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The only place in my town that sells minnows never seems to order enough minnows. He get's his shipment in Thursday and he's out by Monday a lot of weeks. I set up an aquarium pump and aerator in a lrg ice chest in my shop to keep some in.
My question is will I need to give them any food?
No, not unless you are going to keep them for a couple weeks then give them some goldfish flakes
Thanks
I keep minnows in a 15 gallon bucket all the time. All I have is a large air stone and aquarium air pump and a filter to keep the water kleen. If you plan to keep them for a while, just a little gold fish food like the last reply stated. Also in warmer weather I keep 2 litre bottles filled with water and freeze them and keep one in the bucket to help keep them cool. If they get hot they will die very fast. Good luck.
Just don't let them get hot.
I use to buy shiner minnows 10 pounds at a time for crappie fishing on the SQ river in PA. Kept them in an old freezer out in my barn. Added mixing salt to the water. This Is what the wholesalers added to the water when they shipped them out. Don't use table salt as the iodine will kill them. Used to keep them for a month or more, if I didn't use them up to fast, and yes keep the water cool. 96 minnows per lb x 10 = 960 minnows you can get mixing salt at a feed store or you can use kosher salt.
It's about 4 feet long and a foot or so deep. I got some large river rocks I use as a border and then have some in the bottom as well to give them shade. I also bought one of those double AC aerators. Just need to find a way to hide the aerator better. Under a bucket right now. Works great in the cooler weather but they die quick in the hot weather. Least it's purdy LOL
Don, better add some chicken wire over your pond, or the racoons will consider it an "all you can eat" diner. You'll come out to fill your bucket for a day of fishing, only to find an empty pond.
Ain;t got to worry bout them. I live in town and they never bother me where I'm at. Now I have seen the stray cats sitting round it before LOL
Nice pond it is to hot down here for that pond in florida
Only works when it's cooler. I'm in Mississippi so they are hard to keep alive in the summer
You can extend the life of your minners if you will add about a cup of mixing salt in every 50 gallons of water and do a complete water exchange every 2/3 days. Water will lose it's ability to hold oxygen after it's used so long. And the water change will get rid of the solid waste in it. Minner farmers flush their fish every day. The salt is good health insurance. It reduces stress and promotes slime generation.
find a old refrigerator take and have cooling tubs made and let them hang off in to the water works great hear s.c. this summer it was like 98 to 102 deg 4 over 30 days in a row and lost every few in that time frame
Need to figure out a way to keep the water clean. That's #1 in keeping minnows for any period of time. That and maybe shade the area a little.Quote:
Originally Posted by DonDon