Thread: Bait keeping 101

Is your tank doing good now Charlie? Hope this shed some light on what was happening to us in the past with the tanks.

Wow!!! Very detailed and informative information. I can tell that you really did your homework. Thanks for sharing.

Great info. I've been dumping leftover minnows into an above-ground swimming pool full of rain water & they have somehow managed to live in it for a long time so far.

Originally Posted by arkansasbowhunter

Yup shifty I was pulling my hair out until I got the issues solved. Hence, I hope this will save folks the time and heartache I went through.

No different than having an aquarium in the house. The goal should is minimal maintenance.

For me I like having my own bait and not having to depend on stores to have it or throwing away money if it's not used.

Time wise 10-15 min doing water change until tank matures. Now my maintenance is once month partial change.

Side bonus is when I am in my shop I can hear the water fall from my bucket. Very relaxing like a water fall. Keeping fish may not be for everyone for sure.

Any questions I can help with let me know. Wish this information was available when I started my project.

Forgot shifty at $6 a lb of minnow is better than $12 or more at bait shops.

Heck, if was that thrifty I would buy my fish to eat instead of having an expensive boat, rods, and all my tackle lol.

hahah i hear ya on the thrifty part...we most of us could eat tuna sushi for cheaper than what a crappie filet costs...or in my case eat filet mignon instead of nasty old duck breasts. appreciate the info for sure, i've actually bought a little aquarium bubbler and keep some 5 gallon buckets going to keep my leftovers alive. pretty sure you were the one who told me to let my faucet water set for a few days to dechlorinate so you've been a help in my limited minnow farming lol and i appreciate it. do you temp regulate the water in the tank or does your shop air temp take care of that...ive been able to keep minnows in my buckets alive for a couple weeks until my garage gets hot and i get tired of dropping frozen water bottles in them. my wife won't let me keep 5 gallon buckets of minnows in our bathroom for some reason. i like the idea of the water sounds in the shop...get ya one of those eno hammocks and lights out

Lmbo shifty, yea my wife won't go for minnow in bucket in the house either.

You are correct after about 24-48 hours the chlorine is gone from the water evaporated. Cheap way to declonate water. Food for thought brother keep them in a big cooler and the water instead of buckets. I don't do anything for temp regulation as its all air temp. However you can add a spray bar and cool the water a bunch. Use the spray bar in pools and be surprised how much it will cool the water. I don't mess with the cold bottles . But i did do that when using a large 100qt Ice chest. Worked pretty good but still need to do water change outs to keep ammonia down.

The way i looked at it was spend a little more money on a pump and set up than doing water changes. It sure is nice to turn and burn when you want to fish and not have to wait on bait if you wanted some.

Frequent water changes is keep if no filtration is used.

Remember that even if you buy a small filter system it has to be seasoned.

Nothing better when weather is right sitting in shop enjoying the time pass listening to the water churn lol

Do you think you could keep crappie in it? Maybe someone could give me a few live ones then I could catch some...just a thought.

Do you think you could keep crappie in it? Maybe someone could give me a few live ones then I could catch some...just a thought.

Hahah seriously though this is good info. I'd love to try it some time.