How to keep minnows alive

Just curious if anyone has been successful at keeping minnows alive for a longer time that a couple days? I have a dozed large shiners that I would rather not waste and keep them until I get out on the ice again. I was thinking of keeping them in my laundry sink (not the side we use) but should I use an aeator or something else? If I have a small "pump" like a bilge pump to keep the water circulating, will that fed oxygen into the water? Any tips are appreciated. Murph

I use aerator and change the water I use the water from my sump pump well and they stay alive as long as you keep the water clean.

I use to get some small pellets at the ait shop that wud help keep um alive. Now i use catch n release that you put in the live well when tournament fishing. I put it in shortly after i get minnows. Will usually last about a week before the water needs changing. That and keep um cold.

old cooler in the garage, change some of the water once in a while, I also use an aquarium pump

What I use is a 40 gallon tub that animals drink out of. I put a drain valve in with a hose to drain the water. I use a fish tank air pump also. I change the water once a week which is normally on the weekend when I take the minnows out to use. I also use the blue bait saver from Fleet Farm. It helps take the junk out of city water and helps the bait recover faster. This year I'm using a bait saver from Cabela's. Much better cost and last longer. I have kept up to 5 doz for two weeks without losing one. Make sure if you bring home minnows, let the water warm up before you put them in the tank. The minnows do not like big temp changes. If you have any question, please PM me!!

I use a cooler to hold my minnows. Its bigger then a bucket so more water and room. I use an aerator that plugs into the wall so as to save batteries on the portable pump. They live quite well. But I almost always either run out of minnows or dump then on Sunday because its back to work. They just don't seem to swim very well after sitting for a week. Even with changing the water. I just like putting my tip-up in and knowing I don't have to check the bait for a while. Just my 2 cents.

First of all i built and ran a sport shop. I put in very tanks and everything and got my first load of minnows in and all died in a week or less. Bait man came and checked it out and found out that i had a 3 inch copper pipe coming off the pump. Bottom line is no copper water lines for minnow use at all!!!! Also no city water that has any chlorine in it either.

mouth to mouth

If you put them into a five gallon pail or something along those lines and simplily change the water every day the shinners should be just fine. I have done the same thing go out for a weekend and then have shinners left over so I just put them into a pail and change the water daily. I have actually had shinners that I have hooked through the rear dorsal fin live a couple weeks after being used on a tip up.

i looked this up online some years ago before i saw this post today. all you have to do is keep them cold, change the water every day or two and dont feed them. if you feed them they go down hill fast. i always use large goldens because i fish for pike and have had them last weeks. aerator wouldnt hurt but i lost mine and still giving them fresh water and keeping them cool works good for me.

id like to state that shiners are way harder to keep alive then fatheads, fatheads in a minnow bucket on my cold garage floor will live for weeks if i change the water every few days, shiners in the same conditions are the first to float

Gills is right, Keep the O2 going and keep them cool, minnows will stay lively!!

I keep them in my cheek next to the waxies. I find they eat to many grubs when the share the same space so they have to alternate cheeks. Yeah I' m bored

Last year I used a 5 gallon bucket with fish tank aerator and also regular water pump to keep the water moving and i was able to keep shiners alive for 2-3 weeks. This year i will use the same bucket setup but place it in a large tub. I'm going to drill small holes on the side of the bucket by the top and also fill the tub up with water. This will increase my water volume so I wont have to change it every few days. I will also be able to change the water much easier. I keep my minnows in my garage so they are nice and cold

What is all the fuss about? Peroxide? I simply change the water every 2-3 days. My fatheads have been alive for 19 days now and theyre as lively as the first day. The key is to keep the water as cold as possible as this will keep oxygen in the water. I use tap water from my well or fresh water from a lake/river. I dont know how city water would effect this but minnows need cold, well oxygenated water more than anything. So change your water every couple of days. In the summer time I think its too warm for this method to be effective, try changing water every day or more often in the summer/warm weather. Otherwise keep them in the fridge too. Shiners? I am not too sure. Shiners tend to be more demanding, die easier, in my experience.

This is a great question. But after reading a bunch of post I got depressed for the guys that were saying they could keep there bait alive for over a month. Or, do you buy them in bulk. ya, I'll tell myself they're buying in bulk.