freshwater question

[paul508]

what is the best way to keep shiners alive over nite

[Striperjim]

Paul
I used to keep mine in a 20 gallon fish tank with an aerator.
You just need an airstone and 10 % water changes.

Or keep them in a bucket at the dock underwater.

[samIam]

You can keep em in a small aquarium for weeks,or as striperjims says in a 20 gallon barrel .shiners are pretty hardy fellas,as long as the water is a little on the cool side.The only time I have had trouble keeping them alive is in the hot summertime.I think the wild caught one are a little tuffer than the store bought ones.

[paul508]

sorry guys i prob. should have told u i only have a lil shiner bucket about a gal. and a air thingy and 24 shiners im jus askin like the temp. should i keep them out side in da cold or in the house next to the heater

[StarsNstriperS]

I use a general rule of 65~68 Deg. water temp(except trout), and change water as often as needed (puts off an odor),if kept in a tank, but the best and most certian way, is to keep them in a running stream or any other waterway, in some sort of enclosure of course.as long as the water is moving. But 24 shiners in 1 gal. of water is asking for trouble. I keep a 30 Gal. Grey Line Insulated bait tank in the boat, and won't put more than 4 Doz. shiners in at a time. But as they stated, shiners are like Catfish, they are hard to kill, compaired to other baits such as Alwives(hardest i know of to keep alive for a long period of time). Shad can keep for a while as long as you watch your water temp and ammonia(sp?) content.

[Striperjim]

Originally Posted by starsnstripes

But 24 shiners in 1 gal. of water is asking for trouble

Absolutely
Rule of thumb for fish tanks -1 inch of fish per gallon of water.
Saltwater species it goes down to an inch of fish per 5 gallons.
Cold water holds more oxygen. Throw some ice cubes in.

Use a 5 gallon bucket and pop holes in the lid.
Change some of the water often so they dont kill themselves with their own waste.

[StarsNstriperS]

Right on the money Jim, I knew there was a formula for the ratio, but I aint smart enuf to remember it . But you might want to add that, at water changes, you NEVER want to have more than a 5 DEG. water temp change at a time, As I stated earlier I use a 30 Gal. tank(yellow tank in boat in avatar), when I need to do a water change, I get out in no less than 60' depth, then pump out just over half of the water from the tank, then drop a 30' Garden hose W/ weight and a screen on one end and a Sunami 750 GPH pump on the other, I let it pump back into the lake till the water is cold , then refill the bait tank with water from 30' deep, clean(no oil or mud), and cold. I change the filters and add more salt also.This way I dont have to use my beer ice to keep the bait healthy.

[jimi4290]

by the time he was done typing his question and getting answers they probally suffocated already.....live and learn.

[zimno1]

omfg! jimi....
what have i done???
i created a monster!!!!

[Cape Cod Dave]

As for keeping them outside,watch out for raccoons.