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Some tips on keeping bait alive


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Hi guys, new here was referred by a FSA member, been reading lots of great info on this site so I"m sure to stick around here. Anyway as far as fishing goes I would probably call myself at best, a mediocre fisherman, one thing that I would call myself really good at however is keeping fish. We all know the best bait is fresh bait and you can't get much fresher than live bait so here's some info that I've learnt over the years for keeping your bait healthy and lively. First of all, if you are starting off with no equipment then you will need at the bare minimum a decent sized container (20L bucket will do for short periods but try and aim for over 60L for keeping small live baits). If you want to keep bigger fish for bait then you will need to get a huge tank and the cost of setting everything up will end up just costing too much. There are two ways you can fill your container with water. The first and cheapest way is to just go down the beach and scoop it up. The second way is to use a synthetic product that you mix with tap water to obtain the correct sylinity. Most people that keep tanks use the fake option as it doesn't allow any creatures or parasites into the tank, but considering the fact that the bait you caught came from that water I'd say just grab it from the beach. Now remember, if you don't live close to the beach consider taking some extra containers for taking extra water as you will need to do water changes at times if keeping the baits for longer periods.Ok, now if you are going for the cheapest option possible then go out and buy an airpump and an airstone as well as some airtubing.. This helps feed oxygen into the water so the fish don't suffocate. You can find them in pretty much any aquarium store and the most expensive ones will set you back $40. Most of mine have cost under $30. Airstones are normally only about $3 and airtubing is normally something like $2 a metre.Plug the airstone into the airtube and the airtube into the pump, then drop the stone into the water and you're done. The fish should survive in the container this way for at least a week or two, although you will still need to feed them and if keeping a larger amount of fish you will need to do very regular water changes. While this method is cheap, it can be a lot of hard work as water changes need to be done very often because the fish will produce a lot of waste in no time at all. I'd recommend trying to keep the airpump above the bucket just incase a syphon occurs and the water is syphoned back into the pump although if there isn't anywhere available don't worry, the chance of it happening is pretty low and most pumps have check valves in them anyway.When doing water changes its best to do smaller changes more often, so shoot for 30-50% changes of water. I can't say how often because it depends on the size of the fish and how ever many fish you have, but I'd say if trying to keep 5 tommies alive in a 20L bucket, change the water every 3rd day at least.Now the more expensive but much better option is to get a filter for the container as this will clean the water and will mean that your fish won't fill it waste as quickly. The one thing you need to remember with filters though is that you need to cycle your tank/container before adding fish, you can get high levels of ammonium spikes if you don't and this can kill the fish very quickly as its highly toxic to them. One way of cycling is to simply chuck a fish in the bucket and keep the filter running over 2 weeks or so. If the fish dies, don't let it go to waste use it as bait as soon as you find it dead or freeze it immediately. Normally I wouldn't suggest using a fish to cycle a tank but since the fish is destined for death anyway I'd say its appropriate. Now the hard part is choosing an appropriate filter. Basically you get what you pay for, but it doesn't have to be a whole lot. One thing you have to remember is that these fish when kept for long periods of time would actually be in much larger tanks with high powered filters as even a fish such as a tommie is considered to be a larger fish to keep in a tank, so if keeping them in a 20L bucket you really want a filter thats rated far above 20L.I'd suggest either buying an internal filter, which are fairly cheap an effective or a canister filter. Internal filters simply go inside the tank and pump the water that's in there through a series of media to clean it. Canister filters sit outside the tank, the water syphons into the canister and is then pumped back into the tank. The advantage of a canister filter is it can hold a lot more media for filtration and the overal area is much greater, so they do a much better job of filtering and therefor you don't need such a high flow rate. A canister filter is expensive though and I'd probably consider it overkill for most, although if you plan on keeping fish alive for longer periods, or very often its definately worth the investment.If you are after a fairly cheap option I'd recommend an AquaOne 103F. It pumps 1200L of water per hour and would do the job. It cost around $70 which is really nothing when you consider the benefits. It will create quite a strong current but this shouldn't bother the fish.Now you have your filter setup the job isn't done though as you will STILL need to do regular water changes, just not as regular. Instead of having to do it every couple of days, I'd say you'd probably only have to touch it once a week, which can be very handy for people with tight schedules. Just remember though, if you really fill that entire bucket with fish you are going to have to change that water all the time even if you have the best filter in the world. I'd say if you want to keep more than 5 fish that are bigger than tommies alive for over a week, then get a bigger container for them.It would also pay to chuck a small layer of sand over the bottom and to get some Live Rock from an aquarium store as these can both become homes for good bacteria to grow which will also help keep the water clean, although it isn't necessary. As long as you have an airpump or a filter the fish will stay alive. Although if you want to keep them for long long periods (ie. months on end) I'd suggest buying more equipment, if anyone really wants to know about more I can write it but its pretty in depth so I won't bother for now as I'm sure most people won't be able to look at their live bait every day and not have an urge to chuck it on a hook and into the water ;)Now you will also need to feed the fish. It is helpful if you find out what type of food the fish eats in the wild and try to replicate it but you will also find that most fish will eat stock standard fish food (meant for saltwater fish) if hungry enough. Try to feed smaller amounts rather than having the urge to really let them gorge as excess food will much up the water. A good way to measure it is to simply slowly drop food in and feed them as much as they will eat in a minute. You only really need to do this once a day to keep them alive but if you are growing them or want them to stay very healthy aim to do it twice. So as you can see setting up a live bait tank is a fairly easy process and doesn't have to be expensive as long as you're willing to put a bit of effort in. Just remember to put a lid on your tank so they can't jump out but to also put plenty of holes in the lid or a gap to allow oxygen in.If anyone has any questions in regards to types of filters or anything feel free to ask :)P.s. It's also a good idea to buy a battery powered air pump so that you can keep the fish alive on the trip to the water as well as on the boat incase you don't have a place to plug a hard wired pump in.

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Guest SuperThahn

Unfortunatly there is a lot more to keeping them alive for periods of time. The main one is turning the water over ie fast flow. Also you need the good bacteria to build up which takes a minimum of 6-8 weeks. There are some good articals on this on aquarium sites. You could find more info googling "cycling an aquarium".I just find it easier to catch them on the day or night and you always can but sometimes it harder than others. You may have to dab them but there is always an option.

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Hi Ranger I got your PM but I can't seem to reply, I click Send Message and it just reloads the page, tried it a million times it just does nothing. Anyway just to clear it up for those that are interested, yes I wrote this myself while bored in the middle of the night. Have learnt a lot from this site without contributing so felt it was only fair that I should contribute myself.

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  • 5 months later...

Hey guys sorry to bring up an old thread but thought I'd let you know, a Mullet I caught in the onk has been successfully alive in a 50L tank sitting in my bedroom for almost 2 months now. He's happy and swimming, he even eats from my hand now and lets me pat him haha.The setup is just a good filter and an airstone and its been successful so far.

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