Get a Greyline shad tank and freeze gal milk jugs with water and change them when they thaw. I had good luck doing that keep them many of times over night alive

Tim if scubaarchery doesn't take it I would like to have it. Was thinking of building one

Eric you remember my tank is a 50gal super bait tank. This time of the year I can keep my shad 24 hours and they will start getting stressed.

Tap water
Stress coat
A [censored] ton of salt (now that the water temp is warmer) 7 handfuls
And keep your filter clean.
Defoamer

I've never tried ice because I haven't had to

Yeah could not even fit your tank in my boat! I looked at my live well, the edges are rounded so I took out the separator and will try the salt ice combo to see if that works. Will put some filter material in the bottom drain and take out the plug to see if that helps. Last time they filled up the tube so have to plug it somehow. Will also turn down my aerator volume to reduce current. If that does not work then I will go the bait tank route. I catch mine in the morning before I fish so just need 3-4 hours out of them.

The screen that screws on the outside of a transom for the livewell fill usually has 3/4 pipe threads. That's what I used on my baittank overflow tube.

One of the best low tech but pain the a.. ways I've seen accidentally led to one of the most epic days of fishing I've ever had. We were having so much trouble keeping bait alive during the hot summer but buddy rigged up a water hose with a brick to his live well, we'd stop in 40 foot or deeper water and fill it up with good, clean, cooler water from the depths, then catch bait, really worked well.

One August afternoon, 106 degrees, we stop off of Lake Park in Lewisville, known as hybrid alley, to get our water, just in a random spot and drifting. We start marking blackout screens of fish, drop a few slabs, we don't yet have bait, and catch a few. We run over to the slough by the dam, catch a load of perfect big shad, go back to the spot, and catch big hybrids, every drop for hours. One of those I cant catch another fish even though they are still biting because I can no longer lift my arms kind of days. Had guys slabbing literally bumping into our boat trying to get in on it and while they were catching nothing we'd have four fish on at a time. Never seen it like that before, and like an addict, still chasing that first time high again.

So, point is, having great bait at just the right time can seriously make all the difference and lead to an epic day. Thanks for all of the great input from everyone.

Update for anyone interested. I bought a moeller bait tank from I boats and a keep alive aerator from eBay. I put the tank off of my back deck and ran the aerator off of a separate battery. I fill it full of water at the boat ramp and add in 1/4 cup of sea salt. I keep frozen milk jugs in my boat live well and add one to the water to keep the water cool. I usually replace the jug every 2 hours. The shad lasted about 4 hours. I only put in about 30 baits total.

What kind of filter system?..... very important to have one to keep shad lively not just alive

Keep alive aerator system

What are you using to filter the water?

The keep alive aerator has a coarse filter on the bottom. If I was going to fish longer than half a day, I would try to make a more elaborate one but the most I fish is about 4 hours anyway.

It is pretty brown after 4 hours

I've read some material that says red nose syndrome is not from hitting the sides of the tank. It's a stress hormone build up that causes internal bleeding and kills the shad. The salt, and or shad saver works to reduce the stress levels. Gotta keep the water temps cool enough also.

Just my .02

I have a nice 25-30 gallon Blue Water bait tank. Works great. $300 about half price from $580 new. Text if anyone is interested. I'm using my old 30 gallon Sunshine that operates the same way and really don't need two tanks.

http://www.bluewaterbaittanks.com/