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Posts: 78
| Should I feed them something? If so , what? How often should I change the water in my holding tank? Any feedback is greatly appreciated. Don |
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Posts: 133
| My last suckers went 10 days without feeding. I too didn't know what to feed so I let them go, just kept the aerator on them. |
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Posts: 374
Location: Bemidji | I have a 150 gallon cattle tank with an Agitator aerator. It can keep 25 suckers for a long time with a water change every 3 days. I dont feed my suckers. They seem to last weeks in there providing the water does not get too warm.
Edited by kevin cochran 10/19/2011 8:43 PM
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Posts: 153
Location: Antigo Wi. | I keep mine in a 55 gallon barrel cut in half and change the water every 4to5 days. It's outside with an aerator. I try to feed them nightcrawlers , but they do not seem to like to eat them , these last three are going on two weeks. |
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Posts: 30
Location: MN | Stopped at my local Gander Mountain and bought the 3 biggest ones they had. 14-15" and thick. I put them in a dog cage and put them in my green pool. I didn't have a flash light so I loss one since I didn't notice that the bottom of the cage has big holes.
Gonna set up a 180g tank I have outside for them.
Edited by SearchingDaCroix 10/19/2011 9:10 PM
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Posts: 494
Location: midwest | Throw some crappie sized fathead minnows in with them (only a few, like one or two per sucker) They seem to enjoy eating the heads off of them and leave the rest of the body. This is why I wouldn't add to many because it will foul the water in the tank quicker if you have a lot of fathead bodies floating around. This is the only thing I have seen them eat while in captive tank setups. The most important part is keeping them in cold oxygenated water and frequent water changes. |
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Posts: 19
| Kept a 15 inch sucker alive for a week and got a 43 incher on it today. I just changed about half of the water each day. I had it in a big storage tote and kept it in the shade. |
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Posts: 80
| aerator+cold/clean water will keep suckers alive for a while. I have six that have been sitting in a small storage bin(aerated) in the garage and only one has died(He ran on the sucker rig three day's straight). They have been in there for a week and still look really healthy. |
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Posts: 8781
| I've always wondered about this, but after a few seasons of netting my own bait vs using store bought bait, I've noticed a few things. Yes, fresh and well fed bait far outshines anything you'd buy from a bait shop. Far more lively, and far more apt to get eaten. But if you are keeping them in a tank? Wow. It's downright amazing how much poop comes out of a fish that hasn't been on a truck and in a bait shop for weeks. If I was in a situation where I might not be able to get any more for the rest of the season, I might try feeding them. But the mess that creates isn't worth the effort IMO. |
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Posts: 2378
| filled my barrel up with well water last night, and it is nice and orange looking tonight.
Will that high iron content agitator hurt the suckers? I've got them in a cooler with a stone right now, but want to get them in a bigger space before too long. Don't trust that water right now though.
Anybody, ever dump suckers in rusty well water with any luck? |
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Posts: 321
| I use oatmeal, seems to keep them feed and the water pretty clean. Thanks, new to the board. H |
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Posts: 60
Location: Poca, West Virginia | Would it be possible to keep them in a wire cage in the river, would you have to do anything for them at all? |
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Posts: 1887
Location: syracuse indiana | hey guy's this is what i do for keeping them at home and i have kept them alive for along time this way.
i have a 125 gal tank in the garage with 2 of the biggest hang filters on it. one with the tube just below the waterline and one close to the bottom. and 2 of the long airstones on it too.. you must keep the water moving good and keep it clean for suckers.. now as for feeding them they will eat minnows. and the alge disc's work too. i have even used dog food but that makes the tank very dirty. one this too is keep the water cool. in my garage it stayes cold. and i dont use heaters in the tank till the outside temp gets bad. i also do try to keep the water at the temp of the lakes if i can . so that its not a shock to them . thats one thing that most guy's dont think about. like if i get them from ye-old here at webby i will get on the lake and slowly put lake water in with them to aculate them with the temp of the lake so they wont be shocked. and if they come from #1 stop south of town they usually are colder there , becouse he run's a spring feed water system to his live bait.. this is just what im done to keep my suckers alive and happy....bill
Edited by archerynut36 11/26/2011 8:48 PM
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Keeping suckers