Bait surviving

[Sawyerjosh]

I've had a few dozen shiners going for a little over 2 weeks in a 5 gallon bucket with a bubbler. Every 24 hrs I switch between my mudroom and my porch. Change the water every few days. There are even 5 or 6 smelt on there. Doing fine

[freshwater fishing]

Well on my way to Wally world today I saw a old cooler on the side of the road probably 10-15 gallons and I immediatly stopped and grabbed it I still went to Walmart and got a aerator Im gonna put it out in my shed but it was pretty nice that there was just a random cooler on the side of the road looks like the fish gods are lookin out for me

[freshwater fishing]

So I've got my new cooler all set up and im gonna put fish in it tomorrow and was wondering if you guys leave you aerators running all day and night or just turn them on and off at times

[Seamonkey84]

Leave the pumps on. As for the cooler, I would scrub and soak it with vinegar to remove any residue that may be in it, soaps kill fish.

[freshwater fishing]

All I did was wiped it down with a wet rag it was pretty clean already so it looked pretty good

[Wolley]

I think you only need aeration for larger quantities of bait. If you are just keeping leftovers, like a few dozen, you are fine without it by just changing the water out once a week or when it gets cloudy.