Update on trying to keep minnows alive in my basement.I've come to the conclusion its mostly all about water temp on how many die. My results is its no matter what you do its mainly about how cold your water is. For next summer I am gona try to find something(cheao) to keep water in 50's. Maybe a water fountain cooling system or maybe ice. My fridge makes about 10lb+ ice/day.
Put the freezer in your garage.That's where my food freezer is.Once you seal up the inside water isn't an issue.You could even paint the inside with epoxy afterwards if you are nervous.
Using ice while out ice fishing -The ice obviously has no chlorine.And the temp difference between the bait bucket and the ice is not so much - lesser stress from shock by changing the temp too quickly.We would drill a hole in the ice with the auger, but not clear thru, and dump our bait bucket into the hole.Our huts were kept very warm - lol
When I had my tank in the garage I tried ice.It didn't work.Always killed fish.Chlorine kills fish - period!!!It doesn't off-gas quickly enough before it kills the fish.Sorry.
Yup, I used a chlorine and chloramine removal chemical.It actually neutralized it.