Results 1 to 15 of 15

Thread: Live bait tank help

  1. #1

    Live bait tank help

    Hi all

    i have this 60l drum, and I want to make it into a live bait tank.
    i want it to be completely removable from the boat, and self contained so to speak, sink just have to plug it in.

    How do you think I go about it?
    all ideas welcome.

    Thanks
    Rob
    Attached Images Attached Images

  2. #2

    Re: Live bait tank help

    Just buy and aerator from yr local tackle store cost about $25

  3. #3

    Re: Live bait tank help

    All depends on your budget, your diligence with water changes, the required position within the boat and what you are happy to mount to the boat. I have set removable tanks like this up previously with a permanent pump and scoop on the transom but the tank needs to be tall enough and positioned as such to allow an overflow over the side or transom of the boat. Personally I hate aerators - courtesy of my own habit of getting engrossed in other things and not changing the water often enough. Provided you have sufficient battery capacity a system that constantly changes the water can be left run all day - even if one or two baits die, the rest (species dependent) will happily keep swimming laps. There are quick connect plumbing fittings available to connect the inlet water to the tank

  4. #4

    Re: Live bait tank help

    Changing your water is the key, aerators just recirculate the water and doesn't get rid of the ammonia waste from the bait which will kill them regardless of how much oxygen you put in. A temporary set up is never easy. Good luck on your endeavors.

  5. #5

    Re: Live bait tank help

    Ok, thanks

    i might chang direction a bit.
    What are the important parts of a live bait in general ?

    obviously an over flow at a desired height.
    The inlet? Should it be a spray, or is basically a hose in the tank good enough?

    how much water should the pump put out? Can there be too much?


    thanks

  6. #6

    Re: Live bait tank help

    An over flow is a must, a pump is good, but a buckets works just as well, a scoop for when traveling is nice, I like the inlet to just kind of squirt down into the tank, make sure it's not right at the bottom, or it will siphon your water out, the more and bigger the live bait, the more water exchange you need, so be diligent if using a bucket, a good fitting lid is good too, or it will splash everywhere when under way, just a tip, make sure the over flow has a strainer of some sort, small Yakkas and Garfish will go out in a second....

  7. #7

    Re: Live bait tank help

    i had a similiar screw top drum in my old boad, just strapped it against the tansom in the centre. Add 2 skin fittings into the side of it at your top waterlevel. First one a conventional one with hosetail out, make this your overflow, run ovelow out through another skin fitting under your gunnel or similiar. Make the next one one of those right angle jobs. Stick a bit of hose onto the end in the drum (pointing down), main oint being you want to pump your water into the bottom, where this bit of hose joins onto the skin fitting in the drum drill a small hole in the hose so it doesn't syphon (lets air in). other end of this skin fitting goes to the livebait pump (whereever that is). Used this setup for years, to empty just unstrap and up end it over the side. the trick to bait tanks is pumping th new stuff in at the bottom and overflowing from the top.
    Scott

  8. #8

    Re: Live bait tank help

    Have a look at the Sureflow site, there will be a psf file thete that shows you how a bait tank should be setup. I can't access min at the moment as I'm travelling but the inlet pipe goes to the bottom starting with small holes beginning above outlet level and gradually getting larger at the bottom. This will move the ammonia laden waters best. Also you will need a tap to regulate the flow, some baits don't like fast flowing water like herring whereas other baits like a fair bit more water movement. Rind containers work so much better than square or oblong containers and for bait like herring snd a host of other baits black seems to calm them down although they can get hot. I had played with the idea of wrapping some sort of relective insulation around them.

