minnow tank

[diamond hunter]

I want a large minnow tank to keep in my basement to keep a few pounds of minnows in during cool weather.Does anyone have any advice,tank suggestions,filter advice or and general idea what to do?Been thinking about this for a few years and am ready.When I want to fish I can use soe and put the ones I don't use back for next time.This isn't to save money.its for convienience.Thanks

 

[blountcountyboy]

I have a well at our barn so I don't have to deal with choline but, I keep 10's of dozens (I don't know how many are in a pound) in a big divided galvanized sink that holds 20 gallons of water per side. I fill up one side for minnows and have 2 aerators going at all times on them and they do fine as long as the water is cold. As soon as the water starts to warm or you dump 55 degree well water on them they start dying off. I change the water out every day or so (3 days max) by opening the drain on the bottom and turning on the well so that the amount of water coming in is just slightly more than what's going out. I do this until they get acclimated to the warmer water and then I open the drain and run water until I flush all the poop out of the bottom of the tank. The poop makes ammonia and it eats up the oxygen in the water. As far as feeding them I just drop some gold fish food in every now and then.

 

[diamond hunter]

OK so does the water have to be changed out or can a filter system do that?

 

[varmint1111]

I use an old chest freezer, it's insulated to help keep the water cool. I run an air pump and a home made filter. I can easily keep minnows around 10 days with little water change. They do live better in cold water , but when u take them to fish with them the water at the lake is warm they will die pretty quick. So I keep the water in the tank warmer than my well water by changing some out every other day. That way when I get a chance to go I have minnows day or night.

 

[Tennessee Lead]

We always use a chest freezer with a fan type aerator to keep them alive longer.


Sent from my iPhone that I ain't smart enough to use with tapatalker

 

[fairchaser]

I used this old spreader for a minnow holding tank and added a filter and aerator I bought from Walmart. It worked well and kept minnows for a few weeks. Change about a third of the water out and add some minnow fresh blue crystals to take out the chlorine once a week. I used fresh water fish food and feed them every couple of days whatever they can clean up in 10 mins.

 

[beefydeer]

Tough to beat a chest type freezer