Originally Posted by
gilman
Freezer is a great idea. just make sure it dosent leak. Some do. If you have to seal the joints make sure you let the sealer fully cure before adding water. Most sealers will emit harmful chemicals for a long time if not properly cured.
Keeping your tank in the grange is really good idea. The ice can be a problem though. It will probably be made from water that contains chlorine or fluoride so when it melts it releases those chemicals into the tank and will kill your minnows. The temp of the water is not as important as the amount of oxygen in the water. Minnows live fine in a pond or creek with the water temp close to 90deg. The difference is they have loads of oxygen produced by the current of the creek or wind blowing over the pond. You may also note they stay in the shade. The sun shine depletes the oxygen in the water faster than you may think. In a minnow tank it will also cause faster growth of harmful types of algae. If I were you I would leave the top off of the tank and place it as far to the back of the grange as possible. You can place a small fan blowing on the surface of the water that will add more oxygen. Don't try to over agitate the water with big bubblers because the currents produced by agitation will hurt your bait. Nearly all of the oxygen in water comes from surface movement. The bubblers do not add oxygen, they just agitate the surface. My tank (30gal) will keep about 2.5 lbs of minnows (approx. 25 dozen medium tuffies) alive and very healthy for up to 4 months. It is very easy to get outside to clean and is cheap. Looks like you have all of the necessary stuff to build one except for the blue barrel. Also, the minnow guys will tell you that blue is the best color to keep minnows in. Other colors like red or green are a no-no. White like your freezer is ok but still not the best. The round barrel also does not have corners for the bait to ball up in. Most of the new high end tanks that the minnow guys are providing have slightly round corners. Don’t get me wrong, your idea of the freezer is great. I just think it is over kill to keep minnows for fishing.