Thread: Minnows

Too much cold water can make them lethargic or comatose.

probably part due to over crowding. I have the same cooler and I get 1/4lb which is about 5 dozen and keep them on air and change the water every 3-4 days with ammonia remover added and can keep them alive for 2-3 weeks. It could be also that they were not kept well at the bait shop. I have bought minnow's at the gas station and drive less than a mile to the lake with them inside the car and air going into the water and lose 1/4 of them before I make it to the water. But I have bought minnows from a well known bait shop that has an amazing filter setup and they stay alive for hours without air.

If you have cleaned the cooler with any kind of soap lately foam might be residue left over happened to me once since then it gets rinsed only that is the only time I have had minnows in mine die in large numbers.

The foam is an aquarium problem that is addressed with a "protein skimmer". It is the result of churned water full of fish waste, dead fish, etc. Always examine bait tanks and avoid any that show foam at all and/or unremoved dead bait. Sounds like the original problem was bait from a sloppy operation that were then overcrowded. IOW way too many minnows for the container and many of them already dying when they were purchased.

I suspect it is the bait shop. I never use soap to clean bait cooler. Thanks guys, I appreciate your input.

Probably the water/bait shop ! I picked up about 8-10 dozen almost 2 weeks ago had about a dozen dead when I got home less than an hour after picking them up the water was already milky in a styrofoam bucket ! I changed out the water and dumped them into my 13qt Engel ! Haven’t lost a minnow since other then those I donated to some fishes !

So a 13qt cooler will support 8 to 10 dozen without any problem?

It should but you would want to make sure to do a water change every couple of days and use some ammonia remover for aquariums to keep the water in good shape. Plus keeping them cool and pumped with plenty of air.