FishUSA.com Fishing Tackle

Author Topic: all winter w/no minnows so gona try a tank in the basement this summer  (Read 9786 times)

charlys1954

  • Jr. Member
  • **
  • Posts: 201
Our local baitshop has been here for decades but doesn't have minnows in the winter. So this summer gona try keeping minnows in the basement. If it works then I'll stock up before winter and hopefully they'll live thru the ice season. In the winter my basement stays pretty cold and the colder the water the longer they'll live.

Just ordered 3lb Sure Life Better Bait for $26(free S&H). 3lbs suppose to treat 2,400 which'll take me years to use but the 10z bottle was $15, so for $11 more I got 2lb 6oz more. All ready got a aquarium, filter, and aireator pump so that should be all I need.

Anyone with secrets on keep minnow alive longer will appreciate the input.
I'm a "Born in Ind" Redneck and proud of it

RoeBoat

  • Jr. Member
  • **
  • Posts: 383
Keep them cool.  We use to store ours in a chest freezer we ran on low with the lid off.  Just ran a water pump with a pvc manifold to aerate the water.

charlys1954

  • Jr. Member
  • **
  • Posts: 201
Yep that would work. I watched several youtube videos on people using a chest freeze, one guy put a temp control on his to keep temp constant. Don't have one so I may have to add ice from icemaker if it doesn't stay cool enough in the summer. Would like to keep the water temp at least 50 or less.
I'm a "Born in Ind" Redneck and proud of it

taxid

  • Sr. Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 6,597
I raise brook, brown, rainbow/steelhead, tiger trout fingerlings, tilapia, and hybrid crappies, presently in my basement.  I have raised yellow perch and smallmouth bass in the basement too.

You need two things to successfully do it:

1. Obviously some kind of tank whether it be square, round, or rectangular.

2. Some type of bio filter to oxidize ammonia given off by the fish to nitrites and then harmless nitrates. Doesn't matter how much oxygen you have in the water. If you don't oxidize the ammonia the fish will eventually poison themselves.

3. Some type of mechanical filtration to remove waste to keep the water clean.

4. A small water pump to move water through the system.

5. An air pump to provide oxygen and to agitate the plastic media if you want to the route of a moving bed filter.

And you need to give your bio filter time to build up the bacteria population usually by feeding it small amounts of non- sudzing ammonia.

You can build all of this yourself as long as you have a tank, and couple of blue plastic drums.

The book Small Scale Aquaculture by Steve VanGorder for about $20.00 on Amazon will tell you how to rear up to about 50 lbs. of fish easily. However two things I would change which I have.

1. You don't need a large swimming pool.

2. I would build a moving biofilter in a barrel vs. the RBC in the book. Just the material for the RBC will run you about $500.00. I know because I built 3 of them. The cost of the moving bed filter is just a blue drum, membrane diffuser, and plastic media.

I've build all of my own equipment, and if I can do it anyone can.

If all this sounds complicated just upsize a large aquarium.

 
“The trouble with quotes on the Internet is you never know if they are genuine.” —Abraham Lincoln

Mac Attack

  • Sr. Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 10,159
Always best to keep them COLD too.

charlys1954

  • Jr. Member
  • **
  • Posts: 201
I won't need a big setup, especially for the summer since I'm only 3 miles from Chucks. Winter is the problem, closest bait shop I know of for minnows is Bass lake and its way out of my way. In the summer I'll keep no more than 5-6 doz crappie, for winter 3-4 doz crappie and 2-3 doz walleye/bass.

tks for all the input
I'm a "Born in Ind" Redneck and proud of it

taxid

  • Sr. Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 6,597
If you have a pond on the property you can always build a floating cage.
“The trouble with quotes on the Internet is you never know if they are genuine.” —Abraham Lincoln

taxid

  • Sr. Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 6,597
Here are a few thousand brook, brown, tiger, and rainbow/steelhead hatched and reared in a circular tank in my basement. This particular system is a little more complicated than the other species as the water has to stay gin clear and cold. It has a total of three types of filters and a chiller. Trout are very sensitive to particulates in the water.



The eggs were hatched in DIY floating baskets. All of my equipment is DIY.

“The trouble with quotes on the Internet is you never know if they are genuine.” —Abraham Lincoln

Mac Attack

  • Sr. Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 10,159
I first started with this one.
A 40 gallon Rubbermaid tote.
It got kinda crowded.
lol













Mac Attack

  • Sr. Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 10,159
I then built this 100 gallon setup.
At the end, I had a rough particulate filter followed by a wet drip filter system (the 40 gallon tote filled with bio-balls), followed by a canister filter for a hot tub.
Major setup and worked great.
Even had a heater in it and floated Styrofoam on the surface in the winter to keep it from freezing as it was out in the garage.
I had bought a chiller for it for the summer months but never installed it.
The lifted the stupid minnow ban in NY, so I decided I didn't need to do this anymore.
(That's all I'm saying 'bout that)
 ;)

BTW, the water on the garage floor was a leak.
I fixed it after the photos.
Wish I had taken more pix in the end showing the entire setup.
My pals all thought I was nutz, but they also loved to stop by and grab minnows too.
 ;D















Mac Attack

  • Sr. Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 10,159
And here's one of my saltwater tanks that I converted for minnows in my basement.
It was a 125 gallons.
You can see the hot tub canister filter I was using.





















taxid

  • Sr. Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 6,597
Good stuff Mac!
“The trouble with quotes on the Internet is you never know if they are genuine.” —Abraham Lincoln

charlys1954

  • Jr. Member
  • **
  • Posts: 201
great setup guys but a little bigger than I need for a small amount on minnows. Thinking about using a 15 gl aquarium, tote tubs, or old ice chest. The ice chest may be the best since its insulated, a lid, and drain.

Mac, no idea just guessing but your 40gl tank looks like its got at least 20+ dozen in it. Going by that by the time winter rolls around I should have an idea how big a tank I need for 6 doz. I would think 15-20 gal should be big enough. Having minnows all winter is the main idea for doing this.
I'm a "Born in Ind" Redneck and proud of it

Mac Attack

  • Sr. Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 10,159
Salt them and throw them in the freezer.

gotagetm

  • Sr. Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 3,101
Mac
You said lifted minnow ban? certified?

 



Iceshanty | MyFishFinder | MyHuntingForum
Contact | Disclaimer | Sponsor
© 2004- MyFishFinder.com
All Rights Reserved.