Baitfish H20

[MadFisha]

We started trapping our own bait this year and keeping them in a big cooler in my shed. I have town water and heard it will kill all the shiners if I use it in my tank. Is there anything I can add it it to make it safe to use? Thanks. 

[fishlessman]

they have this online, Sure Life LCR, but as far as i know just let the water sit out for a few days and let the chlorine dissipate

[jacksmelt71]

put a bubbler / pump to it for 12hrs. should be good to go.

[Seamonkey84]

put a bubbler / pump to it for 12hrs. should be good to go.

Most municipal water uses chloramine now instead of chlorine, so it doesn’t gas out anymore. Go to a local pet store and get some water conditioner, Prime is a very good one as it’s very concentrated and it also detoxifies the ammonia from the chloramine and fish. But leaving the water out to overnight or a day to reach the same temp as your tank is important.

[gunn308]

I always carry 4 buckets with covers whenever I go fishin so I can bring back lake water for exchanges

[MadFisha]

Thankyou all for the replies, usually bring buckets but a couple spots its steep n I'm getting old I guess.  I'll let some sort out for a couple days and try a small batch.

[TheCrittaC]

I've heard that if you're on town water, it helps to let the buckets of water sit overnight to let some of the chlorine evaporate out of it. Not sure if that works or not.

[woodchip]

Most municipal water uses chloramine now instead of chlorine, so it doesn’t gas out anymore. Go to a local pet store and get some water conditioner, Prime is a very good one as it’s very concentrated and it also detoxifies the ammonia from the chloramine and fish. But leaving the water out to overnight or a day to reach the same temp as your tank is important.

[BHardy]

Yes, as others have said you need to break the chemical bond.  That’s not gonna happen no matter how long you leave it out with a bubbler.

 Prime, or any other water conditioner found at your local pet store will do the trick.  You can also use rainwater or melt snow, I have 4 tropical aquariums and I have several 45 gallon trash cans full in my basement. I have a large water collection barrel I use to get me thru the winter months.

[gauge]

I'm having a good time tapping this year. Bait's doing fine at home.
We do have a couple trips planned soon. I've always bought bait and have them bag and gas it.
Can I do the same at home?? any advise is appreciated.

gauge

[The Rusty Crab]

Yes, as others have said you need to break the chemical bond.  That’s not gonna happen no matter how long you leave it out with a bubbler.

 Prime, or any other water conditioner found at your local pet store will do the trick.  You can also use rainwater or melt snow, I have 4 tropical aquariums and I have several 45 gallon trash cans full in my basement. I have a large water collection barrel I use to get me thru the winter months.

Ssshhhh. Collecting rain water is illegal in some states. 

[jacksmelt71]

don't give mills any ideas!

[burgerunh]

I am on city water at my house.  I do not trap my bait but have had success keeping purchased bait alive in my garage using the 2 - bucket method.  What's the 2 bucket method you are wondering?  I keep 2 - 5 gallon buckets of water in the garage.  One of the buckets keeps the shiners.  The other is just sitting there waiting for the next swap.  This gives the chlorine in the water a chance to disipate.  Every 4 days or so I will swap the shiners from 1 bucket to the other bucket.  Dump the water that the shiners were in outside in the snowbank.  Refill the empty bucket and wait for the next water swap and swap over the shiners.  I have even kept smelt alive for a couple of weeks so this works.  As most know smelt die if you look at them wrong!   

[lv2huntandfish]

This is all you need

[mikez]

Call the water dept to find out if they really do use chloramine. It's not true that most towns use it.
If no chloramine, just leave the bucket out all night.
If they really DO use chloramine go to a pet store and get water conditioner that will take care of it.
You still need to set the bucket out all night to get the temp right.

[lynng]

Walmart also carries several aquarium chlorine treatments if you don’t have a pet store handy.

[MadFisha]

Thankyou all for the help...

[Dags Bait Maine]

Ok, so just to be technical, chloramines will gas off eventually. Yes chlorine (Cl2) is more volatile then any of the cholromines even monochloromine NClH2(the kind in city water). Though monochloromine is smaller then chlorine gas the polarity chloromine has makes it want to stick to water more so than plain ole chlorine, but that doesn't mean that it won't gas off. The rate of which varies when it's dissolved in an aqueous solution (your water) depending on pH, temperature, partial pressures, blah blah chemistry, but its about a week for most of it to dissipate instead of a day like chlorine.

Its when we talk about chloramine degrading into this mess { 3 NH2Cl + 3 OH− → NH3 + N2 + 3 Cl− + 3 H2O }, that we see a very low rate of K (like an equilibrium or how fast it goes to the other side depending on concentrations)

So just because it takes forever and a day to degrade does not mean that it will remain present in solution indefinitely. City water can be added into bait systems a little at a time with no treatment.
 

-Dylan