I am considering putting up a bait tank (roughly 100 gallons or more). I am a very experienced fish keeper and always have plenty of saltwater around for my reef aquarium from water changes, etc. I have a few places that I can catch mud minnows by the scads, so I’m hoping to be able to simply catch and keep 100 or so at a time so that I don’t have to go chasing bait down every time I make a spur-of-the-moment trip.
I can build a sufficient filtration system with plenty of air/water movement (5 gallon bucket floss/trickle filter, perhaps a cheap protein skimmer).
It’s the temperature limitations, and stocking limits, that I am ignorant of.
I’m wondering if anyone here has kept mud minnows alive in warm summer months in places like non-HVAC garages, or in a covered outside tank in full shade. I think a decent fan blowing across the water (if indoors) will keep the temp down to a dull roar. I know mud minnows will survive in a bait bucket that has only reached a gentle simmer rather than a full boil, but I’m not sure how they would handle water temps in captivity that will reach possibly 90F in July/August for extended periods.
I know from experience that mud minnows will eat anything you give them on the first or second day in captivity (ie, cheap tropical fish food or small scraps of leftover bait). Probably a small fleet of hermit crabs to clean up any dead minnows.
Open to suggestions if you’ve ever done this.
Saying “I am offended” is telling everyone else that you cannot control your own emotions, and thus you need everyone else to do it for you.
I have never tried it, but I seriously doubt the minnows will live for any extended period of time when it gets real hot. I have them die in a bait bucket in the water during the real hot summer months, which is contrary to what many say. I keep my boat in the water and regularly keep the leftover minnows in one of those bait buckets that you can submerge and they will live for weeks except during the real hot months.
If you have access to aquarium supplies and it sounds like you do, what don’t you put a heater in a tank, add some mud minnows, and see what happens. This will save you a lot of time and energy. Honestly, I think it will be much easier to just buy the minnows becasue they are so cheap.
250 gallon food grade totes from Craigslist. $75. Cut a hole in the top. bury it in the ground. Make an insulated cover. The ground should keep it a constant temp, cooler in the summer, warmer in the winter than outside air temp.
Maybe build a little “garden shed” with no floor over the top of it to house the filters and such.
hummm, now where can I dig a 4x4x4 hole in my yard?
That will keep them alive - the trick would be getting them OUT
go buy bait at the bohicket marina, they have a 50-80 gallon thing with a little net. Some days it takes some real effort to fill a bucket from that dang thing!
I guess you could put a minnow trap in there???
quote:Originally posted by friogatto
250 gallon food grade totes from Craigslist. $75. Cut a hole in the top. bury it in the ground. Make an insulated cover. The ground should keep it a constant temp, cooler in the summer, warmer in the winter than outside air temp.
Maybe build a little “garden shed” with no floor over the top of it to house the filters and such.
hummm, now where can I dig a 4x4x4 hole in my yard?
I’d be interested to know what their actual life cycle is. What species is a saltwater mudminnow? I know it’s not the freshwater killifish you find in this state that’s actually called a mudminnow. If they’re actually just finger mullet, I would assume they’re pretty easy to take care of. The hardest thing will be keeping the water oxygenated in the hot months, but if you put an air stone and/or fountain and keep it in the shade it should be okay.
Hadn’t thought of burying it in the ground, good idea. I do have two small kids so I’ll have to put some sort of protection over it and a good lock to keep the kids from danger.
Saying “I am offended” is telling everyone else that you cannot control your own emotions, and thus you need everyone else to do it for you.
I’ve kept MM’s a good amount of time in my bait well. As long as a month when its cool. And a week or so in the summer. I’ve never had one die in my bait well. If they have, they got eaten.
I do keep my boat parked in the shade with the lid to the bait well cracked open but not wide open. No pumps, no air stones. I toss a brick in the well to give them hiding space. It probably holds some denitrifying bacteria after a while too. This is my first year with a boat so I don’t have long term stats. I also never feed them.
