Home made minnow tanks.

I know many of you have difficulty with procuring bait on an as needed basis. I am no different. Last year I read several post about building minnow tanks for personal use. I thought about if for a while and came up with the following design. Here is what you will need to build it.

1. 50 gal blue plastic drum. ( minnow people tell me this is the best color for them)

2. 110 volt air pump (any good bait shop will have these)

3. Aquarium filter (small one from Wall Mart)

4. Roll around platform (optional)

5. Drain spicket (optional)

Cut the drum off with a skill saw just above the first stiffening ring.
Attach a 90 degree pice of aluminum or other suitable material to the top. This is a platform for the air pump. Attach the pump with a wire tie. Add the filter right beside the pump. Add water and a little bait saver and you are ready to go.

This tank will keep up to 2 pounds of minnows for many weeks. Attachment 115828Attachment 115829Attachment 115830

good idea

I have thought of doing this in my garage... Where do you store them?(temp, etc) It would be great for me to be able to do this, have a cousin that married into a bait wholesaler... So I could get some minnows at a reasonable price $20 for 500 medium ones

At'll work right there. You need to keep it out of any sunlight or algae will grow and turn the water green

I keep my tank in my basement. As long as you keep it out of direct sunlight you will be OK. Remember this in only supposed to be a temporary tank. It is not designed to hold your bait over several months. If you need that length of time you can clean and refill it when needed.

I have almost the same set up except that I use a 39 gallon trash can from Lowes with a plastic faucet at the bottom to drain 1/3 of the water daily because I don't have a filter system at all. I refill it with RV filtered water directly from my home faucet and feed them jokers daily or they will start to eat each other. So far I have maintained @3 pounds for 6 to 8 weeks without any problem. I may loose one minnow every other day on average.

Yikees....explain about the RV filtered water

RV filter from Wally world. Take out chlorine and a bunch of other chemicals and minerals.

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Hey Gary....I heard that you could fill a barrel or a open container up with tap water and that in 24 hours the chlorine would disapate into the air and be removed....is this true?

Go to get me one of them RV Filters, need to change the filters in my pump too. Still got a pound or so of minners we had left over from the Chotard tourney

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Originally Posted by "G"

Hey Gary....I heard that you could fill a barrel or a open container up with tap water and that in 24 hours the chlorine would disapate into the air and be removed....is this true?

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G I let my tank set six days before I put minnows in it and they all died. I put treatment in it to take the chlorine out and they re doing fine now.

Yep you can find a RV filter in the automotive department at Walmart for about $20. I started out using a little U2 additive as well but later found it wasn't needed.



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Thanks for the info guys

to me the aquarium filter is a must, havent changed any of my water in 3 weeks.

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Originally Posted by "G"

Hey Gary....I heard that you could fill a barrel or a open container up with tap water and that in 24 hours the chlorine would disapate into the air and be removed....is this true?

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True. Chlorine is a gas.

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Originally Posted by jigflinger

True. Chlorine is a gas.

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Not so fast. Most municipalities no longer use straight chlorine. Most use chloramine- chlorine bonded with ammonia. This extends the life of the chlorine (it won't evaporate out as quickly) and it is somewhat more potent as a bacteria and algae inhibitor. You can buy water treatment from Wal-Mart or any pet store that will remove chloramine from the water instantly. Just dump and go. You can even fill with the hose, add the dechlorinator, and the fish will be okay.

If you're really interested in filtering the water, you can kill two birds with one stone by using a large sponge filter instead of the mechanical filter shown. All you need to do is hook your airline up to it and drop it in the water. You may have to tie a weight or two to it to keep it on the bottom in the beginning. Buy the one rated for 125 gallons. You can't over filter the water. Believe it or not, the tiny bubbles from an air stone don't actually oxygenate the water. The surface agitation caused by the bubbles promotes gas exchange. As long as the surface is moving around, you'll be fine. Keep a few minners swimming around or drop a goldfish or two in your barrel to keep the filter active. As long as it's out of direct sunlight, you should be able to keep the goldfish in there indefinitely, even during the winter. Change five or ten gallons every now and then and you should be able to keep minners year round.

Sincerely,
Former tropical fish wholesaler and retail aquarium store manager.

Good info. Thanks for posting. Have never had any problem letting city water stand for 24 hours. Most times I just use the RV filter.

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Thanks for all the feedback guys!

Guys I'm going to try this but I do have one question. I'd store my minnows in my garage will they hold in the spring and summer months when the temp is up.

One of my buddies has one he's raising MINNOWS in year round. He has a 200g plastic pond. He took a 5g bucket drilled a bunch of holes in it and put a large waterfall pump in it. Covered it with gravel. This is a great filter. The outlet hose he ran around the upper edge of the pond and drill a bunch of holes in it so that it would aerate the pond. He has a tent set up over it to keep in in the shade. And he but a heat trace tape in it to keep it from freezing. Works great. I'm going over there today after work. I'll try to get some pics.

Nice looking set up!!

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Originally Posted by crappiehooker

One of my buddies has one he's raising MINNOWS in year round. He has a 200g plastic pond. He took a 5g bucket drilled a bunch of holes in it and put a large waterfall pump in it. Covered it with gravel. This is a great filter. The outlet hose he ran around the upper edge of the pond and drill a bunch of holes in it so that it would aerate the pond. He has a tent set up over it to keep in in the shade. And he but a heat trace tape in it to keep it from freezing. Works great. I'm going over there today after work. I'll try to get some pics.

