IceShanty.com's Ice Fishing Community
Ice Fishing Tips -Check your local regulations! => Ice Fishing Live Baits and Plastics => Topic started by: fishEH on Nov 21, 2018, 07:16 PM
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What do you guys do for keeping crappie minnows and roach minnows alive at home? I'd like to buy about 6 dozen at once snd just keep them at my house.
I've had OK luck keeping them in a fish tank with its own filter. Last year I tried to run the minnow tank off a wet/dry filter I had plumbed into my 75 gallon, but I had a lot of dead loss.
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Cold clean water. Sounds like you got the clean part down. In my experience the colder the better as long as their not froze
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Cold clean water. Sounds like you got the clean part down. In my experience the colder the better as long as their not froze
...and if you are using municipal water, let it sit in a container, uncapped, for a day or so as most are chlorinated, fluoridated, etc. which could be harmful to the fish. Keep it cold and fresh and PLENTY of oxygen ...high quality/high volume air pump. Good luck.
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There’s so many variables if you are keeping them in a tank but I’m guessing just like with any pet fish you need the filters cycled first. That might be a good start.
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I'm on well water, but maybe I'll move the tank out to my garage rhis year. Water should stay colder out there.
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Yea if your garage stays in the 40’s-50’s that would probably help
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I add a few hand fulls of snow to the water & turn on the aerator to keep them overnight in the basement next to an outside wall.
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I add a few hand fulls of snow to the water & turn on the aerator to keep them overnight in the basement next to an outside wall.
Same here except mine are kept in in a shed
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How many pounds of bait are going into 75 gallon tank?
You may need to make a filter or buy a very large one. Depending on how much bait you are keeping, your gonna need to filter alot of stuff out of water. More fish, more piss, crap that needs to be filtered out.
I kept about 7 pounds of bait in a 55 gallon drum in my 63 degree-ish basement all last season. I made a filter system. It worked pretty well. I had Rosie's all the way up to pike shiners in the drum.
Cycle the filter. As much as you can. I started with like a dozen shiners to star the filter cycling. Waited almost a month before I dumped my bait in. I still lost some fish but i think the filter wasnt cycled all the way. Just way too many fish at once. Couldn't filter out the junk.
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My bait tank is only a 20gal. I plan on running a Rena XP3 filter on it. I'd like to keep a couple dozen crappie minnows a about the sms for roaches. I've got extra filter media cycling in the wet/dry sump on my 75gal now. Once we finally have some decent ice I'll set up the 20 with the filter media and about 15 gallons of water from the 75.
How many pounds of bait are going into 75 gallon tank?
You may need to make a filter or buy a very large one. Depending on how much bait you are keeping, your gonna need to filter alot of stuff out of water. More fish, more piss, crap that needs to be filtered out.
I kept about 7 pounds of bait in a 55 gallon drum in my 63 degree-ish basement all last season. I made a filter system. It worked pretty well. I had Rosie's all the way up to pike shiners in the drum.
Cycle the filter. As much as you can. I started with like a dozen shiners to star the filter cycling. Waited almost a month before I dumped my bait in. I still lost some fish but i think the filter wasnt cycled all the way. Just way too many fish at once. Couldn't filter out the junk.
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My bait tank is only a 20gal. I plan on running a Rena XP3 filter on it. I'd like to keep a couple dozen crappie minnows a about the sms for roaches. I've got extra filter media cycling in the wet/dry sump on my 75gal now. Once we finally have some decent ice I'll set up the 20 with the filter media and about 15 gallons of water from the 75.
20 gallons should be fine for a few dozen crappie shiners.
I suggest getting a bottle of dechlorinator from a pet store in case you need to do water change unexpectedly. Other than that. Make sure you have a clean supply of good water to swap out until filter is cycled enough to dispose of the waste.
Dont feed them, keep them as cold as possible so their metabolism slows and they stop peeing and pooping in the water.
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I can keep several dozen minnows in just a 5 gallon bucket in my basement using only a fish tank aerator. I change about half of the water every 2 days. I live in town, so I use tap water conditioner intended for aquariums. Not only does it remove chlorine, it helps with slime coat and stress reduction. I generally only have about 1-3 dead every time I do the water change, so I'd say I'm doing pretty well.