We just caught minnows and I know nothing about them please help!?

Question

First off my friend and I caught like 15 to 20 minnows and they were all fine until they got into the car, they all just started to die why? Some of them died when we got home and the water was still. We used the water from the lake. 3 survived and we don't know what to feed them. We gave them tropical fish flakes but they wont eat them what is wrong? Anything else we should know would be great too thanks

Answer 1

You should just release them. If you're going to clean the tank, you're going to need to use lake water which may be hard to access every time you clean the tank. Not to mention, I doubt any pet store carries food that lake fish can eat.

Answer 2

well minnows die real easily when disturbed from their habitat. However, some will survive (like you mention) problem is that minnows are used to feed Bigger fish so yeah there typically isnt minnow food just try to give them tropical fish food. I buy minnows all the time to feed my bigger "Rose queen fish" but i do notice that they eat tropical fish food too. good luck

Answer 3

If you're not COMPLETELYprepared to care for an animal, DON'T TAKE IT HOME!  Keeping them alive outside of their natural habitat is almost impossible.

Since you sound determined to have wild fish at home, here are some tips to improve their chances of survival.

How did you catch them? Using a fishing net and scooping them out of the water is extremely stressful to any fish. A better way is for them to swim into a container.

What did you put them in after you took them out of the water? Most plastic bags emit chemicals into water that could be harmful to fish. A better container is a glass jar without a lid.

The probable reason they started to suddenly die off in the car is that cars vibrate in ways that are easily fatal to fish. this is especially true over rough terrain. To reduce the shock of these vibrations, you should hold the jar so that it doesn't touch anything that vibrates. Another good idea is to cover the jar from light. The fish will be able to relax a little bit more if they think it's night time.

What did you keep them in?

Make sure that the tank has natural water only in it. Tap water will kill them quickly, even if it has set out for several days. The natural water must be precisely the same temperature as the water you took them from.

Depending on the species, (Minnows are actually saltwater fish, but most people don't know that), these small fish will probably like algae or mosquito larva that come from the waters you took them from. Take some algae-covered rocks and transport them in the same natural water as where you found them. After a while the algae will grow on the sides of the tank. Don't clean all the sides! Leave some for making oxygen and as a food supply.

If you can do everything just right, then your fish just might have a slight chance of living.

Answer 4

i suggest you let the three living ones back , some of them died in the car because , the lake water is pretty cool and once they got into the car , the little bag of lake water probably got warmer to fast and that's why they died ,

Answer 5

it would be best to release them because they are not going to survive in your tank sorry.