How big of tank to store 500 or so minnows at home?

[danieldelarosa]

Minnows are 4.50 a dozen here in Seminole, Oklahoma. I looked at the fish farms website and bull head minnows are 9.95 a pound. There are 250-300 minnows in a pound. Me and my sons usually go through 3 dozen every time we go fishing. So I believe it is time to start ordering in bulk. Will a 55 gallon barrel be big enough for a few pounds of minnows?

[Grover]

Dan, we are in Tulsa and we use an old stock tank for them. We hold a pound sometimes two in there. Aerator is a must and got to keep them suckers out of the sun cause you know what this Oklahoma heat will do to that water. My cuz also has a large filtration system and changes half the water weekly. One last thing, if using municipal water make sure you remove chlorine.

[SIMPLEMAN]

4.50 a dozen................oh my ...............yep 55 gal. should be plenty. we keep 1/2 to 1 lb. in 10 gals. just dope them a little and we change at least 1/3 of the water every few days. we use a bass pro 110 volt air pump and feed them a little gold fish food. and i mean a little...like grover said,keep them cool.

[Shellback]

I've found the most important thing to keeping them alive, is to keep them cool. The cooler the better. Don't feed them either, they'll last a few weeks or more without food. A 55 gallon drum should be good.

[MePreach]

$4.50 a Dozen....OUCH! That would add up quick! Maybe the same folks are selling minnows that are selling us gas? Lol

[Cray]

I keep 4or5 dozen in a 30 gal plastic storage container. Air pump and aquariam filter. I keep them inside my shop. There was a thread on here a while back where a gentelman showed how he built a filtration system using pvc and a pump from one of those back yard ponds that was a really nice set up. It was installed on a 55gal drum. Hit the thrift stores and you could probably find lots of the stuff you need cheap.

[feelay]

I keep a couple pounds in a large rolling cooler, in my garage. I have an aquarium aerator hooked up to it and change half of the water ever 3 or 4 days. As stated earlier, make sure there is no chlorine in your water.

[Tracker123]

For a filtration system, I use a backyard pond pump found at Lowe's. Place pump in a small bucket, and top off with lava rocks. On the lava rocks, place a piece of filter material weighed down with a rock. The discharge hose from the pump comes out of the bucket and tied off at the barrel/pond edge so the discharging water splashes puts air back into the water.

[battman1]

Some good info.If you keep the water changed does that keep the smell down?

[Tracker123]

I don't change the water. I got some of that bacteria stuff from the pet store that takes care of that problem.