Keeping Minnows at Home?

[dr_duff]

I am sure that there are a few of you that keep minnows alive at home for a week maybe two so that you don't have to throw them out when you are done for the day and end up buying more the following weekend. My question is what kind of setup do you guys have to keep minnows alive at your house to cut down on the cost of minnows? There are a few places around here where I live that sell them for $4.00 a dozen, the closest place sells them for $7.00 a dozen. Well by the time I go and get them from the place for $4.00 and then add the price of gas here in California, I should have just got them at the $7 dollar place and saved the time.

[slownsteady]

$7 a dozen, thats insane. I buy em in south MS for around $1.50. I keep mine in a bucket or tub and use an aerator that plugs into a 110V outlet to keep mine alive. Can't say how long they will live, but the longest I've kept em is about a month.

[PG24]

$7 a dz really is insane. I can't imagine ever paying that. I'd be a jig only man if that were the norm. I use an old acquarium that I no longer kept fish in. I set it up in the garage and I can keep minnows alive for a month easily. Keeping the water cool enough during summer months is a problem however. I don't want to invest the money on a chiller just for baitfish that I can get for a buck and change.

PG

[dudly2252005]

$7 a dozen, thats insane. I buy em in south MS for around $1.50. I keep mine in a bucket or tub and use an aerator that plugs into a 110V outlet to keep mine alive. Can't say how long they will live, but the longest I've kept em is about a month.

ain't that the truth here in trilby, fl they sell minnow $1-!.50 a dozen and depending on how well you know the owner and if your a regular customer sometimes they are free. i have a 8 gallon plastic tub with with a few air stones bubbling and i'v had em last a couple weeks.

[SUNDROP]

I have an old aquarium. 25gal I think. I got tired of fooling with it and turned it into a minnow keeper. I wrapped the outside in foil to keep the sun out of it and used the pump, filter, and heater I already had. I chunk some tropical flakes in it every few days, wash out the filter every few months and MAN those lil guys can drag a bobber for HOURS when they've had a week or two of food to get strong!!! I toss left overs in there from a few trips then weed 'em down and start over.
I caught a tiny lil channel cat, so small he was just hanging onto the worm not even on the hook! I tossed him in there to clean up... Gonna have to let him go this year he is big enough now to eat my minnows and does just that with the dead ones!!..LOL!!

[Coup]

And I thought $2.25 per dozen was alittle above board. Although, wherever I've bought minnows in this area, very seldom do they count 'em i.e, if I order a couple dozen , generally get 'bout 4 dozen.

I have an old hand dug well that I keep my left-over minnows in. I just leave them in the floating minnow bucket and drop 'em in the well with a long string attached

[CrappieHound]

What does it cost for a bologna sandwich out there? That is past insane. They must be paying people $50,000.00 to work the window at Wendy's.

Feel for ya,

The Hound

[slab_slayin_fool]

well i have 2 tanks for live fish one for gills and gold fish and the other for just bass and crappie minnows

minnows are the easiest to keep alive i have found as long as you keep them cool what i have been doing is buying them in bulk as i get them much cheaper that way i cut the middle man out being the bait shop and go to their wholesaler
so i had to have something to keep them in so i went to the local feed store hardware whatever and was gonna buy a galvanized water container for cows and install a water shut off on the bottom so i could just hook up the hose and drain it so i decided to tell the owner of the place what i was doing and he said i have just what you need and he gave me a smaller plastic barrel for FREE i think feed for cattle originally it holds around 50 gallons of water but you could use anything that size as long as it stays cool and for pumps i went to wal mart and got their biggest power head to keep the water flowing and their biggest air pump with two outlets and two of their biggest air stones and then to filter the water im using the biggest filter that wal mart sells but the main thin is keep the water cool even in the summer float frozen 20 oz bottles of water with them to keep them cool and always use water that has been treated with dechlore available at wal mart any other questions ask i know it works because i have done this for about 3 years now and there has been no mass death with them yet

[Countryboy N.C.]

Blue plastic barrel and 110 V air pump and air stone. They will live for months.

[Barnacle Bill]

As long as you keep them cool they will keep for a long time. I use a thick styrofoam cooler.