what to do with live bait after a morning's fishing?

[cracker]

This is not very aquarium related ,however I would like to hear what You think. So I went fishing this morning & brought home some live shrimp we were using as bait. my buddy caught a real nice fish, I got skunked ! So I have maybe 10 of these live shrimp in a bucket with an air pump & stone. I also collected (5 I think ) pretty small hermit crabs. I propose to keep these shrimps & hermits alive . 1st I tested the salinity 1.010 Pretty low but right for the brackish water we were fishing in. Then I tested for AM. Yikes ! it was off the color card !. at least 3 plus. I'm not sure if salinity matters with the red sea test kit I'm using.I have been diluting new salt water and adding to the bucket, while taking old water out trying to get the AM down. Everybody seems alive & kicking. I just now did another water exchange & I can finally see the bottom of the bucket now. There are a lot more than I thought. Why am I doing this ? it's been many years but I did keep some these shrimp & hermits in a tank they seemed to make a good cleanup crew. The shrimp would burrow in the sand & forage on the rock. Now I'd never put these in my reef tank. But for the 180 fish only? What are Your thoughts. The shrimp are Atlantic White shrimp. The hermits are a stripe legged type. What are Your thoughts on this? If not I can return them from where they came from this weekend. I'll have some pics for You later. Thanks !

 

[meir]

Look worst case scenario they get eaten, so I mean why not try it out? Advice though, do it after dark where the fish don't see them, otherwise they'll never make it to the bottom

 

[cracker]

well to be honest that's kinda what i expected to happen either in the tank some day or this weekend when I go fishing again ! Now the hermits will get a reprieve from the governor !

 

[PSLReefer]

I just throw em in the surf

 

[cracker]

Hello, well I did release the hermits & shrimp this morning. I just had too many. So this morn I did bring home 3 hermits & just 2 big shrimp after fishing. I got skunked again ! I think the Fish Gods frown upon me for keeping their minions in captivity ! Anyway i did 3 , 1gl water changes/exchanges on the 5 gl bucket they are in. there was about 1 gallon when I started . the am readings again are off the charts I should have cut it down quite a bit ! Do You think that salinity affects the readings of the test?

 

[Saltybubbles288]

Did you do a ph test by chance? Below 8.2 ammonia becomes ammonium which is much less toxic. I also assume the water they were in had been in contact with your hands and if you were fishing there would be a good bit of organic material in the water.

 

[cracker]

Hello salty I do have a ph meter didn't think of using it. I put some nori in the bucket last night. been real busy today.I need to see if they ate anything

 

[cracker]

So I tested for PH I got 7.4 . The nori disintegrated so I had to net as much out as I could & changed another gallon of water . The critters seem to be just fine, water is just about clear. I need to find something they will eat .
I'd guess they are in about 3 1/2 gallons of water. Each water change I increase the salinity a bit.

 

[Amoo]

Probably a dumb question but have you tried just 2/3 fish pellets? Something you can scoop out easily if they go uneaten over say like 6 hours.

 

[Saltybubbles288]

Id try something meaty like raw fish, id imagine that would be unrefusable.

 

[cracker]

Well they sure didn't like the nori. Had to net it all out & a water change also.I have like a clam mussel that won't fall to pieces. will try that next.

 

[cracker]

Sorry I haven't replied in a while. So the nori didn't work. So I went to a clam muscle,the tough part that opens/closes the shell. That worked just fine. Then I tried a chunk of silver side ,all rubber banded to a rock. They like that just fine. So every eve I do I 1 gl water change while bumping up the salinity 3 or 4 points each time. They are around 1.020 now. Everybody seems fine.

 

[cracker]

Evening Folks, So I just about got the salinity up to 1.025 I have been doing nightly 1 gl water changes to get salinity up & get Am down ! Still real high. These critters ( 2 shrimp now the others devoured one & 3 hermits) are taking it . I'm amazed they are still eating well & frisky. I have been feeding a god chunk of silver side. which is where the Am is coming from. I'll have them in the 180 in a couple of days where they have a lot more room. Am is .8 to 1.2 !

 

[cracker]

Ok I added the shrimp to the tank this afternoon. The shrimp were a deep brown when I started now they are almost translucent. With 2 big black eyes & you can see the innards and elementary canal running down the back. So I surely purged them well. Si today I placed the lucky critters in a pitcher & did a temp & slow drip for about 1 hour & put them in ! The shrimps are a good 3 inches long. I got a few pics before they found a spot to hide !

 

[cracker]

Hey Folks, I just saw the one shrimp I have left. The other took the proverbial leap. Anyway I hadn't seen this atlantic white shrimp for some time & thought it had gone the way of it's partner. Lights were out walked by the tank & there it was. So they are nocturnal for sure. fed it a piece of fish belly. It's sitting on top of the gyre munching. not very attractive thing but still pretty cool anyway.

 

[cracker]

Well the one shrimp has departed this earth. Every other day or so I'd rubber band a piece of fish belly to a rock for the shrimp. This rock is in the corner near the rocks where the clown pair live. So the shrimp was munching & out comes the female clown & sucks the shrimp's eyeball right off the stalk ! Poor guy freaked out swimming in circles & darting around. There wasn't a whole lot I could do ,so today I found it in the back corner being devoured by some snails. It was a fun experiment. Too bad the shrimp had to pay the ultimate price.