Keeping minnows alive

[PSU]

Hello Friends, certainly delayed but looking forward to coming up in a few weeks!

 

I searched for a thread for this, but really didn't find anything recent. Any tips and/or suggestions to keep rainbows or other minnows alive between trips? I must throw out a hundred dollars worth of minnows each year and wondered if a simple aquarium with a stone aerator would keep them alive for a week or so as we generally come up every other weekend.

 

I am sure there are better ways, but just a thought as we have an old aquarium or two sitting around.

 

Thanks

 

[Raven77]

That will work for awhile but if you have a large number of minnows in the tank you will quickly build up contaminants that will kill them.  You need a way to change the water.

 

I have a 25 gallon double-walled plastic tank in my boat house.  I use a submersible pump to pump fresh water directly from the lake to the tank.  This keeps the water fresh and the minnows aerated and fed.  When I'm around I keep a bubbler going and just recycle water once a day.  If I'm going to be gone for an extended period of time I will use a timer on the pump.  Last year I kept several dozen minnows alive for several weeks at a time.  The whole set up cost me a couple hundred bucks but like you, over the years I've thrown hundreds of dollars of minnows away.

[delcecchi]

I know a couple folks that have used old freezers with bubblers and trickle water from a faucet and have a small overflow...   You need something to keep the water clean.  A little flow from the well or other not chlorinated water source will do it.   Also keeps the water cool, especially if the container is an old cooler or freezer.   

[SkunkedAgain]

After all of that work, it seems to me that floating them under your dock is just about as good of a solution....unless the otters open it! The mass of minnows in a tiny container always seems to be the big issue.

 

I've toyed with taking an old stock pot, drilling small holes all around it, putting a few rocks in the bottom and sinking it under my dock. That should keep them nice and cool and out of harm's way.

[PSU]

Thanks for the thoughts friends, I am guessing we will all be up there soon! Hoping for open water (Timbuktu to Scrubb Island) by Thursday. I may try an inexpensive ($19.99) cylindrical minnow trap and cover the two holes with some sort of mesh, put a rock in the trap and sink down from my dock (7 feet). Worth a try.  

[Raven77]

Make sure to wire it shut or the otters will clean you out. 

[Raven77]

On 8/28/2022 at 9:56 PM, grace2000 said:

I think with that old aquarium, a stone aerator would keep the minnows alive for weeks. 

Nope.  If you have more than a handful minnows in the aquarium, aeration alone won't do the trick.  Unless you have a way to change water every other day or so nitrogen and other toxins build up and the minnows are toast.