monkey DNA. Soon you will be able to pour your pellets in at the ramp and have a bucket full of minners when you get to your spot. Wait and sea
Disclaimer - This idea has already been patented by ES enterprises. Any attempt to replicate or steal my idea will result in prosecution.
Not sure how true it is but had a guy tell me to just add abit of salt to it. Thats pretty much all that blue stuff is
If you gewbers could catch fish, you wouldn't be throwing minnows away. I only buy 3 dozen at a time. 30 fish later, I go home.
Actually, if you try the Marine Metal products 100 gallon aerator and put 2 round stone in your tank, you can keep them alive for a while. They are going to die off no matter what you do. If you have a artesian well pumping cool water all the time, you don't need a aerator.
Heard the same thing from the guy I buy my minners from. He said to only use non-iodized salt like you would get in a feed store. He told me he uses it when it's hot outside to improve their slime coat.Quote:
Originally Posted by DonDon
feelay, ive saved my minnows for the last month.............i have what i think is a 48 or 50 qt cooler thatm i fill and put chlorine remover in..............then i use a single aquarium pump with an airstone...................and ive kept them for weeks at a time. i have some now that have been there for 3 weeks. sometimes, when the water is kinda warm, i add a little ice. when the water gets nasty, about once a week, i move them to another container, refill it with new water and repeat the process............hope this helps.
DD's coat is already pretty darn slimey...just saying
Feelay Tractor Supply had this tank on sale a couple week ago for 49.99. In has a 1/2" drain at the bottom and should last for years. I bought one but have not set it up for minner yet but I will when my shoulder lets me.
WB, Try a scoop of the Minner Ice I gave you. Just sprinkle it in the water. One scoop a week.Quote:
Originally Posted by Wannabe...
Yall wanna know how to do it....Here it goes.
1. Pick your container
2. Get RV in line water filter at walmart. (screws on to the end of your hose)
3. Get Aquarium air pump and large stone
4. Fill container with filtered water
5. Add Finer Shiner or other addetive to water
6. Put minnows in
7. Change 50% of water 2 times a week
8. Go fishing
Ive kept em alive in a 48qt cooler for weeks like this even in the summer
What bigger said but in the summer i put alonger air hose on the aerater and keep the aerater in the ac,keeps the water cool.Quote:
Originally Posted by biggerjigger
Bigger, is that what Papa Vic taught you? But I think Minnerman is right on about using that Minnow ice. It's cheaper than Finner Shinner.
Whats this minnow ice and where do you get it?I use that stufffrom wm.Quote:
Originally Posted by crappiholic
With the highs not even reaching the 70's and the nights getting cold now you'll do fine keeping minnows in a large plastic barrel. When I first started keeping 'em every time I came back from fishing I'd dump what minnows I had left in a 30 gal. barrel and they'd be fine without any kind of aeration until they got used up. It wasnt long before I bought a small couple small bubblers from Walmart and began buying by the lb. I got two 55 gal barrels from a car wash place (they give 'em away and get 'em quite frequently;)). You probably would be alright using one barrel, but I'd buy two lbs at a time and split 'em between the two barrels. I would recommend you buy the amount of minnows you think you'd use up in a month (even though they'll last longer during the winter months).
I use a 55 gal barrell, drill a few holes close to the top, every couple days turn on the hose let it fill slow, water runs out the holes, cleans out the mess, and ready to go again, well water no clorene.
I turned my water the same way until I added a ball valve to the botttom of the barrel. I slide my minnow net over the pipe which runs to the middle of my barrel on the bottom which is connected to the ball valve now and open the valve and run out half the water. That sucks out most all the settlement on the bottom of the barrel. Then I re-fill with well water.Quote:
Originally Posted by beagle man
www.Tournamentice.comQuote:
Originally Posted by jimfish
You don't necessarily have to freeze it Mr Jim. You can use it like the rejuvenate or other fish calming stuff.
Could we put it in the Jackson drinking water? We could try it out at the zoo first.
It is good stuff Mr. Jim.
Wannabe...