thoughts on a live bait tank

[FishFinger1977]

I was looking at a Northside Marine catologue and noticed a live bait tank which had a which was complete and ready to go with all pick ups and hoses as well as a pump. On the BLA site they even say underway they are self flushing with the proper bracket i'd assume. Are these any good? Or should I pay someone to drill holes in my boat and do properly? Cheers

[FishFinger1977]

Don't mind the punctuation on that first one eh? Proof reading sucks though.

[Cheech]

Can't comment on the unit specifically.

Probably depends on how much you are happy to spend. If you have the reddies then a pre set up unit (that is probably priced accordingly) is probably a good idea. Provided it suits your needs.

With the comment about getting someone to drill holes for you do you not normally get into handyman things? Not having a go, just working out where you are coming from. For me, I hate to pay for anything I can do myself. I had a look at heaps of sites and units before eventually setting up my bait tank.

That way I got to set up the size tank that I wanted, and that fitted into an appropriate location on my boat.

If you end up not getting a completed unit and want some ideas on setting your own up then let us know. If you are after a smaller unit I have a few ideas that may help.

Cheech

[FishFinger1977]

Well Cheech I have decided to use and old chemical bucket (cleaned) about 40-60L or so with a waterproof housing and lid on top. I'll just put two hoses into the side one inlet and one outlet and have one of those pickups as mentioned by Bundaberg Bandit, it will do the job and is a lot cheaper as I need to get new flares as well know. Damn doesn't stop does it? Any extra ideas would be appreciated though.

[Outsider]

Just remember that generally wider is better than taller - which sucks for us fisho's with limited boat space to begin with. Livies tend to swim in the top section of the water column in the tank so a tall skinny tank sees all the bottom water void of bait and the top few inches overcrowded - stressing the livies and killing them quicker.

A squatter and wider tank will see the livies following each other around a longer "circuit" keeping them happier and healthier.

And if the big fish aren't biting you can paint little numbers on the side of the livies and race them round the tank...

[Cheech]

Got your PM

Outsider is right on the money (in my limited experience). Squat is what I set up. Partly due to space but also due to what I researched beforehand.

Baitfish do not seem to spread themself throughout the water column. There is a preferred area and they all seem to go to it. Seems to change a bit with the species also. Another thing that seems to change their behaviour is light. the more or less light around and at the top of the tank can send them up or down the water column in the tank.

Seems that size in this case does not necessarily matter (within reason). If you have good water flow with fresh oxygenated water, then you can overcrowd a smaller tank in comparrison with a bigger tank with poor circulation.

I know that some people go for bigger pumps. That is fine if you have a big tank, but if you have a small tank then you need a small pump. I have the smallest in a 360, and even that pumped too much water for my needs. Luckily I had also set up a flow control as the first time I used it I found the bait were struggling with the speed of the flow. So I slowed the flow and now they will happily swim around all day.

If you have the inlet flowing in from the top then you could probably handle more flow, but I have my inlet at the bottom and the outlet at the top. this seems to circulate better and needs less water flow to keep it all fresh.

What I don't know is the type of bait fish you intend to have and how many, so I will cover what I generally have.

I usually have smaller livies such as herring or prawns, but have even had some pretty big mullet and they seem happy enough. Don't know how slimmies or yakkas will go, but I expect that they will handle a small tank ok as well as long as I am not stupid about how many I try to cram in.

If you like, pm me your mobile and you are more than welcome to come around tomorrow morning on your way through and check out my setup and prepare your parts shopping list.

Cheech

[easyrider525]

after reading this post, i got to wondering if this tank will work or not. it measures 500mm wide, 450mm deep, 400mm across. see pic's. got it for free, so any ideas?

[easyrider525]

and

[easyrider525]

ooppss sorry here's the other one. not used to this didi camera and software yet.... :-[

[FishFinger1977]

Just need an inlet and an outlet and as cheech explained a little fiddling with the rates of each. I'll be more than happy to give you a hand with photo no.2 looks like she needs some plumbing work done. the measurements you gave look a little small to the picture, got the measurements on no.2? Anyway it looks pretty heavy duty.

[Mr__Bean]

Hey Easy,

Just for the record, was she a lively kill?

- Bean

[easyrider525]

umm yeah boys. dont need a hand with that one.but as a by thought i almost ended up in the kill tank when i brought her home. she sits in my bar room now much to the dismay of( the kill all things that are fun) my darling wife..

[pepsicola1]

Hi I will be needing to purchase/make a live bait tank soon. Any ideas on measurements and how to make them.

Cheers

[Mr__Bean]

Killing all things fun must be there in the fine print somewhere.

I wanted to call the new boat BLOKESWORLD, but unfortunately she saw part of an episode of it one night whilst surfing the channels, killed that one real quick.

- Bean

[FishFinger1977]

Well I just installed my new one all it took was one day and 2 six packs of rum, I'll get the picture of the tank soon but this is the outside with both the inlet and outlets showing. Know just got to clean up the wires and some bits and pieces, Oh and I rewired the switch panel with a weatherproof one as well. I do think next time though i'll need more rum. Thanks for all the ideas guys the tank by the way was one of those bermuda live bait tanks, 58 litres and looks good, have to trial it though and see if it does keep the bait better than the old bucket with a lid...The pic may not be to good as it has been resized heaps of times but you get the idea, I have not quite finished it yet but the rums took effect so it will be done through the week.