Can anyone recommend a good brand? At $4 a dozen I don't want any dying on me.

I use sure life better bait minnow holding formula

With shad and alewives I just use salt and maybe a little bit of coffee creamer to neutralize ph, good filter system is as important as anything IMO.

A sure sign our economy is in trouble is that theyre counting minnows and not selling by the scoop.

The best discovery I ever made for catfishing was the Better Bait pellets. Game changer for keeping creek chubs alive, Im sure minnows would be no different. Dechlorinates too so can use tap water.

A drop or 2 of Methylene Blue will calm down fish and fight off fungus and several other diseases. A little goes a long way.

Thank you for the tips.

Fresh stream or pond water. Do not use tap water. Our local “system” must’ve started adding some new super healthy (lol) chemicals to our rural water system…. They sent out a flier instructing any of their customers that had aquariums to not use the tap water as it would kill the fish. Nice they have it in there for us to digest daily though I’m sure….

When I’m running lines on the river I keep a cooler full of minnows for a couple weeks. I keep it on the north side of the river shack so it doesn’t get any sun. I put several frozen water bottles in each morning and again at night if it’s hot out. I just swap out the thawed bottles with frozen ones. I also run a regular aquarium aerator in the cooler and take a couple big scoops of water out and replace every couple days.

I’ve never used any additives but will definitely be trying some of the ones recommended above.

Good information ,Thanks

https://www.catfishconnection.com/Store/Details/SL103/MINBUCKARE/ACCBUC/SURELIFE-BETTER-BAIT/

X2 a little goes a long ways. I use in my bait tank and I use it in my minnow buckets and in my cooler/live well.

Yea I use better bait too. I normally spend a evening or morning catching a ton of bluegill before I run Jugs/Trotlines or Bank Poles.. I try to keep them in a creek overnight but Ive found that the better bait really helps with keeping them going .
Plenty of room and a good aerator are key also.. In hot weather keep some ice..A few chucks of ice here and there keeps the water temp down too

I have a freezer next to a horse tank I use, in my shop. In the hot summer months I use cat litter buckets, fill them with water from the tank, three buckets. I rotate them in and out of the tank to the freezer to keep the water cool. One bucket per day, then let it freeze two days. Minnows are expensive, if you don't catch them yourself, but catching big baits for trot lines and bank poles sucks, so that is mostly what I keep in my tank. (4-6" bullheads) I just put the minnows in the minnow bucket into the tank. Oh, and it's well aerated too.