Raising minnows and shiners for bait?

[jdigrande91]

I was wondering if anyone has done this before. I have been an aquarium enthusiast for years and I have just recently acquired a 37 gallon tank but cannot find a use for it. I already have a well established african cichlid tank so I was thinking of having this tank house bait fish to use for fishing since they can be useful for both fresh and saltwater. Has anyone done this before and is it easy to maintain? Thanks!

[acabtp]

i'm also an aquarium enthusiast, but unless it's just for the sake of doing it, i found that it wouldn't be effective to produce my own bait... which is a bummer, it seemed like fun. the problem is with just one tank you would be growing them out in batches, so you wouldn't have a constant supply. also with a small tank (from a bait production perspective) like a 37, you wouldn't be able to grow more than a couple dozen at a time without their growth rate slowing down from the overcrowding.

you might consider settling on an option somewhere in between... set that 37 up with a good filter and a big airstone/pump for extra aeration. then pick up a couple hundred adult minnows from a hatchery and dump them in there. that's what i do with shiners and it works great, they keep very well in an unheated tank. you still get the benefit of cheap bait (you pay ~ $1 per dozen vs $4-6 per dozen at the bait shop), you get something interesting to do with that 37 gallon tank, and you get a useful quantity of bait out of the deal.

http://www.muskytrouthatchery.com/pages/warm-water-fish-pricelist.html

[Lard Almighty]

Not saying that you can't do it, but it will probably be a hassle. Thirty seven gallons may seem big, but it really isn't. You'll have to keep the tank well filtered and aerated at all times to keep the minnows alive, not to mention fairly regular cleanings (once every few weeks or so). With a tank that size you will probably only be able to keep 1.5, maybe 2 dozen in the tank at once before overcrowding stresses them out too much. If your plan is just to hold the leftovers for a couple of days to use for your next fishing trip, then it might be worth it. But when you consider the costs to keep the tank running (electricity, filter material, water treatment chemicals, fish food, etc.), keeping the minnows for any extended period probably isn't cost effective, and it will be better to spend that money on fresh minnows from the bait store as you go.

[jdigrande91]

Yea I was thinking more of just having the leftovers or having a spot to keep them in before using for fishing trips so I am already prepared. I'm definitely aware that 37 gallons is not very big and I know that over crowding will occur if I keep large amounts over a long period of time. I was thinking if it would be cost effective in the sense that I could keep them in the tank for a week or so (no longer than 2) and eventually introduce a new batch when I use them all. Filtration I was thinking of a Aqua-clear HOB filter and a powerhead with very minimal media because of the length of me keeping them. I knew breeding and producing large quantities of them would not be worth it and be costly. But overall what do you think if I were not to keep them for extended periods of time?

[Eskimo]

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I lost all my tropical fish after hurricane Sandy hit last October. When I got power back two weeks later, I decided to keep the filter biologically active by placing a school of Fathead Minnows in the aquarium. Those are the little fish sold as bait and feeders. The yellow-orange ones are sometimes called "rosies".

I have to say that Fathead Minnows are interesting aquarium residents. They are supposed to breed in the caves I supplied them, but I never see any fry. They are probably cannibalizing their young.

Anyway, I don't see breeding your own minnows to be worth the effort of expense. Especially when the pet shops sell them for $0.12 each. What an aquarium will allow you to do is maintain a small stock of minnows and crayfish that you can reach into when you want to go fishing.

Just a note that alewives (herring) will not last long in an aquarium and certainly won't breed.

[AndyS]

ALL BAITFISH used in NJ MUST be certified DISEASE FREE. (I think)