Minnow question

How do you guys have your best luck keeping your minnows alive mine always die and it just pulls my last nerve!!

I keep my minnows in a Styrofoam bucket at home in the garage this time of year. It is good to keep the water cold just so it doesn’t freeze up. If it is not cold out and the water is warmer than I like an aerator is added to the bucket. I keep another bucket with water in it that was filled the day before. I have city water and if I change the water straight from the tap the minnows go belly up. By letting the water sit over night it allows the chlorine to escape and makes it safe for the minnows. I change the water daily.

Hope this helps.

Keep’em cold. Usually if I have shiners and fatheads I’ll keep them in separate containers when possible to avoid crowding.

I have an aluminum can screwed to a 2ft 1×2 board. It fits right down the hole and you can change your water right there on the ice. It is also good for carrying some water to shoot through the ice when necessary. If your shiners die put them into a zip lock and freeze them. The cats go ape for them in the spring. No sense feeding them to the gulls.

One other thing is to keep the minnow bucket clean.

$10 10 gallon Aquarium + $10 Water Filter from Wallyworld and you might loose only a couple. Maybe a smaller aquarium (5 gallon) would be perfect as mine was half frozen this week. A well insulated or heated garage would be great, I have neither. Just lost the last of my shiners from 12/16, and that was with city water no clorine drops.

Maybe adding a heat lamp next year.

Is there bait available down by Hunter’s somewhere??

Could someone post a picture of a “minnow”, I can’t remember what they look like!

erick~
As posted above the cold seems to keep them alive alot longer had some for two weeks only lost 3 but dont let them freeze, I keep mine out on my non heated porch and I add a arerator just to keep the water moving and from freezing up…

I agree with Scott that keeping minnows in a cheap aquarium has been ideal for my minnows. I keep them in my front window ledge to keep the water cold, but not freeze up and use an aerator to keep the water moving and every day I do a partial water change.

I should add that I also have the aquarium glass covered from the sun as not to get an algae bloom started.

This has worked for me and I don’t remember the last time I have lost a minnow from this.

Just my $.02

There is not bait at Hunters, but there is in Malmo, and at the gas station to the south of hunters about 5 miles.

Jami