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Sounds like Gators setup.


Big River Marine
Bill Burnett
870-635-0202

We sell XPRESS, EXCEL, and ALWELD Boats. Yamaha, Suzuki, Evinrude, Mud Buddy, and Tohatsu/Nissan Engines.
Pro Staff, Southern Pro Tackle and Ozark Rods.
Member, Tri-State Crappie Anglers

Looks like a good set up.
With cutting the top off of a plastic barrel, after a while it can fold in. I would cut the top out instead of off. Leave the heavy rim at the top.
There has been talk before about how to keep the water cool during the summer months. Since I'll be starting a new tank this year, have it on my covered deck. I have a frig. sitting there now. If I cool the air to be pumped into the tank. I'll put a coil of plastic tubing in the freezer. If I cool the water, I'll put the coil in the frig.. (If you cool the water, don't use copper tubing for the coil.) Just got an idea. Fill a straight wall plastic drink bottle with water. Wrap the plastic tubing loosely around the bottle, use tape to hold tubing in place. The door gasket can be notched under the magnet, caulked or taped when finished. Tubing connectors can be found in pet supplies.

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Originally Posted by BigRiverMarine

Sounds like Gators setup.


Big River Marine
Bill Burnett
870-635-0202

We sell XPRESS, EXCEL, and ALWELD Boats. Yamaha, Suzuki, Evinrude, Mud Buddy, and Tohatsu/Nissan Engines.
Pro Staff, Southern Pro Tackle and Ozark Rods.
Member, Tri-State Crappie Anglers

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Yes it is.

I have always had to sit my water out for 24 hours to get the chlorine out so the monniws would not die. After reading this post, I purchased one of the rv water filters. I have not tried it yet, but wanted to make sure that I read this right. If I use this rv water filter, I can put minnows in the tank directly after putting the watyer inn the tank. Is that right?

I collect rain water off the drip of the house mostly for watering flowers and some garden plants in 5 gallon buckets and barrels. I'll clean out one bucket, lay an old tee shirt over it and filter the water from the other buckets for the minnow tank. Since they collect leaves and twigs from the trees around the house. The minnows seem to like it. When I swap some of the water from the tank, it's used to do the watering.

Y'all don't have to rest the water. This stuff, available at any Wal Mart, Petsmart, Petco, or anywhere that sells aquarium fish, will work. Aquarium water conditioner. The minnows themselves are called Golden Shiners and shouldn't be that negatively affected by heat as long as you have adequate surface agitation to aerate the water. You can also cool the water by a few degrees with a simple clamp-on fan across the surface. It aids in evaporation, which aids in cooling. If you're keeping a pile of minnows, you'll want to change a good portion of the water once or twice a week. Drain, fill, add water conditioner, and you're good to go. You may need a pretty stout air pump to keep the water's surface moving enough to keep up with the fish mass.

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Originally Posted by dhdr24

I have always had to sit my water out for 24 hours to get the chlorine out so the monniws would not die. After reading this post, I purchased one of the rv water filters. I have not tried it yet, but wanted to make sure that I read this right. If I use this rv water filter, I can put minnows in the tank directly after putting the watyer inn the tank. Is that right?

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Yes, you can go straight from your hose to your minnow tank if you use an RV filter. It strains 15 different chemicals.

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Thanks Yikess, luck to you

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Originally Posted by yikess

Yes, you can go straight from your hose to your minnow tank if you use an RV filter. It strains 15 different chemicals.

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How long does the filter last without having to be changed, or does it get changed?


Big River Marine
Bill Burnett
870-635-0202

We sell XPRESS, EXCEL, and ALWELD Boats. Yamaha, Suzuki, Evinrude, Mud Buddy, and Tohatsu/Nissan Engines.
Pro Staff, Southern Pro Tackle and Ozark Rods.
Member, Tri-State Crappie Anglers

The label says the RV filter should last about 3 months depending on how bad the water is. The plastic outside case is sealed so I guess its disposable.

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You can see my plastic drain and hose that leads outside the garage.

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3 months of constant use I would imagine. Should last quite awhile just doing minners occasionally.


Big River Marine
Bill Burnett
870-635-0202

We sell XPRESS, EXCEL, and ALWELD Boats. Yamaha, Suzuki, Evinrude, Mud Buddy, and Tohatsu/Nissan Engines.
Pro Staff, Southern Pro Tackle and Ozark Rods.
Member, Tri-State Crappie Anglers

Check your private messages Big River Marine

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Originally Posted by dhdr24

Check your private messages Big River Marine

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PM sent.


Big River Marine
Bill Burnett
870-635-0202

We sell XPRESS, EXCEL, and ALWELD Boats. Yamaha, Suzuki, Evinrude, Mud Buddy, and Tohatsu/Nissan Engines.
Pro Staff, Southern Pro Tackle and Ozark Rods.
Member, Tri-State Crappie Anglers

Can anyone tell me how to install the drain spicket into the barrell?

I used a 3/4" drill bit and put a garden hose gasket on each side of the trash can wall.

Thanks for all of the feed back on this thread guys. I hope all of that use this information find it to be useful and accurate. DON't forget to support your local bait shop!

Gilman