Well water for bait fish tank?

[n4cer26]

Hi guys!

I just made a smaller bait well complwte with areator, filter and heater.  I will be making a run for a few dozen shiners soon. 

My question is whether I can use well water from my outside faucet for the fish or does it need to be treated with something?

Thanks!

[Ice Scratcher]

My well water works great..

Colder the better, without freezing of course...

<°)))>{

[Iceassin]

I would say you are ok without treating. It's actually the treated water I would avoid which usually contains chlorine. JMO

[n4cer26]

Thanks for the replies!  I will be keeping the bait well in the garage.  It is off the concrete floor and I think with the filter, airiator and fish activity it shouldn't freeze.  I will be testing overnight without the heater to see if it can go without the heater.

Thanks!

[acmarcus]

Well water works great(at least for me). Be careful in the garage. Mine froze and lost 2 dozen minnows the other day.

[jdgambler]

well water should be fine. don't just dump them in though. get as much minnow water as you can then every hour sdd a couple gallons of well water. That way you won't shock them.

[n4cer26]

All great advice......thanks!

[perchjunkie]

Water conditioning powder or pills works great too. The minnows will not get soft and lose scales. I use it summer and winter. 

[jdgambler]

Here is mine. don't really need a aerator with the filter plashing in

[rugbym10sflyu]

for non-well water fishermen, aerating city water overnight will typically evaporate all of the chlorine etc. and can be used for keeping bait alive

[netminder34]

I use the same Aqua Safe that I use in my regular fish tank to treat water or the G2 that you can pick up at most bait shops.  Its cheap insurance and has helped keep minnows healthy for over a month with weekly water changes.

[RyanW]

I like using Seachem Prime and Seachem Stability (I own ornamental planted aquariums). Prime is an ammonia neutralizer/ dechlorinater/ and it removes chloramines. Prime is regarded as THE water conditioner in the hobby. Stability is a bottled bacteria meant to stabilize the water until beneficial bacteria can form in your biological media. I’d dose Stability  daily for bait tanks if you don’t have a constant water source (like at bait shops). I’d dose Prime with every 50% water change about every 2-3 Days. I’ve kept minnows for months in the fridge doing this. I only used those products because I already have them. A little goes a long way with those products. 5 ml of Prime treats 55 gallons. Stability is about the same and 1L bottles of both only cost about 10 bucks each on amazon.

Unless your well water is very terrible, I’d honestly just rely on frequent cold water changes.

[jdgambler]

I have even gotten them to eat small amounts of flake food.!