Need ur help with minnows!

[Ocean]

Hey guys, need tips or advice.

Bought 20 dozen personal shinners for the season, trying to keep alive in an ingested garage. 


Got a 20 gallon aquarium with a suitable 3 stage filter ( charcoal, nitrate , particulate removers)
Sand stone bubbler. Tank is wrapped with foam for insulation with a heat lamp over it for some indirect heat. 

My questions are: how cold do emerald shinners (3") like it? Should I get a real heater and keep it at a certain temp? Or is the colder the better?  The water is barely getting any ice but DAMB it's cold.

Do you need to feed these suckers for a 2 month season?

Any feed back appreciated.  Ř

[the fishing gene]

I keep crappie minnows, fat heads and suckers in a large cooler with a bubbler in my boathouse all winter and in my experience the colder the better. When the water starts to warm the minnows start to die. When it's cold their metabolism slows and they don't need to eat, the main thing is keeping the water clean. I try to change 1/2 out every week or so and scoop the dead ones out before they start to rot. They keep pretty well, Shiners are a bit more fragile though.

Mighty ambitious with a 3 stage filter - I'm an old aquarium guy too. That's a damn lot of fish for a 20 gallon, good luck.

[esox_xtm]

Don't know much directly about emeralds, but in regards to minnow keeping in general I can offer some info.

First colder is always better. It slows metabolisms so fish require less feeding resulting in less waste discharge. Oxygen needs are also reduced in cold water. Furthermore, cold tempered minnows do better when dropped into 39 degree water (like down an ice hole) than those kept in warmer or room temp water; temperature shock for shiners in particular can be lethal.

Just my experiences.......

/mike

[jeffro9023]

Colder the better for 2 reasons...1. Slower metabolism 2.so they don't get shocked when you shoot em down the hole...change the water often....and don't use chlorinated tap water...if u have no choice buy water or let the tap water sit in a 5gallon pail for 24hrs before exchanging...the chlorine will evaporate and it'll be usable

[Ocean]

Thanks guys, great advice.

[Barleydog]

Ocean,
Here's what I used to do when buying both suckers and emerald shiners in bulk for ice fishing back in Wisconsin...  I first went out and bought a couple of those extra large solid Styrofoam coolers and placed them on the COLD floor of the basement.  then filled with water and fish next...  The Styrofoam works great because it seems to breath and keeps them cold too.  I didn't let the water get warm, or the D.O. (dissolved oxygen) in the water would dissipate, (bad!)  I could keep the same minnows for months at a time with little care but the occasional water change, (well water and not chlorinated.)  Really, I think most public systems wouldn't have over .40 ppm of free available chlorine at your tap anyways, so this may not matter.  The aquarium air stone system is a plus!

[CharlieBrn]

Everyone is right about the lowering metabloic rate the colder it gets.  I have never kept this many over a season  but what do you feed them as the temps get to that point?

[Ocean]

I have read u don't have to feed. But I am not sure I hear both.   Nice to have own personal "store" in the garage   

[jeffro9023]

they will eat regular ol fish food....freeze dried shrimp works well also or crumble up pellets

[Barleydog]

Ocean you are correct on the feeding.  "If" you feed the minnows then you will have a problem with poo...  Poo and uneaten food is not good for the O2 levels within the tank, High Nitrogen, Ammonia etc...  They'll survive a while without, but if you feel compelled to feed them...  Make sure you change the dirty water or they'll die.