At home bait tank ideas

[scott.str]

Wondering if anyone has any plans to help me keep minnows alive at home. I can buy them by the pound but hate tossing them. I have a 55 gallon plastic drum i was going to use.


I tried couple years ago but seemed the hot weather was just to much to fight off but maybe someone has some ideas to help out?

Thanks

Scott

[Oleman]

I did this years ago using a metal tank. Door on top with air holes drilled, and a outdoor faucet on the bottom. left faucet dripping and water hose dripping in the top. Never lost any minnows and never threw away any. Kept the container in a shaded area at all times. Water was well water.

[TexasLongball]

I can send you some pics of the one my dad and I made for his bay house to keep shrimp and croaker in. It’s pretty elaborate.

[Man]

I have been using a standard aquarium tank kept in my garage to keep all my leftover shad or cast netted shad until my next trip.

[glen]

Just get a cooler and hook an O2 bottle to it. Dont waste time and money for something that “might” work. Ive kept shrimp alive in a parked boat livewell for a week

[Texas Grown]

70 gallon water trough. Got a high volume airaitor with up to 4 stone option. And a surface skimmer type filter from a pet store. I've got a pvc extension on the Surface skimmer to pick water up from the bottom. Clean clear water will always help keep them healthy. Be sure to use a chemical dechlorinator on tap water. I use Prime brand. I'll be adding a PVC spray bar soon.

I've also used old metal bathtubs with small water pumps in the past. Used a cotton cloth rag over the hose pickup end with a hose clamp for a filter.

Main thing is to keep the water temp cool during the summer. Your going to lose a few now and then. Try to keep the dead out of the water. And it will help keep bacteria and fish from getting sick.


These are pics without the skimmer. Just two hoses attached. During cooler months like right now, it's easy to keep them alive. I've kept minners in the refrige for 10 days without feeding or oxinating.



The fish are biting, and there's hogs to be kill-t. Gotta go!

[Texas Grown]

My godfather used to keep a big metal livestock water tank behind his shed. He'd cover most of it with some plyboard. And left a small area open for light with a window screen over it. The large round tank allowed to minnows plenty of room to swim without over crowding. It's important to not overcrowd when the water temps warm up.






Edit: Jerry H. on here has a pretty nice set up. Most of the filtering system is a DIY with 5-10 gallon buckets.

[steve morton]

Old cast iron bathtub. Feed cornmeal. Don't overcrowd and keep shaded.

[Capt Glenn]

Look into setting up a biological filtration system. There are tons of videos on youtube. The biggest killer of bait is the byproducts of the bait breaking down as well as any dead bait breaking down and any food that you put in there that they don't eat breaking down.

It does not take a ton of o2 to keep them alive, a 110v bubbler or two will keep alot of baitfish with enough oxygen and they are pretty cheap. Set up yout tank in the shade. Keep the bubblers running and filter your water or come up with a way to constantly replace your water and you can keep them alive a long time.

[TexasLongball]

Look into setting up a biological filtration system. There are tons of videos on youtube. The biggest killer of bait is the byproducts of the bait breaking down as well as any dead bait breaking down and any food that you put in there that they don't eat breaking down.

It does not take a ton of o2 to keep them alive, a 110v bubbler or two will keep alot of baitfish with enough oxygen and they are pretty cheap. Set up yout tank in the shade. Keep the bubblers running and filter your water or come up with a way to constantly replace your water and you can keep them alive a long time.

Agreed. This is along the lines of what we did.

[TexasLongball]

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[rvd]

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Wow

[Abu_dude]

At home bait tank ideas

Old cast iron bathtub. Feed cornmeal. Don't overcrowd and keep shaded.

Hands down this right here! When I was in high school years ago, I had a cast iron tub in the back yard under a cover. We used to cast net perch during the week after school and keep them in the tub for days just using 2 big aquarium aerators and drops in the water to keep it clear. We would set throw lines on the weekends in the Pedernales River for cats then bring them home and put them in the tub. After 3-4 days of them swimming in the clean water, they would taste like farm raised catfish!

Any of the recommended systems above would work. I just prefer my bait systems like I like my ladies, cheap and easy [emoji23]

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[TexasLongball]

Dad's retired and has a ton of fishing room so he hosts lots of guests. He wanted something he could stock a few quarts of shrimp at a time and not worry about them dying. Plus we overengineer just about everything.

[TexasLongball]

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