Feeder Minnows

Spydust · 10-03-2008, 10:35 AM

I'm new to this forum. I joined for some help. Lets see how helpful you can be.
I live in northern NY and my outdoor pond fish spend the winter indoors. The fish include Koi, Comets, and my pride and joy 3 Albino Channel Cats. Albino for visibility reasons. I buy feeder minnows (also albino for visable activity) each spring at a store over an hour away. They are the only place I've found in my area that carries them but they don't carry large quantities. My catfish have grown well and now they eat more minnows than I can keep up with buying them at the store.
Does anyone know an online distributor for minnows that I can buy by the Hundred?

Judge · 10-03-2008, 12:22 PM

Welcome. Try livefishforpondstocking.com. I sure hope this is helpful. We try our best around here to be helpful! Please let me know if there is anything else I can look up for you. We believe this is a great site that has a lot of helpful people and information in the form of articles, videos, and a search function that allows you to look for a specific problem or topic. Good luck, and again..welcome!

Spydust · 10-03-2008, 01:28 PM

Thank you for your response to my question. However that site you suggested does not carry anything but Fathead Minnows which are available around here as bait for fishing. I have a few in my pond but I rarely see them.

But thanks for trying.

Judge · 10-03-2008, 01:47 PM

You were not specific in what type of minnow you were looking for. It would help me find what you need if you tell me exactly what you are wanting. I am not giving up on helping...let me know and I'll see what I can come up with.

Spydust · 10-03-2008, 02:23 PM

I have found that what I'm looking for has many different names.

Ruby Red Minnow
Rosey Red Minnow
Pink Fathead
Albino Minnow
Golden Orfe (or something)

That is part of my problem. I have been searching after looking at the site you suggested. I'm now finding out that online catalogs are not as complete as catalogs ordered over the phone. Also some of the quantities I have found to be more than what I need at one time.
I'm estimating that my pond is about 2500 gallons between the two levels of my pond and the short 20' stream that aerates the water. So adding more than a couple humdred at a time would be overkill.
The fish get caught by hand and net and moved inside for the winter into a 200 gallon horse watering tub. They are crowded but with frequent water changes they survive. The pond freezes to the deepest point of about 3 feet and only some of the frogs survive. The minnows don't get moved unless they get caught in the net while catching the other fish. I was unable to catch two of my fish and I'm having a difficult time finding them now that the pond is all stirred up. At this point the water is too cold to get in there to find them and I'm thinking they are goners.
Maybe these pictures will help with the size of my pond. I don't have any pictures of the indoor setup yet.

That is if I can figure out how to add pictures.

Spydust · 10-03-2008, 03:16 PM

Judge,
Thanks for not giving up. I'm getting frustrated with my searches. I have limited time and after a few dead ends I give up.
I took this picture a few minutes ago. It shows about half the fish in the indoor (winter) tub. The others are hiding in the cave under the rocks at right. The Albino Channel Cat is the smallest of three. The dark Koi is one of two. The other is one that I cannot find in the stirred up outdoor pond.
I just checked the temperature in the outdoor pond and I got a reading of 42 degrees. Too cold to climb in and try to flush him out of hiding.

Judge · 10-03-2008, 03:32 PM

I love the pictures, indoor and outdoor. Really neat pond/stream. Is there no way to provide some type of heat long enough to locate your missing buddies? I am still looking so don't give up! Surely there is something, even if it's a heat lamp to warm up just enough and maybe shed some extra light so you might be bale to see.....

So far I can find no difference between these two species.Rosy Red Minnows and Fat Head Minnows are recognized as the same species by most accounts; “Rosy Red” describes the pinkish color variant observed in captivity. Some Rosy Reds also have dark patches or stripes. Fat Head Minnows, also found in pet stores, are olive-grey with a dark bi-lateral stripe. There is also a pronounced dark spot on the tail, particularly in males. Males tend to be thicker built with a more rounded head, and may have banding of dark and pale makings.

As a result from your statement earlier are you saying that yo have tried Fatheads/Rosey/Ruby Reds with no luck?? I found a couple of places that list the ruby, or Rosey reds. Let me know.

Ok, Petsmart does have the Rosey Reds and it has them listed as feeder fish for carnivores. Have you tried doing business with them? Maybe there is one no too far from where you are. If not I would contact them and tell them what you are needing. You can suggest to them that they will eat X amount over X period of time and ask if they can supply you on a regular basis.

Ok, Pets Warehouse has them and you can get them by the 100's ($7.42 FOB next day shipping) or 500's...Let me know if you cannot find the site. Good luck

Spydust · 10-03-2008, 08:08 PM

Judge,
PetSmart is that store over an hour away that does carry them. They will not special order for me. The last time there they had none at all. They told me they arrive on Friday at around 1 pm and they get 500 per week. I arrived on Friday at 2 pm and the order never showed. Now that was $25 shot right there and I still had no minnows. I went back the following Friday and I did get 100 but I'm looking for a more convenient way to get them here to the house. I think you can see why.

I went to Pet Warehouse online and did not see them anywhere and my search came up empty. This is why I get pissed while looking. Other people seem to be able to find stuff right where I just looked. Can you give me a link or direct me from catagory to catagory.
I tried Fish and then Live Aquaria. Was that wrong? How about a sku# at Pet Warehouse where you found them, price and Shipping info. I keep coming up empty.

You like my pictures? I'll attach one from June last year taken at night with a flash. Catfish are night movers. And one where his nose was sticking out from under his rock from June this year.

Judge · 10-04-2008, 08:19 AM

OMG, I have been retracing my steps for over an hour and I have found it. You may want to go through the steps here because there are other places that may/may not be cheaper. SO, from our site here go up to Google and type in "Need to buy Rosy Red Minnows". Then scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on Shopping Results for...this will pull up a long list of sellers and Pet Warehouse is in there. Just in case though the SKU # FW695. That is for the 100 count!!! You are right though, I went to Petwarehouse several times trying to figure it out and it's not listed that way....makes you nuts, doesn't it!! I also book marked this until you let me know you found it ok...Does this help??

Spydust · 10-04-2008, 09:59 AM

Well worth Joining this forum just for that. I've been searching on and off for months for just such a thing. I spent over an hour just yesterday alone. I feel kind of dumb because I still could not find it until I added the sku on the failed search page.
So a special thanks for that.