Keeping minnows in a aquarium

[josh77]

I got a 55 gal with 2 filters and a heater. How many pounds of minnows can I keep in it? Also how many are in a pound?

[Bytizawn]

Well Josh that depends on the size of the minnows of course, but two to three inch fatheads should run around 100 to 150 per pound, of course +or-. I would just buy 1 (ONE) pound and see what you got and also to see if all goes well in the tank you are gonna' keep them in. Good luck. Golden shiners should be close too, to that amount/ pound. If they start coming to the top, and gasping for air, there are too many in there for the oxygen. Keep an eye on temp. Ask seller what the water temp is that are coming from and try to keep it as close to that as possible. If city water you will need to do something about that or they will die.

[swampdonkey78]

Just an idea but a buddy of mine bought a deep freezer at a yard sale for 25 bucks. added a filter an aerator and a timer to keep the water temp down in the summer. Works great and always has minnows ready

[jimmyfreeland]

I'd say one pound too unless you want to change the water every week. I had 3 dozen large goldfish 2-4" striper or flathead bait sized in a ten gallon aquarium and they never died, but I had to change the water every week. This was with 2 filters also and only 10 gallon aquarium. I am trying to figure out how many I can have in there and the water not get all stained. I got 3 large goldfish in it now and they even dirty the water. I had some minnows in there too they don't dirty the water nearly as bad as the goldfish but I think 2 dozen per 10 gallons on minnows would be the absolute maximum amount and even then you will have to change the water every two weeks or so probably. If you don't mind the water being dirty and have enough aeration and filtering for ammonia you could have more without them dying, but wont be pretty to look at.

[humblerev1]

great post

[tuffynshiner]

I have had a 55 gal. aquarium for years. I wish I didn't let it go the last time I moved. But if you are keeping tropical fish the rule of thumb is about 3/4"s of fish per gallon. So a 55 gallon aquarium could keep, in residence, for looking at about 70" of fish. I had two filters, an under gravel and one on the back side. I only had to clean it every 6 months.

Minnows are very hardy and will do fine but you'll have to keep an eye on them insuring they don't get too stressed. If you fish regularly you will thin their numbers with every fishing trip. I've kept tuffies for over a month with no heater and feeding them Tetra-min fish food and dipping a half gal. of water out and putting back the same amount after aging it so the fluoride evaporates.

Grace/Peace, tuffynshiner