Keeping minnows as pets

My main question is, what do they eat? Will they do OK with the standard flake food you find at the pet store? Will standard room temperature be too warm? I will have an aerator.

Thanks, BF

I know this post is old, but for those who came across it, looking for info on keeping minnows as "pets", I thought this might be helpful.  I've kept minnows for many years, in a small outdoor water garden in the summer, overwintering them in the garage and usually bringing a couple into the house, in a small tank, to enjoy over the winter months. I've had many, MANY live 4-5 yrs, and even then, their demise was not usually from natural causes, but rather a wild critter that found and raided the water garden. They do fine in a small tank as long as the water is kept clean/fresh,  (And you will have to clean it,  While they may eat algae, they will not eat their own waste and a small tank will get very nasty if not cleaned often.). They like water on the cool to cold side but will be okay if it gets warmer as long as it doesn't stay that way too long (and they get plenty of aeration).  60-65 degrees F is a good indoor temp, lower than that is great but not usually feasible to maintain in a house.  As long as the water doesn't freeze solid minnows do well.  (Their activity level may slow alot in really cold temps, but their natural habitat usually involves freezing water.) Sustained water temps of 70 degrees and over is too warm if you're wanting to keep your minnows alive for the long haul.  To cool the tank's water, float ice cubes (number of cubes depends on tank size) , at slow intervals (don't cool TOO fast), if the fish show signs of stress, always non chlorinated ice/water, of course (or treat for chlorine).  If you have a safe way to position a fan to blow on the water surface, that will help with cooling.  If you have a "jumper" in the tank and must keep it covered, an open weave or mesh cover will be much better than a solid cover for keeping water temps down. Any kind of pump to oxygenate the water is necessary if you want your minnows to live for several years.  A small exterior air pump is good, especially preferable for small tanks, a  submersible pump is needed for outdoor gardens or ponds and can be sized and used for indoor tanks, also, but takes up precious room in a small tank as well as producing some heat.  (Submersible pumps come in all sizes, from less than 2", 50 gph & under (adjustable) to very large.  I buy my small pumps, exterior and submersible, on Amazon, very reasonable prices if you have time to shop.)  The best way to add oxygen to water is to "disturb" the surface.  Think water falls or bubbles...anything that agitates the surface of the water (especially) will aerate and generate oxygen needed for healthy, happy fish. (I've never had a filter system for minnows, have never needed it as long as I'm willing to clean their winter enclosure often.)   Minnows will get "tame" and behave and respond like any other domesticated fish if you keep them long enough and if they're housed in an area where they see alot of human traffic and activity. Their behavior turns more wild again once summer comes and they go back to the water garden.  They really do well in  that environment, absolutely THRIVE in those conditions (barring any marauding raccoons)!  As for food, NOT FUSSY!  They'll do just fine on nothing but goldfish flakes, and if you swat (NOT spray) flies and throw them in the "garden", they'll go nuts...LOVE THEM!!!  Coming right out of the lake or the bait shop, they don't typically like coming to the surface to eat and it may take a few feedings for them to get comfortable with that, but it's amazing how fast they learn! There will always be one or two slow learners that take a little longer but they'll pick up enough from the bottom until they figure it out.  As someone else said, they don't have to be and should not be fed a lot.  They seem to do better and live longer if they're always a little on the hungry side, so don't overfeed!   When in the summer water garden, I only feed every third day. They get plenty of bugs and other goodies from Mother Nature.  Minnows are a great choice for beginners because of their hardiness.  You have to really mistreat them to kill them...unless they get a disease, and I've had a handful that have developed that nasty white fungus, but that's 5 or 6 out of MANY and that's the only problem I've ever really had with keeping minnows.....except for the occasional jumper that flies out of everything, including the water garden!  Crazy fish!  Minnows may not be the prettiest fish in the tank or pond, but they're just as enjoyable in every other way.  They are easy keepers, healthy and hardy, fun to watch and they don't complain about anything!  :-)  (The pics I've attached are bad and make the water look cloudy, it isn't, just changed last night.  I'm just terrible with a camera, sorry!)  These 2 Flatheads are this winter's house fish, caught from those that are being overwintered in the garage, all waiting to return to their summer digs.  Those that spend the winter in the house with us get quite "conditioned" and, at the moment, these two are begging for their breakfast.  There are two small, plastic prescription pill bottles with the bottoms cut out to make pass-through tunnels, one weighted down to bottom of the tank, one floating just below the water surface.  They love their little tunnels!  I also have a few sprigs of live plants.  Moneywort is a "soft" plant that the minnows like to swim and pick through, it's easy to find, does well under water and cuttings can also be kept for years, going out and coming in with the fish, summer and winter, for a constant, renewable supply.

I know people put algae eaters and bottom suckers in there to help keep tank and water clean.

I did that once and introduced a plague that wiped out my roommate's girlfriend's tankful of tinfoil barbs, cichlids and the black sturgeon things with the really hard name to spell.

They all got the white fuzz known as "ick" and within three days they were all dead except the northern pike suckers.

Eeek! I already have three of them in a 2.5 gallon tank. They seem happy enough so far and aggressively eat the flake food. I have a bad track record with fish tanks. A few years back I had a 20 or 30 gallon tank and couldn't keep a few guppies alive for more than a few weeks. It got too depressing killing all these fish so I gave the tank to someone I work with whose kid put a lizard in it. If they survive long enough to actually grow, I may upgrade to larger tank, but for now I was looking for *cheap*. My three year old daughter loves looking at the minnows. She says, "Look at the chub fish! They're swimming in the pool!"

The tank is starting to cycle now and the water is cloudy, but from what I understand it will eventually clear up. I would love to get a little bluegill in there. I saw a bunch of them near the Lake Farm launch that were about the size of a nickel. If only it weren't illegal to net them. :-(