Here is what we have done at my lake house at Whitney. I made a minnow vat out of a 55 gallon plastic drum that I cut in half,added a cheap aerator I got from Walmarts for around $15.00. It works well because I keep it in my shed out of the sun. I just change the water out about every 3 to 4 weeks instead of using a filter. All you have to do is use a little de chlorination that you can also buy at Walmart. Feed them about 3 times a week. A lot of my friends that come down to fish always drop off their minnows they don't use and can use them if they like. We bought 3 dozen minnows in Whitney last weekend and ask for a hand written receipt that we hung up over the minnow vat. I took a picture of it and have it saved on my phone. If that is'nt good enough for them so be it, I will take it to court.

Bought 12 rosey red minnows at Pet Smart for $1.95. Sure enough, one looks kinda sickly. We used to buy the next bigger size for reptile food from an independent shop. They lived until they were ate. Maybe a week.

I'll introduce these to the tank outside same as pet fish. That tank is a 10 gallon full of rain water and a thriving mass of a stringy plant commonly known as pond weed. That stuff lived out there all last summer and through the winter, even frozen.

We shall see how little I get away with.

At 7:30 am, I had a total of three dead and nine alive.

There was a lot more sediment in that tank than I thought. Stirred it up big time fishing out my bait this morning. Wonder if the three I left in survived.

Important note, I have that foil bubble wrap insulation wrapped around the tank 3/4 up from the bottom. That may help it from cooking in the sun. Or it makes it a hot tub. I'll stick a thermometer in it later.

cant you see the ZM's in your minnow bucket?

Heads up! TCEQ has visited our RV park and instructed anyone with a live bait tank or holding tank of any kind to install an approved anti-flow back valve on the water source or risk a hefty fine. They tried to make the RV park owners put one on every water outlet but settled for a water service agreement with tenants.

Have questions or concerns? Contact Assistant Chief Fisheries Enforcement Brandi Reeder (512-389-4853; brandi.reeder@tpwd.texas.gov)

Thanks for the heads up! Good to know, but a back flow preventer won't be needed on a fish tank that's not hooked up to any water supply.

Two of the remaining roseys were dead Saturday and the third was dead when I checked Sunday afternoon.

My ultra lazy bait tank (water and pond weed in a tank wrapped in bubble foil insulation) is probably only good enough to keep fish overnight. Maybe two days, max. More or bigger bait fish would probably be a bust. I kinda figured. Even bait fish got needs.

Version two will be a tank set up like I was keeping pet fish. Goodwill or a garage sale will have a hang on back filter soon enough. I'll shade and dress it up at the same time by putting potted plants around it. That's going to work. I mean, it's an aquarium at that point.

Here is my bait tank set up I built last year...Works great and didn't cost me too much.

http://texasfishingforum.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/8951098/New_bait_tank_setup#Post8951098

I've held up to 500 perch in both tanks for over a week and had none die. I put about 100 small gold fish in one tank and had about 20 die in 3 months. When I have them loaded up I drain about 1/4 of the water every other day, since I don't have any type of filtrations