I have considered the same thing. I’ve even gone to tractor supply to price out supplies.
You could get one of these for $70 new. I wouldn’t get a Huge container. You do have to catch these. Of course, you could trap them with a simple minnow trap in your tank.
I have quite a bit of experience with saltwater tanks as well. I wouldn’t invest too much into maintaining a stock tank. They’re $4 a dozen. Take into consideration how much salt costs. I wouldn’t use salt mix. Just get water from when your on your boat. I’ve seen people put half a dozen in a water bottle with fish with on a kayak. Heck, they might die from having too clean of water(not really)
I could go on but it’s past my bed time.
Mako 1901 Inshore-Honda 130
10% of the people catch 90% of the fish.
btw, if you’re into propagating frags, that’s where I learned of using the stock tanks. I met some people using them to prop. frags in they’re basements and garages. I lived in indiana and there was a lady that shipped in huge quantities of fiji live rock and cured it in half a dozen tanks like these that were 8-10ft in diameter and 2 feet deep. all in a greenhouse in her backyard.
Fish people can be weird.
Mako 1901 Inshore-Honda 130
10% of the people catch 90% of the fish.
I’ve kept them alive in my garage for three or four weeks in the middle if the summer. I used a fairly crude technique and probably could have kept them alive longer until I muddied the water.
Filled a 40 qt cooler with water before I left the ramp. Added a cheap airator from Walmart. I froze 1/2 gallon milk jugs full of water in bait freezer. Before I left for work id toss one in the cooler each morning replacing the jug from the precious day. Was doing fairly well with few casualties until I decided to feed them with a handful of dog food. It made the water nasty.
Why not just buy a used 35 gallon fish tank from Craigslist with everything included? People get sick of fish tanks all the time and practically give them away on CL. Fill it up with sea water and let her rip. I think it will work great except for the month of August and possibly July. During those months just drop in a couple frozen bottles of water every once in a while. If it doesn’t work or if you get sick of it, you shouldn’t have more than $75 invested in the project.
If it were me, I would just buy them for $4 a dozen but men will be men.
I tried it last summer. I have a small storage shed attached to the house with a 20 gallon tank in it. I would put a towel over it to keep it dark and cool and feed them a few bits of cat food every few days. They would live as long as the water was clean, but they dirtied up the water pretty quick. Didnt use a filter. I think I kept em alive for about a week and a half when it was really hot. It ended up being more of a pain than just catching or buying some the day of, and i like to use shrimp over muds most of the time. Might get it back up and running now that its cold out and they can live longer
All fishermen are liers except me and you and I’m not sure about you.
I’ve thought about a used aquarium and might still go that route, but it would have to be a lot bigger than 35g. A larger container (100g or bigger) might seem like overkill until you realize that larger quantities of water are far more stable in terms of chemistry and temperature, and the minnows would survive much better. You could easily partition the minnows, though, so that they aren’t scattered all over the place… easy netting.
A cloth-bag type laundry basket w/PVC frame (both sold at Big Lots for a few $$) sitting inside a 100g container would work great. Just lift it up to net them out.
quote:Originally posted by SSFiero
btw, if you’re into propagating frags, that’s where I learned of using the stock tanks. I met some people using them to prop. frags in they’re basements and garages. I lived in indiana and there was a lady that shipped in huge quantities of fiji live rock and cured it in half a dozen tanks like these that were 8-10ft in diameter and 2 feet deep. all in a greenhouse in her backyard.
Fish people can be weird.
Yeah we’re a strange breed. We glue animals to rocks, put vodka in our aquariums, buy dirty rocks for hundreds of dollars, and watch colorful sticks grow.
I haven’t gotten big into the frag stuff. I keep only soft corals right now (easy, cheap, and action packed), I don’t have time for a lot of LPS/SPS… although I have a good skimmer and a DIY LED setup that could burn a hole through my floor.