  9. #9

    Re: Live bait tank help

    Here is one i done two boats ago on a small flat bottom V punt Ally Craft 3.15m tinny

    the two pump design is so when i go get poddy mullet from the lake than drive by car to the bay i can use the internal pump to oxygenate the water once i reach the bay i turn off the internal pump and turn on the transom pump to exchange the live bait tank water inside of the tank


  10. #10

    Re: Live bait tank help

    Quote Originally Posted by gazza2006au View Post
    Here is one i done two boats ago on a small flat bottom V punt Ally Craft 3.15m tinny

    the two pump design is so when i go get poddy mullet from the lake than drive by car to the bay i can use the internal pump to oxygenate the water once i reach the bay i turn off the internal pump and turn on the transom pump to exchange the live bait tank water inside of the tank

    My "Like' Button keeps disappearing so consider it Liked. Gazza, you could improve the system, buy some Anderson plugs on fleabay and make it so all your connections to batteries, chargers are quick change and always the correct polarity.

  11. #11

    Re: Live bait tank help

    Quote Originally Posted by gazza2006au View Post
    Here is one i done two boats ago on a small flat bottom V punt Ally Craft 3.15m tinny

    the two pump design is so when i go get poddy mullet from the lake than drive by car to the bay i can use the internal pump to oxygenate the water once i reach the bay i turn off the internal pump and turn on the transom pump to exchange the live bait tank water inside of the tank

    My "Like' Button keeps disappearing so consider it Liked. Gazza, you could improve the system, buy some Anderson plugs on fleabay and make it so all your connections to batteries, chargers are quick change and always the correct polarity.

  12. #12

    Re: Live bait tank help

    Quote Originally Posted by Dignity View Post
    My "Like' Button keeps disappearing so consider it Liked. Gazza, you could improve the system, buy some Anderson plugs on fleabay and make it so all your connections to batteries, chargers are quick change and always the correct polarity.
    Thanks Dignity, i wasn't finished when i done the video but it turned out ok, those Yakka's as we call them in NSW or Yellow Tail Bait Fish were a good 20cm long unfortunatly we didn't catch anything with them but it was a good excise to show the little Bunnings or BCF bought container worked well

    i will be building another one shortly for my new tinny

  13. #13

    Re: Live bait tank help

    Buy the same thing at BCF but 25l and has handle on lid, drill holes in it but don't do bottom 1/3rd, tie rope to handle and throw overboard when you get to wherever your going, bait will stay alive without pumps etc.
    if you don't drill bottom 1/3 you can carry the bait around while cast netting on the land.
    AB

  14. #14
    Ausfish Silver Member jackson4300's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Location
    Brisbane/Ipswich

    Re: Live bait tank help

    I have a similar set up to Out Station (Scott). My overflow is a piece of hose that sits over the side of the boat and connects to the outside of the tank with a standard hose fitting. My pump is just a bilge pump attached to a piece of aluminium that has a bend at the top and the hose is connected to the outside of the tank with a standard hose fitting. When I'm not travelling, it hooks over the side of the boat and when I am travelling the whole lot goes inside the tank and recirculates while moving, lid still fits on so no water splashing out.
    When packing up, put bilge inside tank and just pump the water out, no heavy lifting. Once that’s done everything is detached and put inside the tank and lid back on, nice and neat and no lost pieces.
    Whole thing can be moved anywhere in the boat with no trouble. Bilge has a 12volt cigarette plug.

    Have kept herring alive for up to 5hrs with this tank.

  15. #15

    Re: Live bait tank help

    The good old esky or cooler live bait tanks are becoming more readily available to us fisherman now, over the past few days i have been looking for portability as i would like to go out and catch the bait the day before and take it home but still keep it alive, i considered setting up my 2 60 litre drums out in the back yard as a holding tank for mullet but because I'm a fish enthusiast i may become attached to the little bait fish

    after doing some searching i found we sell the Engel brand life bait cooler but we also have a Aussie brand too called Techniice but since Techniice use there most basic and cheapest coolers i decided to make my own

    here is the commercial available one in OZ https://www.techniice.com/ice-boxes/bait-box-1.html

    i picked up a small aerator pump this afternoon i will be picking up a WAECO 22L cooler box to make mine as the WAECO is one of those long life ice boxes where as the Techniice is just a plastic cooler but they both share the same use


Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
Join us