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Sure-Life Products


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#1 Guest_jblaylock_*

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Posted 11 January 2012 - 11:07 AM

During the warmer months it is close to impossbile to get a shiner/minnow/dace home without it getting fin-rot and dying, especially if you are out collecting all day. Even with the most aggressive ice/cooler/air system, they still tend to get too stressed and die.

I saw some Shad Keeper @ Bass Pro and started searching Surelife's website and saw that they make several products that may be appealing to the collectors here: Shad Keeper, Finer Shiner, Bait Buddies, Better Bait, and Crawfish Saver. Has anyone used/tried any of these products? I was thinking about trying some out, but wasn't sure which would be best. Finer Shiner says it's for hard-scaled fish, and better bait says it's for soft scaled. I normally keep all my collected fish in one cooler and have no idea if they are hard/soft scaled.

Here's the link to their product page
Sure Life Products

#2 Guest_fundulus_*

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Posted 11 January 2012 - 12:09 PM

You could try the ol' fashioned method of adding some sea salt to the water. That can often help stabilize fishs' osmotic conditions, making them more stable in general.

#3 Guest_CATfishTONY_*

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Posted 11 January 2012 - 12:59 PM

During the warmer months it is close to impossbile to get a shiner/minnow/dace home without it getting fin-rot and dying, especially if you are out collecting all day. Even with the most aggressive ice/cooler/air system, they still tend to get too stressed and die.

I saw some Shad Keeper @ Bass Pro and started searching Surelife's website and saw that they make several products that may be appealing to the collectors here: Shad Keeper, Finer Shiner, Bait Buddies, Better Bait, and Crawfish Saver. Has anyone used/tried any of these products? I was thinking about trying some out, but wasn't sure which would be best. Finer Shiner says it's for hard-scaled fish, and better bait says it's for soft scaled. I normally keep all my collected fish in one cooler and have no idea if they are hard/soft scaled.

Here's the link to their product page
Sure Life Products

we use shad keeper and it works! we can keep 5"-12" shad alive for days.and lots of them.
and this is at peek summer temps 98 deg.
my best advise is catch fish let them calm down in 5 gallon buckets with salt added in hot weather the fish purge them selfs more and the spike in first set of water kills them off fast. we them move fish to a big tank with frozen water bottles to drop temps at first plus lots of air. i use a bilge pump with a home made fillter. this system will keep all but some shinners alive. the ones that are clear as in like glass never seam to make it.

here is a link to a good design with this and shad keeper you should be fine in the summer heat.
http://www.learntoca...-tank-shad-tank

here is how to mix how much salt you need.

Stress in Shad

Shad stress out when caught, handled or being chased or transported. Stress is adrenaline released into the bloodstream. Adrenaline is followed closely by other steroids such as cortisol, which prepare the fish for its reaction. The result is raised blood glucose levels, red blood cell counts, heart and ventilation rates. The digestive processes may cease temporarily.
e.g., escape (Mazeaud and Mazeaud, 1981).

Adrenaline disturbs ion transport at the gill membrane, and both adrenaline and cortisol cause temporary changes in gill permeability which, in fresh water, results in dilution of the blood by excessive gain of water, and vice versa in normal seawater.
(Mazeaud et al., 1977; Folmar and Dickhoff, 1980).

Blood levels of calcium, magnesium, sodium, and other vital electrolytes are pushed out of normal operating ranges for as much as 24 hours after stress such as being caught in a casting net.
(Wedemeyer, 1972).

Trying to restore physiological and metabolic order diverts precious energy, which leaves the shad less capable of fighting pathogens. Cortisol elevation itself suppresses immune system function.
(Barton et al., 1987; Maule et al., 1987).

A general recipe may be found in Spotte, (1970).

Alternately, concentrations of single ions or salts reflecting their occurrence in natural seawater may serve (for sodium chloride, this will be of the order 0.5 to one percent in aqueous solution, to achieve a final salinity of about half that of normal seawater).

The Bulk density of salt approximate (dry, ASTM D 632 gradation) 1.154 (72 lb/ft3)
Since 1 ft 3 = 7.48 gallons, the Bulk density of salt converts to 72 lb / 7.48 gal = 9.6 lb/gal.

And 1 gallon = 16 cups, so salt weighs 9.6 lb/gal X gal/16 cup = 0.6 lb/cup gallon of fresh water is about 8.36 lb

1.0 percent of a gallon of fresh water is 0.0836 lb.

For 50 gal: 50 X 0.139 cups = 6.95 cups
For 30 gal: 30 X 0.139 cups = 4.17

Calculating Tank Volume for adding Salt .

Conversions of salt dosages

1 pound (lb.) = 454 grams (g)
1,000 g = 1 kilogram (kg)

Once the volume is calculated in cubic feet, the gallons are determined using these conversions:

1 ft = 7.48 gallons (gal.)
1 acre-foot (1 surface acre x 1 ft. deep) = 325,850 gal.
1 liter (L)= 0.26 gal.

Calculating tank volume is an important step to effective salt application. Measurements used to determine volume are usually in feet and/or inches.
The most common shapes of tanks are square, rectangular, or round.

