Quote Originally Posted by luvtohunt View Post
These other fellas that have given some amazing info seem much more adept at instructing folks on how to keep shad alive but I wanted to put my 2 cents worth in here from a redneck fisherman. I usually net and keep gizzards in the fall and spring to striper fish with and have learned a couple things. Firstly I do have a 30 gallon bait tank that I keep all my shad in. The gizzards we typically fish with are 4-7 inches. About 2 dozen of those is all a 30 gallon tank will care for in my experience. Any more and they get lethargic and what I call red nose. To assist with reduction of bubbles and assist in keeping their slime/scales on I use a couple things, first is pickling salt. I buy a big container and put it in a smaller water tight container and keep it in the boat. For that many shad I start with a third of a cup and add more if the water gets too foamy after a bit. I also use a little bit of coffee creamer in the water. This combo has kept shad alive form sun up to sundown on many days. Its less scientific and less informative but works if you want to redneck it a bit. Again this is fall and spring when water temperature isn't too high so that helps in itself. Haven't tested this in summer time temps or water temps. Good luck fellas!!
We use salt as well any time and all the time. I use water softener salt crystals from Lowes. There are other options but clean salt without iodine is the ticket. My general rule is 1.25 cups per 10 gallons. More or less depending on the current lake water quality. I know people that go by taste. Yes, they taste their tank water to see if it has the right amount of salt in it. I also use a cap full of a product called Vanish (link below). Unbelievable stuff. Helps with chlorine and ammonia and helps harden the scales.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Here's the major key. Introduce air bubbles as fine as you can make. I've used a Power bubbles air bubblier for years and they do great. But the air introduced by the danco venturi or the newer keep alive pumps makes bubbles so small you can't make them out. You just see the results. The fine bubbles do a few things. First, it helps introduce dissolved oxygen to the salt water. That's a given. But it also helps pull the bad gasses like carbon dioxide out of the water. The C02 attaches to the air bubbles and is pulled to the surface. Removing those gasses will help (eliminate) that red nose. It's also good to vent your tank. This allows those gasses to escape instead of laying on the water surface.

If you start to see red nose, and you don't have another option to fix the water or keep it from happening, start replacing it with cool fresh water and make sure you add the right amount of salt again. Do a 1/3 at a time or more if you feel you need to. Water changes are hard on bait but leaving them in bad water will kill them. My goal is to do as few or no water changes as possible by making the water they are in the best possible. Keep you bait slightly cooler than the lake water temp at the depth you plan to fish starting at about 60 degrees. Bait can do fine in a 5 degree temp variance (my opinion on the five degrees). Meaning, the lake is 62 degrees at 30 ft, I can keep my bait at 57 degrees. Stripernut or others may vary their rules some but I can promise they have similar rules and treat their water in a consistent manner based on past results for that time of year. Keeping the water as cool as you can means they stress less in the tank and colder water holds oxygen better and releases gasses easier.