Thread: Bait or Minnow tanks?

There was a fella that posted on here regularly got a few of us one of these from his work place.I still have mine and have done nothing with it yet but I got it with the sole intentions of doing just that.I know ncnat the NC board moderator got one too and he made his tank.It turned out real well I think.Maybe if Nat's readin' he'll post a picture of it.They dont weigh much at all empty so they are easy to move around if needed.I just wish it had rounded corners so I could keep bigger bait in there but it'd still be nice to buy minnows once or twice a year instead of twice a week.

I hope not for your boat. Just the water for the 275 gal. tank will weight over 2000 pounds.

I have 2 but I have not cleaned them up yet, Mine had P Nut oil in them .... I wonder how much he is selling them for ..

big e i have one of them tanks spencer give me. its out there behind my fish cleaning table. i insulated it with 1/2in blue board, then covered it with i/2 in treated plywood and put a pond pump and aerator and filter on it. it does a good job keeping minnows. i use it to keep them big bass minnows in we striper fish with.. im having a hard time keeping the water clear, so so im gonna put me some gravel in it like i did my 55 gallon drum. i kept probably ten dozen big bass shiners in it for several months before the water turned sour and they started dying. they are all dead now, and im not using it agin till i get a couple bags of pea stone for the bottom. when i get it going again i may use it for all my minnows if i can figger a way to keep em seperated . you dont wanna mix bass and crappie minnows. its a big pain to seperate em when you get ready to go fishing.

Rango,sunlight will cause algae to grow fast,the more you can keep sunlight out the longer it will stay clear.I have a pond pump in mine that has a hose run up to a 3 gallon bucket that I have filter material in,it filters then falls thru a bunch of holes I have drilled in the bottom of the bucket,which is 6 inches or so to the water line.I have kept shad for almost 6 weeks( not on the same tank of water though) I gonna try to get a picture and send it to ya,mine is just the tank,no insulation,,210 gallon that will slide inside a truck bed,round,bigger at the top than the bottom..

Rango,

Will the 55 gal. tank you used keep 2-3 lbs. of minnows alright? My tank is plenty big but I'm suspecting the galvanized metal inside is causing the kill off I'm having with minnows. I'm loosing too many minnows and am ready to change.

Originally Posted by gabowman

Rango,

Will the 55 gal. tank you used keep 2-3 lbs. of minnows alright? My tank is plenty big but I'm suspecting the galvanized metal inside is causing the kill off I'm having with minnows. I'm loosing too many minnows and am ready to change.

to be honest with you, i dont know if it will hold that many or not. if you got it aerated real good it should, especially in this cold water. after almost 2 years of continous running the pump on my 55 gallon tank burnt out a few weeks ago. the minnows have been doing ok in the drum as it sets but theres not many in there. im gonna replace the pump with a bigger one and increase the aeration when i redo it. i havent done it so far cause we havent been doing any fishing so no need to save minnows. i bought a galvanized cattle tank for my first tank, and everytime i put minnows in it theyd die over night. i think they are plated differently than the galvanized minnow buckets you buy. thats an awful lot of minnows for a 55 gallon drum. make sure its aerated good and change out some the water pretty regular.

Originally Posted by rango

to be honest with you, i dont know if it will hold that many or not. if you got it aerated real good it should, especially in this cold water. after almost 2 years of continous running the pump on my 55 gallon tank burnt out a few weeks ago. the minnows have been doing ok in the drum as it sets but theres not many in there. im gonna replace the pump with a bigger one and increase the aeration when i redo it. i havent done it so far cause we havent been doing any fishing so no need to save minnows. i bought a galvanized cattle tank for my first tank, and everytime i put minnows in it theyd die over night. i think they are plated differently than the galvanized minnow buckets you buy. thats an awful lot of minnows for a 55 gallon drum. make sure its aerated good and change out some the water pretty regular.

How many dozen do you suppose you've kept without problems in you 55 gal. barrel? If not mistaken, I think I've been told there's in the neighborhood of around 20 doz. small minnows to a lb.