keeping yabbies alive

[004dam]

I am wondering how long people keep yabbies alive for before fishing? Say if i pumped yabbies at 4pm after work for a early morning fish saturday around 6am, What do people do to keep there yabbies fresh and alive. Bucket bit of sand water and a air filter flowing ? replace the water with fresh salt water after x amount of hours ?

[deepfried]

Been a while since i kept them for the morning but in the past i have just covered my bucket with a towel and kept it in a cool place, sometimes with an air pump going. The bigger the bucket the better but you can only carry out so much before it gets too heavy. As soon as i am on the water again in the morn i change the water and they revive quickly enough. I am sure there are better ways but this is simple and has worked for me.

[Benben86]

Pretty much as above. Keep em outta the sun and away from the birds and if you can change the water every 3-4 hours. If not they should be right until you want them. Air pump is a must IMO. The more water in the bucket the better. Someone also told me to check every now and then and remove dead ones. Don't know why but it seems to help.

[petelaska]

i found that if you keep them in a large esky or brocoli box with there backs out of the water they will keep for a couple of days. They tend to drown in deeper water

[Knackers]

I find I am able to easily keep them alive for a few days by storing them in a clean broccholi box out of the sun. I change the water daily by:
1. Gently pouring the box of yabbies into a sieve
2. Removing any broken off nippers and dead or dying yabbies as they pollute the water.
3. Rinsing the box out with clean saltwater
4. Add just enough water to cover the yabbies.
5. Gently tip yabbies back into box.
It depends how long you wanrt to keep them but with an aerator they would last much longer especially with a drop or two of antibiotic added to the water.
Rob

[004dam]

Thanks for the tips,

I have a fairly rectangle mop bucket that would spread them out better then a bucket, I might try the just enough water to cover them and replace with fresh salt water before i go to sleep and keep the aerorater on them!. Cheers for the help

[Dark&Stormy]

Hi Mate,
I get my yabbies the day before all so as i like to head out
early morning,I like to use saw dust,I grab a box put about a inch
of saw dust down,Wet a tea towel put it in the freazer for a couple
of minutes then put the box on the tea towel in a dark spot,then when
you are ready to go fishing put them in what ever with some fresh
saw dust,And they will last you the whole day no worries.
Regards,
D&S.

[Horse]

You can keep them for a couple of days in a shallow container with just enough water to almost cover their backs and put in the esky with ice or in the fridge

[fishel]

A guy once told me that they die because they pollute the water with their waste which puts nitrates/nitrites into the water and it's the nitrates which kill them (assuming other conditions are as they should be like out of sun and adequate oxygenation), thus the need for regular water changes. That is why the sawdust works because they aren't effected by their waste. An alternative to sawdust is to wrap them up carefully in damp newspaper. I would think that you would have to be careful what sawdust you use as cypress or camphor laurel would probably kill them.

[rcfisher]

Nice clean pine wood shavings work well for me once again in a brocoli box with a wet towel over the top to keep them cool.

[testlab]

nitrates/nitrites into the water and it's the nitrates which kill them (assuming other conditions are as they should be like out of sun and adequate oxygenation), thus the need for regular water changes.

Gotta agree with this. Having kept marine aquariums in the past I can say from experience that sea water will "bloom" nitrates/nitrates after sitting in a container for as little as a few hours. The bacteria from the yabbies/fish/critters sends it off the scale and kills them (usually).

When setting up a new aquarium the water is allowed to stabilise with a couple of hardy fish in it first (for a week or more). After the nitrites die back down to a suitable level the rest of the fish and other critters are added slowly (over days or weeks) so the tank chemistry stays stable.

Bucket of yabbies... same thing. Aeratng the water doesn't help with the nitrite problem and they die. So either regular water changes or as little water as possible since yabbies keep quite well if they are cool and wet (like the way crabs and lobsters are shipped). I like the broccolli box idea with a sack/shavings/newspaper under and over them.

[sarg]

I'm another in the saw dust camp. We used them over 2 days fishing and most were still happy and lively.

[Defore]

It is not the Nitrite and Nitrate that kill them so quickly, it is the Ammonia.
Fish waste produces ammonia. In an aquarium this is converted by bacteria to nitrite and other bacteria converts nitrite to less harmful nitrate.

There is a product that you can buy from marine aquarium shops called AmmoLock, it helps keep the ammonia down and is good for keeping fish alive when transporting them, should work for the yabbies too.
Costs about $20 for 470ml bottle, only need about 5ml per 20L bucket.

I've used it when catching aquarium fish and it has improved survival rates. An air pump is also recommended.