Thread: Engel bait cooler question

How many minners???? I use the 30 qt and don't have any problems most of the time. Changing the water is key too, cheap aquarium pump when at home works better than the bubbler too. Keeping minners is mostly about O2 and clean water, keeping the water about 10 degrees cooler than the outside temp helps too. Most of the time sitting in the shade with air going to them will do that tho.
For the most part when I loose a bunch it's because of water, most of the water from the bait shops needs changing so I always freshen it up when I get home.

I got the 19 and at most had 3 dozen minnows in there. How do you freshen the water up when you get home Rees guide?

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I use Bait Saver, its the blue stuff they put in the water at the bait shop. Anything to take the bad stuff out of the water, can use the stuff at walmart for fish tanks. In your case take a clean 5 gallon bucket, put the treatment in and fill the bucket. Let it sit and an hour or so and move the bait to the bucket. Pour the water out of the Engel, rinse and then pour the fresh water and minners back in the Engel.

I own both a 13 and a 19 quart and don't have any issues with keeping them alive. With my 13, I purchased 4 dozen big emerald shiners during a walleye tournament. Bought them on Thursday and left the 13 in the back of my truck during the evening. They were still alive on Sunday.

Last week, in the 90 plus degree heat, I purchased 5 dozen minnows and put them in my 19 qrt. At the end of the day, I had two dead minnows and I think they were DOA to begin with.

It may help you to add some ice cubes to your water when storing them at home. We usually use a fish tank bubbler at home just to ensure the batteries don't run out in the middle of the night.

I suggest cleaning your minnow net (that fits in the box) as well as the box itself. For me, when I empty my minnows, I pull the net and hang it on the side to air dry. I also allow my box to air dry. I do NOT leave the lid closed or a wet net inside of the box. This "might" be a culprit.

I have a 13 quart , never had any problems keeping them alive, leave the pump running, most of the time I put a frozen water bottle in hen I get home to keep the water cooler

Replace the pump with a Frabill Aqua Life with the large diffuser.

What Ras Said!!! Them minners need oxygen like us... Best thing you can do is throw away the bait pump that came
with it... Get you 12v one...

Yep, I used to loose lot of minners over night when I stored the minners in my beer fridge when I had the lid closed, maybe build up the air pressure to much but when I stored them in the same fridge with the lid opened I didn't loose hardly any.