Keeping and transporting minnows

[james99]

I trapped a few minnows over the weekend and took them home thinking they would be good dithers. I not sure of the species, but I started with 8. I floated them, 4 died while floating. I got up yesterday and lost 3 more, the last died last night. They were caught with a minnow trap and dogfood, then transported about 45 minutes in a bucket with river water. I floated them for 15-20 minutes or so before I released them. What can I do to ensure survival next time? Battery air pump? Drip acclimate? The only thing besides sick fish is maybe a difference in water conditions beyond temperature.

Also if anyone has any ideas of species, resembled giant danios, and were caught in the altamaha river in Georgia.

 

[xraycer]

I trapped a few minnows over the weekend and took them home thinking they would be good dithers. I not sure of the species, but I started with 8. I floated them, 4 died while floating. I got up yesterday and lost 3 more, the last died last night. They were caught with a minnow trap and dogfood, then transported about 45 minutes in a bucket with river water. I floated them for 15-20 minutes or so before I released them. What can I do to ensure survival next time? Battery air pump? Drip acclimate? The only thing besides sick fish is maybe a difference in water conditions beyond temperature.

Also if anyone has any ideas of species, resembled giant danios, and were caught in the altamaha river in Georgia.

Its unlikely they were sick and just happened to die during the period you had them. Most likely died due to a combination of stress, low O2, heat build up, and/or high ammonia build-up.

To increase survival: keep fish in plenty of water, oxygenate well, keep cool/out of sun....and add some prime for a little extra precaution.

 

[Brekkem]

They're probably fat head minnows they're in a lot of tiny creeks around Georgia. I have one in my back yard so I don't have the transportation issue, but as X-ray said above primer helps get some stress coat from the pet store and just put a little in the bag when you bring them home. Consider bringing 2 bags and keep water in one without fish and when you get home put the fish in the other bag that way they can get water that hasn't been depleted of oxygen. When home I use a 5 gallon bucket from Home Depot with a little bubbler in it and keep them outside or in the garage as they like the cool water. I've also heard of people using old freezers to hold live bait or feeders (obviously don't turn the freezer on). Hope this helps some.

 

[xraycer]

They're probably fat head minnows they're in a lot of tiny creeks around Georgia. I have one in my back yard so I don't have the transportation issue, but as X-ray said above primer helps get some stress coat from the pet store and just put a little in the bag when you bring them home. Consider bringing 2 bags and keep water in one without fish and when you get home put the fish in the other bag that way they can get water that hasn't been depleted of oxygen. When home I use a 5 gallon bucket from Home Depot with a little bubbler in it and keep them outside or in the garage as they like the cool water. I've also heard of people using old freezers to hold live bait or feeders (obviously don't turn the freezer on). Hope this helps some.

A 5gal bucket is what I typically use to transport fish. I drilled a hole in the lid and run an airline through....with an attached airstone, powered by a battery operated air pump.

 

[james99]

Cool I'll give all suggestions a try. They were really cool looking fish, lots of iridescent greens and purples. I also stepped on something that looked like a flounder, about 4" long. It moved about 6" then took off when I tried to grab it.

 

[Brekkem]

Cool I'll give all suggestions a try. They were really cool looking fish, lots of iridescent greens and purples. I also stepped on something that looked like a flounder, about 4" long. It moved about 6" then took off when I tried to grab it.

If you can do X-rays idea I would def do that over bagging I just thought that was what you were trying to do and was trying to work with that idea but anything that pumps oxygen into the water is best. I'd still use stress coat it's not super cheap but a bottle last forever and it's only 1 pump for 2 gallons. It'll help stabelize the fish while you move from place to place. Let us know how it goes.

 

[james99]

I'll pick some before I go back. I already have numerous battery air pumps I bought before hurricane Matthew and extra buckets.

 

[xraycer]

Another thing you should do when you get the fish home is add small portions of the tank water into the minnow bucket over the course of about a half an hour. You should try to match the same amount of tank water to the water that's already in the bucket. This will help acclaimate the minnows to the properties of the tank water....such as pH, TDS, and temp. Make sure that the air pump is running the entire time.

 

[Nathan P]

Xraycer's already given you excellent advice; the only thing I would add is not to collect on very hot days, as it significantly increases the chances the fish will die.

If you can get some pics of the minnows we can try to ID them. Georgia has a diverse minnow fauna. They're probably a species of shiner, but that doesn't narrow it down much; there are lots of kinds of shiners. The thing that looked like a flounder probably was a flounder; there are a few small species that come into rivers in the southeast. I've kept several species of native minnows and most do well in captivity; they're hardy and take to flake or other prepared food immediately (some native fish have to be trained to eat it).

 

[james99]

Xraycer's already given you excellent advice; the only thing I would add is not to collect on very hot days, as it significantly increases the chances the fish will die.

Why is this? It was close to 90 when I caught them, the water was pretty cool and flowing enough to pull my trap down stream. Its suppose to be cooler in the next few days, mid 50's/ low 70's. They were going to be bait, but looked cool so I wanted to keep them. Everything I brought home has died so I'll get a few pics next time.