Saying “I am offended” is telling everyone else that you cannot control your own emotions, and thus you need everyone else to do it for you.
I don’t understand why everyone insists on putting dog food in their baittank for the muddminnows. That’s going to cause more issues. IF and that’s a big IF, you insist on feeding them, take out any food you put in after 30 minutes or so. If that for that long. I don’t feed them. If you think that’s mean then don’t put them on a hook.
I’m on the water frequently, but I was working out of town some this year and didn’t get out for a couple weeks. Add on that they MM’s were already 2 weeks in confinement, it was about a month they lasted. They were still fat enough to catch some trout.
Put something in the water to give them a place to hide. Something as simple as a short length of PVC works. I use a brick because there was a brick by my boat.
Mako 1901 Inshore-Honda 130
10% of the people catch 90% of the fish.
I lucked out and was given a fiberglass commercial baitwell at a store that hadn’t used it in years. I put in two airstones, two 60 gal aquarium filters and oyster and clam shells. Filled it with well water (30-40gal)and put in the salt additive from walmart. Loaded it up for a few weeks until I had at least 300-400 minnows.
That was in early spring. I have taken maybe 100 for fishing. I have seen the water temp range from 40-80+ and I still have at least 50-75 happy mud minnows.
I clean the filters every week or so and drain an refill every month or two.
I have fed them gold fish flakes and pond pellets, chopped fish and shrimp, blue crab
I lucked out and was given a fiberglass commercial baitwell at a store that hadn’t used it in years. I put in two airstones, two 60 gal aquarium filters and oyster and clam shells. Filled it with well water (30-40gal)and put in the salt additive from walmart. Loaded it up for a few weeks until I had at least 300-400 minnows.
That was in early spring. I have taken maybe 100 for fishing. I have seen the water temp range from 40-80+ and I still have at least 50-75 happy mud minnows.
I clean the filters every week or so and drain an refill every month or two. I have fed them gold fish flakes and pond pellets, chopped fish and shrimp, blue crab
Wow! Now I know why I am so happy using stale white bread and a 9 dollar minnow trap.
I lucked out and was given a fiberglass commercial baitwell at a store that hadn’t used it in years. I put in two airstones, two 60 gal aquarium filters and oyster and clam shells. Filled it with well water (30-40gal)and put in the salt additive from walmart. Loaded it up for a few weeks until I had at least 300-400 minnows.
That was in early spring. I have taken maybe 100 for fishing. I have seen the water temp range from 40-80+ and I still have at least 50-75 happy mud minnows.
I clean the filters every week or so and drain an refill every month or two. I have fed them gold fish flakes and pond pellets, chopped fish and shrimp, blue crab
Wow! Now I know why I am so happy using stale white bread and a 9 dollar minnow trap.
Yeah but you don’t have an ornamental pond with 300 pet fish that also double as bait :).
Saying “I am offended” is telling everyone else that you cannot control your own emotions, and thus you need everyone else to do it for you.
I lucked out and was given a fiberglass commercial baitwell at a store that hadn’t used it in years. I put in two airstones, two 60 gal aquarium filters and oyster and clam shells. Filled it with well water (30-40gal)and put in the salt additive from walmart. Loaded it up for a few weeks until I had at least 300-400 minnows.
That was in early spring. I have taken maybe 100 for fishing. I have seen the water temp range from 40-80+ and I still have at least 50-75 happy mud minnows.
I clean the filters every week or so and drain an refill every month or two. I have fed them gold fish flakes and pond pellets, chopped fish and shrimp, blue crab
Wow! Now I know why I am so happy using stale white bread and a 9 dollar minnow trap.
Yeah but you don’t have an ornamental pond with 300 pet fish that also double as bait :).
</font id=“quote”></blockquote id=“quote”>You are mistaken. I drop my 9 dollar bait trap into my ornamental pond any time I want to and the mud minnows are ALWAYS there. Costs me (and anybody that lives near the SC coast) two pieces of stale white bread, to go fishing.