Finding Volume of a square or rectangular raceway, tank or pond.
Volume (Vol.) = Length x width x depth

Example 1:

A rectangular tank is 12 feet (ft.) long, 3 ft. wide and 3 ft. deep.
What is its volume?

Vol. = 12 ft. x 3 ft. x 3 ft.
Vol. = 108 cubic ft.

Finding Volume of a round tank
Vol. = 3.14x (radius x radius) x depth

Example 2:

A round tank is 12 ft. in diameter and 4.5 ft. deep.
What is its volume?

(Radius = 0.5 x diameter)
Vol. = 3.14 x (radius x radius) x depth
Vol. = 3.14 X (6 ft. X 6 ft.) X 4.5 ft.
Vol. = 3.14 X 36
Vol. = 508.7 ft

The most commonly used units of measure in aquaculture is the part per million, commonly referred to as ppm.
In percentage calculations, 1% equals 10,000 ppm.

How much salt is needed to make a 2% solution in a round tank ?

salt needed (g) = 0.00378 g/gal. x 3,805.1 gal. x 20,000 = 287,663g or 633.6 lbs. (287,663g = 633.6 lbs.) 454g/lb.

How much salt is needed to make a 0.5% solution in a 100-gal. transport tank?

0.5% = 5,000 ppm
Salt needed (g) = 0.00378 g/gal. x 100 gal. x 5,000 ppm
Salt needed (g) = 1,890 g or 4.2 lbs. (1890g = 4.2 lbs.) 454g/lb



Edited by CATfishTONY, 11 January 2012 - 01:42 PM.


#4 Guest_gerald_*

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Posted 11 January 2012 - 02:27 PM

I use 1 teasp salt per gal in the collecting bucket. Mix it in before you start adding fish. If you wait until you get back to your car to add salt, it may be too late. That adrenaline > cortisol > salt loss reaction happens very fast in small fish, and bacterial and fungal infections soon follow. Marine salt mix is fine for collecting in neutral or higher pH water, but if you're collecting in acidic habitats, use plain NaCl so it wont push the pH up. I have not tried the various Bait Saver products. The other important tip is get them QUICKLY and GENTLY from net to bucket with minimal handling. Use a small hand net (preferred) or scoop your whole hand around the fish, and NEVER pick them up between your fingers.

During the warmer months it is close to impossbile to get a shiner/minnow/dace home without it getting fin-rot and dying, especially if you are out collecting all day. Even with the most aggressive ice/cooler/air system, they still tend to get too stressed and die.



#5 Guest_GreenRiverKY_*

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Posted 20 February 2012 - 09:45 PM

Josh, what where the blue tabs we used in the coolers on our fall trip?

#6 Guest_jacksmelt_*

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Posted 29 December 2012 - 08:11 PM

i keep rainbow smelts that i catch alive for bait for ice fishing. if anyone on here has experience w/ them they are probably the hardest cold water baitfish to keep alive and disease free. I've used sure life better bait in a 60gal. old freezer in my shed and kept 20 doz. of them alive in there. as long as the temp doesn't go much over 40f and with heavy aeration they do good. without the better bait they get more disease and i can only keep half as much in there. I've used salt before and found it to only work marginally. don't need more than a dash of better bait in there to do the job. bass pro sells it.

Edited by jacksmelt, 29 December 2012 - 08:13 PM.


#7 Guest_jblaylock_*

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Posted 08 January 2013 - 03:05 PM

Aaron, those were Bag Buddies. They help a little, but I'm thinking some of these Sure-Life products may be a lot better.

#8 Guest_gerald_*

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Posted 08 January 2013 - 09:02 PM

I was just looking at the Sure-Life website -- there's some very good info on there about fish stress management. Check out the "Bait Problem Solver" tab, and the descriptions of the products (Better Bait, Finer Shiner, Shad Saver. etc). The owner Tony Gergely developed products for Jungle Labs before he started Sure-Life, and it sounds like he knows his stuff. Hmmm ... wonder if he'd come speak at a NANFA conference sometime?

#9 Guest_jblaylock_*

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Posted 09 January 2013 - 06:02 PM

I was just looking at the Sure-Life website -- there's some very good info on there about fish stress management. Check out the "Bait Problem Solver" tab, and the descriptions of the products (Better Bait, Finer Shiner, Shad Saver. etc). The owner Tony Gergely developed products for Jungle Labs before he started Sure-Life, and it sounds like he knows his stuff. Hmmm ... wonder if he'd come speak at a NANFA conference sometime?


I'll have to check that out. I'm considering buying some of their products. I think that would really help getting shiners home, especially in the summer. I wonder if I would need to keep different fish in different buckets. Like minnows in one and darters or catfish in another.

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#10 Guest_keepnatives_*

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Posted 09 January 2013 - 09:55 PM

I prefer to separate them anyway. I was also thinking of trying some of their stuff as well.

#11 Guest_jacksmelt_*

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Posted 24 January 2013 - 08:51 PM

you don't need much either. just a dash usually does it.



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